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Fifty-Two

A Gift From My Father

Walking into their small reception, hand in hand, Maria finally found out what gift her father had gotten them for their wedding as she heard the voice sing.

The girls who had tears in their eyes on top of the building now sat with fresh tears in their eyes for a whole different reason.

Jordan James started out at fifteen years old as every girl’s young heartthrob. In his later twenties now, he had been through ups and downs throughout his very successful career, but three things stayed the same—he had one hell of a voice, a massive fanbase who would always support him, and he was drop-dead gorgeous.

The celebrity had frequented the Casino Hotel throughout the years whenever he was in the city for a concert, and her father had always taken great care of him. Maria guessed he must’ve gotten in the red while he was here, and this was how he planned to pay his debt.

Jordan liked booze, gambling, women, and everything else in his playboy rich lifestyle—which had landed him in hot water. Needless to say, the underground casino was his favorite place to be.

Every girl’s dream would be to either marry the singer or have him sing at her wedding, and somehow, if it all wasn’t perfect enough, Maria’s first dance with Dominic as husband and wife would be just that.

Leading her onto the dance floor, Dom wrapped his hand around her waist while he lifted up the hand they were holding. Swaying to the beautiful song, he smiled as he leaned his head down toward her ear. “Thank you for wearing white this time, princess.”

“No promises for next time. I’d personally like to find out what would happen if I didn’t.”

“I have no doubt that you will.” Dominic laughed. “I wasn’t aware we would have such great guest appearances, but I suppose I should have guessed, since I was marrying you.”

“Yes, well, apparently, Sal is an ordained minister now.” She laughed herself. “I wonder how long that took to print off his computer and what happened to the person who was supposed to be marrying us.”

“I loved it,” he admitted to her so sweetly. “It made marrying you that much more special to me, Maria.”

“Me, too,” she agreed, finding herself happy that he was happy.

Motioning her head toward the singer, she addressed their second elusive guest, “And that is a gift from my father.”

His brows slightly furrowed. “It is?”

“Yes … He appreciates the lower level festivities and must’ve owed my father a favor.”

“I see.” Dom smiled. “My sister is crying. She was obsessed with him when his first song came out. I couldn’t get her to quit singing that stupid song.”

She gave a quick look around. “I think all the girls are crying.”

“But not you.” He spun her. “Does not even Jordan James have an effect on Maria Caruso?”

“He’s not my type. I only have one of those.” Her skirt lightly twirled around her. “You.”

He tapped the ring he had just put on her finger with the hands that were in the air. “I know, I have proof.”

Staring at their hands, she couldn’t get over how they looked together. “I love my ring. It’s so beautiful.”

“I thought my princess needed a crown.”

Ugh. The way he treated her and the things he said just made her melt more every day.

Kissing her on the cheek, he thanked her for his. “And I love mine, even though something tells me I’d hate to know how much it cost.”

“Kat helped me pick it out yesterday.” She could immediately see how much more special it now was to him. The Lucianos weren’t afraid of jewelry. The bigger, the better. They loved thick, weighty pieces, and Maria wanted him to have the best one that made his tattoos that much sexier. “And don’t worry about it,” she assured him with an evil smile, remembering sliding that black credit card. “Lucca wanted me to marry you, so I made him pay for it.”

Dom shook his head at her, realizing how much trouble he put himself in by marrying her. “Maria, I love you, and I love the matching shoes you bought me, but you do know you’re a bit spoiled, right?”

“Like I said, you don’t call me princess for nothing.” She placed a light kiss on his lips. “Would you want me to change?”

“Hell no.” He kissed her back. “All I want to do is spoil you.”

“I noticed.” Maria smiled, reminded of the gift. “The shoes would have also been a great way to get me to marry you sooner.”

“Well, I can’t wait to see them up close later tonight,” he said hotly, leaning down in her ear once again.

“Why wait?” she groaned as her stomach somersaulted. “We can go right now.”

“Sorry, princess, but you’re going to have to wait a bit longer.” Dominic pulled her closer to him. “You can only get Jordan James to sing at your wedding once.”