Page 100 of Tommy
“I thought you were dead. I thought I shot you. I thought he killed you,” she rambles, and I love it. I love that she’s voicing her fear and not bottling it up inside. That she’s even talking to me after everything.
“I’m sorry. So sorry for what he did. For whatwedid.” I kiss along her cheeks and jawline. I can’t stop touching her. I have her in my arms, and I’m not going to let her out of them anytime soon.
I finally stop and rest my forehead to hers. Closing my eyes, I breathe her scent in and let myself finally relax. Enjoy the moment and just breathe in the new life she’s given me. For so long, I was just living, not enjoying. Now I can have both, and with her by my side.
Opening my eyes, I look at her but don’t move my head away from her.
“I love you.”
Her breath hitches, and a tear rolls down her cheek. She swallows, and her smile is wobbly as she looks back at me.
“I love you too.”
“Tommaso Dante Leone!” Mama’s voice ricochets around the hall, and I know she’s coming toward us.
“Dante?” Payton questions.
“After Dante Alighieri. He survived exile, wrote about love saving him. It’s kind of funny.”
“How is that funny?”
“Because while I might not have been exiled from thefamiglia, I felt outside of it for so long. Till you, Payton. You made me accept my past, and now I feel whole again.”
“Of course you’re whole, you stupid boy,” Mama cuts in. “But you pull this stunt again, and I’ll be the one to make that untrue. Now move so I can look over my new daughter.”
“Mama, Payton isn’t—”
“Hush. You want to marry her, don’t you?”
I lock eyes with Payton and smirk as I nod once.
“Then she’s family. I’ll deal with you and your brothers next, but now I must care for her.”
“I’ve already been seen by the doctor,” my girl whispers. She’s in shock, either from my declaration of wanting to be with her long-term or because she’s just not sure how to deal with Mama like this. Probably both.
I shake my head. “You better get used to it. She only gets worse if you don’t let her pretend she’s in charge.”
Mama throws a hand out and hits me right on one of my broken ribs based off the pain. I wince, but she doesn’t apologize, just smirks as if she knew what she was doing.
But then she ignores me and focuses on my girl.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Chapter 36—Payton
I’ve never been in the hospital. Not long-term, anyway. A sprain here, a yearly checkup there, but nothing that would require an overnight. But despite my lack of knowledge on the matter, even I know it’s unorthodox for him to be given the all-clear so quickly after arriving. He has broken ribs, and while there doesn’t seem to be much for the doctors to do with him, wouldn’t he be better cared for somewhere with doctors and nurses on hand instead of back at his place with just me looking after him?
But that’s exactly what he asked for, and he got it.
Not a single person batted an eye at it. Not even his mother. And she’s a lot.
She basically made us engaged. Or at least we are in her mind. No matter that there’s no ring and I was never asked.
But if I was….
The answer would be yes.
Oh wow, what a day this has been.
