Casanova In Training (37 page)

He wasn’t sure what he expected her to do or say, but he was surprised when she kissed him on the mouth. “I’m proud of you for doing what was right.”

“I am going to resign my commission, Jaydee. Just, please, let me be here for the pregnancy and birth.”

Resign his commission? Jaydee stared at him in the muted light. She didn’t see any signs of distress when he spoke of that. He must mean it. Her heart swelled with the amount of love she had for this man.

“Yes.”

He pinned her with his intoxicating hazel eyes. “Yes, what?”

“Yes, you can stay for the pregnancy and birth, and yes, I’ll marry you.”

How could she not? Every moment they’d been apart, she’d wanted to be his wife. Was she scared? Yes. But she had talked to Ivan about it after she’d turned him down, and again with Lexy. Both of them had convinced her to give it a shot.

He lowered his head and covered her mouth with his. She sank into him and returned the kiss with fervour. Only when a whistle broke into their own little world did she find some way to drag herself away.

“I hear there’s going to be a wedding?” Antonina said from where she stood with the rest of her family and Lexy. “I can’t wait to get started on the planning. Giovanni, we have to make sure Father Crispin is available to do the service.”

She tensed at those words. Antonina continued on but all she could do was stare at Lexy, who gave her a smile and a wink.

“No, Mama.” Gio’s arm tightened around her.

“No? What do you mean no?”

“Just what I said, mama. Nothing big. We’re getting married tomorrow. Here.”

Jaydee looked at him. “We are?”

“We are. Lizard is coming and is bringing a preacher with him.”

“How did you know I would say yes?” she asked him.

“I didn’t. I just didn’t plan on leaving until you did. You know how much I love you, Jaydee. I want to be your husband.”

Uncaring of those watching, she cradled her hand along his face. “I love you too, Gio.”

“Giovanni, if you do this, how am I supposed to plan for it? What about our family and friends?”

“So plan a reception, Mama. But the wedding is tomorrow. And then you all need to leave.”

Jaydee’s heart pounded and she looked from Gio to Lexy. “Will you stand up with me?”

“Hon, you never have to worry about that. Of course I will. Now…we have work to do, so kiss your man goodnight. You aren’t sleeping with him and we have a dress to ready for the morning.” Without further ado, Lexy pulled her up and away from Gio.

Tiziana gave her a hug and a kiss. “Congratulations and welcome to the family. Come on, Mama, let’s go bake a wedding cake.”

The men gave her their congratulations as well, then Lexy led her inside and up to the bedroom. Behind the privacy of the closed doors, she drew her in for a huge hug.

“I’m so proud of you, hon. Look at you, getting married.”

Both of them had tears in their eyes before wiping them away. “I’m scared, Lexy.”

“Of course you are. This isn’t something you can read a manual on and memorise. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. That man loves you. So much.”

“And I love him.”

“I know, hon. I knew a long time ago. Was just waiting on you to realise it yourself.” She squeezed her shoulder. “Now, let’s see what we can do for a dress.” Lexy disappeared into her closet and hemmed and hawed for a bit. Popping back out, she said, “You go downstairs and mingle with your in-laws. I’ll work on this.”

“I don’t want you to—”

“Get out of here, Jay. Go be with Gio. I have this.”

She nodded and with a kiss to Lexy’s cheek headed to the stairs. Valentino was on his way up and he gave her a nod.

“Thank you,” he said in a low tone.

“For what?”

He ran the ring around his neck along the chain a few times before he answered. “For showing my brother how to love someone.”

“Your brother is an amazing man.”

“I can see you love him.”

She nodded. “I have loved him for a long time.”

“We can tell. No one has ever been allowed to call him Gio. He hated the nickname. But, tonight, his eyes lit up when you said it.”

Her cheeks heated at his words. But it was his next words that brought tears to her eyes.

“You are my sister now. If you ever need anything,
anything
, you come to me.” He leaned in quick and pressed a kiss to her cheek before disappearing down the hall.

A bit amazed, she touched where he’d kissed her and made her way to the first floor. Tiziana and Antonina were in the kitchen, busy baking her wedding cake. Enzo, Giuseppe and Gio sat in the living area, drinking beer and chatting easily with one another in Italian.

