Page 159 of Broken Mafia Bride

I fall asleep sometime around the moment my husband is promising to buy Raffie a cute bow, a smile pasted on my face. I must have only been asleep for a few minutes when Raffaele nudges me awake with a gentle shake of my shoulder. I blink, eyes groggy and heavy with sleep, but the first thing I see is his excited grin.

“Raff? What time is it?” I mumble.

“Late. Or early. Depends on how you look at it.” His smile widens. “Come on, I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“What kind of surprise?” I groan, burying my head into the pillow. “Can’t it wait until morning?”

“No, lazybones. Now get up before I carry you out there myself.”

I crack one eye open. “You’re disturbingly perky for someone who barely got any sleep.”

“What can I say?” He shrugs. “I’m married to the woman of my dreams. Sleep’s overrated.”

I can’t help but smile as he hauls me out of bed and helps me into a thick robe before leading me outside, his hand steady in mine. Even though it feels like the last thing I want to do, his smile is so earnest, so full of excitement, that I can’t bring myselfto argue. I let him guide me down to the quiet stretch of beach, illuminated by the pale moon and the soft shimmer of the ocean.

The chill air nips at my skin, but the warmth of his touch is enough to chase away the chill.

“What are we doing out here?” I ask as we reach the beach. The sand feels cool beneath my feet, the gentle roar of the waves soothing.

Raffaele lifts a small glass lantern, lighting a single white candle. He passes me another, already lit. “I thought… maybe we could pay tribute to them.”

My heart squeezes. “Our moms.”

“Yeah. I know we’re building something new here, with each other, with Noemi, with everyone. But I wanted to start the right way. By asking permission.”

“Permission?” I echo, smiling through my tears.

He nods. “From your mom. For loving you. For promising to protect you. For trying my best to make you happy.”

I chortle, wiping at my tears. “She’d be mad at you for making me cry.”

“Yeah, well… I have to make sure she knows. That I’m not going to mess this up. That I’m all in.”

My chest feels tight, full of so much love, I think I might burst. “You’re incredible.”

“So are you,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Come on. Let’s do this together.”

I hold the candle carefully, the flame a small, fragile thing against the vast darkness around us. “I’d love that, Raff.”

We wade into the shallows until the water laps at our ankles. Side by side, we lower our candles into the gentle waves.

“My mom would’ve loved you,” I say. “She’d have been all over you, cooking you so much food you’d have to roll yourself home.”

He giggles, and I can’t help but marvel at how beautiful it sounds every time I hear it. “I’d have loved her, too. But she’d have to wrestle me for the cooking—I make a mean lasagna.”

I grin through my tears. “She’d have appreciated the effort. Probably made you chop onions until your eyes bled just to prove your worth.”

“Challenge accepted.” He reaches for my hand, our fingers twining together. “My mom… she would’ve loved you, too. I think she’d be so relieved to see me happy. She’d have adored Noemi.”

“And you. She’d be proud of you, Raff. For everything you’ve become.”

He lets out a shuddering breath. “I hope so. I try to be better. Because of you. Because of Noemi.”

“You are better,” I whisper. “And you’re everything I need. Everything I’ll ever need.”

“I promise to love you, Giulia. No matter what. I’ll love you when you’re angry. When you’re sad. When you think the world’s against you. I’ll love you when you’re old and gray and we’re arguing over who left the TV remote in the fridge.”

“The fridge?”