The Don and His Angel

Chapter 45

"I still don't see why I had to come along for this," Antonio groans from the leather couch next to me.

"You asked to carry her," I shrug.

Alice is in the dressing room with a saleswoman, helping Elle into different dresses. Luca decided that the wedding will be this weekend so we had to start getting a move on things.

Holding Alice's hand, Elle wobbles out of the dressing room. She's wearing a simple white dress with tulle at the skirt. She looks at herself in the mirror, hands pressed to the glass, happily babbling to herself. She smiles at me and I smile right back.

"I think I'm going to go with this one," I inform the sales lady.

"It's so plain," Antonio says, "don't you want frills and bows and shit?"

"I'd rather her be comfortable," I reply.

Dealing with a toddler who is uncomfortable in their dress is not something I want to deal with on my wedding day.

Alice whisks Elle away to get dressed and I head to the register with Antonio right behind me. The woman behind the desk smiles as I hand her Luca's black card.

"We have tiaras if you're interested," she says, gesturing to the display behind her.

"That one," Antonio says as he points to the display case.

The woman takes down the small tiara and places it on a velvet pillow on the countertop. It weirdly enough reminds me of their mother's necklace. The silver frame holds glistening rubies and crystals.

"My mother's necklace, your necklace, used to be a crown," he says as he examines the child-sized tiara.

"Really?" I ask, brows furrowed.

"Yeah, back in the 1800's," he nods, glancing up at me, "the crown had to be broken down during the First World War but we've managed to keep the necklace in the family."

"What do you think?" the saleswoman asks with a smile, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation happening in front of her.

"It's perfect," I decide, smiling at Antonio, "I'll take it."

The saleswoman adds it to the tab and swipes Luca's card. She carefully wraps the tiara and tucks it into a small box that she hands to Antonio. He takes the garment bag from her as well and we wait for Alice to be done.

"How the hell are we going to get everything done in time?" I sigh.

"What?" Antonio asks with furrowed brows.

"There's so much to do for a wedding," I reply, "flowers, caterers, invites."

"That's already taken care of," he says, shaking his head.

"What are you talking about?" I roll my eyes.

"Luca finished dealing with all of that days ago," he says, "actually I'm pretty sure he did everything the day after you said yes."

"Are you serious?" I ask.

He rolls his eyes before giving me the most bored expression in the world, "I love him, I do, but Luca is utterly whipped."

"He is not," I exclaim through laughs.

"Think on it," he says.

"Sorry it took so long," Alice says, slightly out of breath and carrying Elle, "the bambino wouldn't put her tights back on."

"Don't worry about it," I reply.

Antonio heads out the front door and we follow behind. Rocco pushes off the brick exterior as we walk out and opens the back door to an SUV. I slide in, followed by Alice, with Antonio in the front seat.

The ride back to the compound is filled with soft music and Elle's incoherent talking. Alice takes Elle straight up to the nursery to be changed and Antonio shoves Elle's things into my arms.

"I'm going to go fight someone," he calls over his shoulder as he heads towards the training rooms.

I wave at his disappearing form before heading up to the fifth floor. Luca had my hand put into the security system so I can scan into the floor. I hang the garment bag up and tuck the box away.

The bedroom door opens and shuts and I peek my head out of the closet. Luca strides towards me, his face set and frustration radiating off of him. My eyes go wide as he gets closer, he's never been this upset with me and I have no fucking idea what I did.

"What's wrong?" I ask when he's finally in front of me.

He harshly grabs the back of my head and pulls me into a rough kiss, all teeth and tongues clashing. He pulls back, maintaining his hold on me, and frowns.

"You didn't come to see me before you left," he says, his voice low and dark.

"You were in your office," I reply breathily, "you were busy."

"Non sono mai troppo occupato per baciare il mio angelo," he replies sternly.
(I'm never too busy to kiss my angel)

"I won't do it again," I tell him, leaning up on my tiptoes to brush my lips against his as I add, "I promise."

He growls, some animalistic urge deep in his chest resonating through the room. I close the small gap and press my lips against his sweetly. He kisses back with a matched gentleness before pulling away.

"Did you plan our entire wedding?" I ask, taking advantage of his momentary weakness.

"Yes," he replies simply.

"Well I got something you definitely didn't plan," I smile at him and he furrows his brows.

I step past him and grab the box from earlier today. I hand it to him and he looks between the box and me before opening it. His eyes go wide and his mouth opens slightly as he examines the tiara.

"This is exactly what the old crown looked like," he says, turning it in his hand.

"Antonio picked it out," I tell him.

He chuckles softly to himself, placing the tiara back in the box, and puts it back on the shelf.

"Would you like to pack for our honeymoon yourself?" he asks, "or would you rather we just buy new clothes when we get there?"

"You can't just toss your money around like that," I reply, rolling my eyes, "and I need more information before I can pack."

He grunts in disapproval and cups my cheek with a frown.

"Just for being un moccioso," he says gruffly, "I'm not letting you pack."
(A brat)

I laugh and roll my eyes before meeting his.

"Luca-" I try but he cuts me off.

"Money is never something to worry yourself with. I have more than enough and I will spoil you every day of my life," he says, matter of fact, leaving no room for argument.

My cheeks form a rosy hue and I bite my lip, smiling as I look down. I don't even know why I bother at this point because Luca quickly grasps my chin and forces my face back up.

"Two more days until I can call you my wife," he says softly before placing a gentle kiss on my lips.