Page 160 of Broken Mafia Bride

“I know you. You’ll blame me, but you’ll be the one who put it there.”

“Fine,” I chuckle, shaking my head. “But only if you promise to love me when I’m cranky and forgetful and sneaking chocolate before dinner.”

“Always.” He pulls me close, his breath warm against my ear. “And when I forget to love myself, promise me you’ll be there to remind me.”

“Always,” I echo, feeling his arms wrap around me. “And when I lose my way, you’ll be there to guide me.”

“For as long as we both breathe,” he swears.

The ocean breeze picks up then, swirling around us in a cool, gentle rush. It ruffles my hair and tugs at Raffaele’s shirt, like a whisper carried from somewhere far away. The kind of sign I didn’t dare believe in until now.

“Did you feel that?” I ask, eyes wide.

He nods, his gaze fixed on the candles bobbing on the waves, carried away by the tide. “Maybe they’re listening.”

I grip his hand tighter. “I think they are.”

We stand there for a long time, the silence between us full of all the words we’ll never get to say to them. But somehow, knowing they’ve heard us feels like enough.

Eventually, the cold seeps through my robe, and Raffaele notices, tugging me back toward the house with a quiet smile. His arm loops around my shoulders, holding me close as we walk along the cool sand, leaving the ocean’s whispers behind us.

Inside, he lights a fire, the warm glow flickering against the walls as he pulls me into his arms again. No words. Just the heat of his gaze, the gentle way his fingers trace along my collarbone, like he’s memorizing every inch of me all over again.

And when he kisses me, it’s slow, unhurried, and like he has all the time in the world to show me everything he feels. Our love-making is soft and fierce all at once, a quiet promise of forever written into every touch, every breath, every heartbeat.

Later, tangled up in him, my head on his chest, I listen to the steady thump of his heart. His fingers draw lazy patterns along my back. It is always so soothing and familiar.

“Stay with me forever,” I whisper.

“Always,” he replies, his voice holds no doubt. “You’re mine, Giulia. In this life and the next.”

Then I fall asleep in his warmth, his name stitched into my breath.

And when I wake up in the morning, it will be in the arms of the man I love—the man I plan to do this life thing with.

My husband.

My future.

My forever.

Because this love thing isn’t just about the moments we share. It’s about the promises we keep, the way we find each other even in obscurity. And maybe, just maybe, that cool breeze was their way of telling us they’re watching over us, approving of what we’ve built, forgiving us for what we couldn’t change.

Raffaele’s arms tighten around me in his sleep, as if he can feel my thoughts drifting. And I know, with a certainty that feels like destiny, that whatever comes next, we’ll face it together.

THE END