Page 25 of The Don's Secret Heir

I have the dating app in my back pocket and I’m still getting messages.

I descend the stairs wearing the white gown and some diamond earrings, my hair up in an intricate bun I learned from my awful stepmother. At least she was good for something.

Dario clears his throat as he looks up at me, his eyes widening.

“You certainly found something to wear. You look beautiful,” he mutters. He leads me outside to his car.

I’m glad Marie is distracting Sonny, because how would I explain this dress?

Dario is silent all the way to the courthouse, parking in the parking garage. Another man walks up to us, handsome in a different way than Dario. He’s dark haired, too, but has piercing blue eyes and a wider frame than Dario, even though he’s shorter.

Dario seems to catch me looking and grunts, taking my hand.

“I’m Liana,” I say to the man as Dario drags me toward the front.

He grins and waves. “Giovanni.”

Then I’m filling out paperwork and providing my identification. Dario pulls out his wallet andvoila,the ceremony is slated to begin in thirty minutes.

I sit down next to Giovanni and Dario frowns, sitting on the other side of me.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Giovanni says and Dario huffs out a breath, glaring at him.

I raise an eyebrow. “You have?”

I’m surprised. I always figured I was just another notch in Dario’s bedpost.

“Yeah, you really threw him for a loop,” Giovanni says mysteriously, and I frown.

“What does that mean?”

Dario glares at Giovanni as if he’s going to slit his throat. Giovanni looks back at him with an easy smile.

“Nothing,” he says, but he’s still smiling, clearly teasing Dario.

But what about?

It’s not like Dario was serious about me. If he were, he wouldn’t have cheated on me, would he?

The officiant calls, “The future Mr. and Mrs. Conte?”

Dario stands first and then I do. He takes my hand in his as we walk into the ceremony room. Giovanni follows, sitting in the pews as our witness.

“Do you, Dario Michael Conte, take this woman, Liana Elena Rossi, to be your lawfully wedded wife? Until death do you part?”

“I do,” he says, looking down at me with an unreadable expression.

My heart races and I can’t seem to keep from staring into those dark eyes of his.

“Do you, Liana Elena Rossi, take this man, Dario Michael Conte, to be your lawfully wedded husband? As long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” I say quietly. I’m surprised my voice doesn’t crack.

Dario leans down. I’m sure he’s going to kiss my cheek until he catches my mouth with his, sliding his tongue past my lips.

I melt against him despite myself, kissing him back hungrily. It’s been so long since I’ve been kissed.

He pulls away first and I lean against him. He chuckles down at me, pulling my hand up to his mouth to run his lips across my knuckles.