The minute Gio spotted her, he put down his beer and walked to her side. “Hello, gorgeous,” he said before kissing her.

She melted into him, tasting him and beer. “Hi,” she said.

“Where’s Lexy?”

“She is working on my dress. Told me to come down here.”

“Wonderful,” Giuseppe said. “Come play Go with me. I want to learn a little more about my daughter-in-law.”

She smiled at the sight of her board waiting there before Giuseppe. The grid of black painted lines had the stones ready for play.

“Yes, sir,” she said, sitting down in the chair across from him.

“None of that ‘sir’ stuff. You can call me Pops, like the others do.”

 She glanced at Gio, who gave her a wink and a smile of encouragement. They began to play and, a bit later, Gio handed her a mug of tea and brushed a kiss along her cheek.

“Thank you,” she said.

While they played, they chatted about her work and what everyone else in the family did. Lexy and Valentino showed up and joined in the conversation. Every now and then, she would sneak a peek over at Lexy and the women would share a grin.

Lexy stayed in her room that night, and Gio got the final remaining available room. When the morning came, she woke to loud male conversation outside. Lexy had told her to sleep in and it had felt amazing. Rising from bed, she padded to the window and peered out. Nothing there, so she went to the side with the balcony and stepped out. She smiled at the sight of the men lining the path to the dock with flowers.

“Get away from the window,” Lexy said from behind her.

She turned and her breath caught in her throat. “Lexy, you look beautiful.” Her friend wore a pale pink dress that hugged her body.

“Thank you, hon. Now come on, let’s get you dressed.”

Jaydee took a shower and came out in her robe before sitting down on the foot of her bed. Lexy did her hair then walked to the closet and withdrew something before gesturing for her to get on the undergarments then to come back, so Jaydee did.

She stared at the dress Lexy handed to her and her eyes pricked with tears. In her hand, she held a long, silky white gown, sweetheart neckline, and a slight tuck at the waist.

“Lexy,” she said. “This…this is stunning.”

“Try it on.”

She stepped into it and drew it up. It was a satiny material which smoothed over her skin. She zipped up the side and twirled around. It flowed around her and settled about her ankles. Lexy brought her a pair of shoes and helped her into them.

They weren’t stilettos but there was some heel to them. Lexy applied a light touch of makeup to Jaydee’s face then pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“You are going to knock his socks off, hon.”

Together they walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Lizard stood at the bottom and gave her a kind smile.

“Hell, just look at you, Dusti. You…you look amazing. It’s good to see you.” He leaned in and gave her a kiss. Then looked at Lexy. “You too, Lexy. Damnation.”

Lexy gave a sultry chuckle. “Good to see you, handsome. Good to see you.”

Lizard blushed and brushed a kiss along her cheek before slipping away, saying he needed to check on the groom.

“What a surprise, to see you fawning over a man who wears a uniform.”

Jaydee turned to see Valentino walking in. His attention was on Lexy, whose entire demeanour stiffened for a moment. Then she gave another one of those sexy laughs. “Don’t be jealous just because I don’t call you handsome. Maybe if you learned how to smile you’d…well, you’d be passably good-looking, I reckon.” With a wave of her hand, she tugged Jaydee along. “See you at the ceremony.”

They made their way down the steps and she heard talking and laughing. Her belly clenched a bit but she ignored it. She wasn’t going to let anything get in her way of acquiring her happily ever after.

Everyone stood before the dock except for the minister, Gio and Lizard. Her breath caught as she spied Gio standing there in his dress blues. He looked so handsome, he took her breath away.

On his chest were his wings, glowing in the sunlight, and she just wanted to run to his arms and be held. His eyes focused on her and he gave her a small grin. Right before she walked out on to the dock, Lexy handed her a bouquet of flowers. Then she made her way to stand beside Gio before the minister.

She stared into hazel eyes as the minister did his thing. The ceremony passed in a blur and only when she felt him take her hand and slide on a ring did she realise she’d lost a bit of time.

“With this ring, I thee wed,” Gio said in a confident, assured voice.

Jaydee gazed down at the ring on her hand. Nothing elaborate, a diamond centred on a band of gold. It wasn’t until she looked closer at it that she could see the band looked like their wings.

It was her turn and Lexy handed her a ring for Gio. Then came the kiss and the pronouncement that they were man and wife.

Gio drew her close and when their lips brushed along one another’s he murmured, “I love you, Jaydee Cassano. From now until forever.”

Her eyes overflowed with tears and she kissed him. “I love you too, Gio.”

His kiss, like all his kisses, never failed to make her knees weak. And she dug her fingers into the material of his uniform. The hollers and catcalls eventually brought her back to the realisation that they weren’t alone.

His family swarmed them, offering up all congratulations. Lexy, too, and Lizard. The party moved to the backyard where his mother and sister brought out the food and someone brought out music. There was dancing and laughing.

When she began to feel a bit overwhelmed, it was Gio who found her off by herself. Skimming her face with his knuckles, he cocked his head and looked down at her.

“Are you okay, Mrs Cassano?”

Mrs Cassano. Never had a name meant so much to her.

She offered him a small smile. “I’ve never been better, Mr Cassano.”

“I love you, Jaydee. You and our baby. You know that, right?”

Slipping her arms around his neck, she nodded. “I know.
We
know that.”

That night, she spent her first night in Gio’s arms as his wife. There were no nightmares when she finally fell asleep. His arms held her tight and close until they woke together for their first full day of wedded life. Still a bit tired, she snuggled back in close to him. Gio draped his arm around her and his hand settled over her belly.

Things might not always be perfect but she couldn’t complain. This was what she wanted. He was who she wanted. Giovanni ‘Casanova’ Cassano.

Also available from Total-E-Bound Publishing:

Code of Honour: A Man Like No Other

Aliyah Burke

Excerpt

Chapter One

“What the fuck?”

Serefina LeBenoit cursed again as she tracked the movement through the object up to her eye.

“What’s wrong?” a whispered voice questioned in her ear.

“We have a problem,” she muttered, moving the scope between the ongoing deal and the approaching man. He wore a black vest with the letters DEA in white across the front.

He had a fluid grace about him, despite how cautiously he progressed. His blond hair was tied back, and dark glasses sat upon his ruggedly handsome face. Suddenly, he froze and glanced in her direction, a slight frown filled his features. She remained immobile out of instinct even though she knew he couldn’t spot her.

“What’s the prob?” the voice asked. It was male and belonged to Hector.

She wiped the sweat from her brow after the unknown man faced forward again. “God damn DEA agent approaching. You know they can’t travel alone.” The second the agent began moving once more, so did she. “ETA, two minutes.”

She ran with subconscious perception. Having traversed these areas countless times, she had the confidence to do so blindfolded. She ran hard. Fast. Pouring everything into it, for she knew if that man made it before her, there would be bloodshed. She stashed her earwig down the front of her bra and kept going.

She was fast.

He, unfortunately, was faster.

The unmistakable sound of gunfire reached her.
Damn it! Sounds like it’s all going to hell over there. Have I cursed the DEA yet?

Gun deals were dangerous anyway. Throw in the unexpected arrival of a federal agent, and sure as shittin’,
this
would happen.

Trigger-happy, over-testosteroned…

Her mood dropped even further south when she came around the final corner. DEA swarmed, they were cuffing others, her team included, and shouting to one another. A glint to the right caught her eye and she turned. There was a shooter in another corner sighting down on the agent she’d had in her own scope. She never hesitated, just took aim and fired. Seconds later, she found herself slammed on the ground, gun scattering across the pebbled ground, an agent digging his knee into her back. The hiss of pain almost slipped through but it stopped courtesy of the anger flooding her.

Black boots filled her vision and she looked up. Her blond Adonis stood there, powerful arms crossed, staring at her with blue eyes. His face was composed of sharp angles—nothing soft about him—and raw masculine strength. Intense, panty-wetting strength. The kind which would have affected her if not for the fact she was in the process of being cuffed, the small sharp rocks slicing into her skin. Even so, dude was hot.