Page 74 of Desired By you (Always & Forever #3)

Chapter Sixty Three

Gabriella

It’s been a few days since Brad was released from the hospital.

His brother was arrested without bail and awaiting trial.

Between me, his sister, and our friends, we have all rallied round to help since he came home.

I’ve not left his side and don’t intend to.

It took nearly losing him to realize that life is short.

I deserve to be happy and my parents have stepped up in a way I have been longing for since I was a kid.

My dad contacted Patrick’s boss. He lost his job at the law firm and apparently will be moving back in with his parents. It will take a while to repair my relationship with my parents, but it’s a start.

“Oh, and this will help you poop,” I say, pointing to the murky-looking smoothie. Brad chokes on the coffee and then groans in pain clutching the dressing on his side.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I say, taking the coffee cup from his hands and placing it on the tray I’ve brought him.

“I’m fine, Gabriella. I just thought it would be awhile before we killed the romance with that kind of talk.”

“I know, but I was reading up on gallbladder surgery and the body can still fully function without it? It’s like the only organ you can live without, but it takes a while to adjust and so you need to be careful what you eat because no one wants to not be able to poop.

Once, when I was on vacation, I didn’t poop for like four days and my nanny had to…

” I look up to find Brad smirking with amusement.

“And I’m rambling and over sharing again. ”

“You are, but it’s one of the reasons I love you.” My heart somersaults.

“Yeah, what else do you love?”

“Hmmm, your eyes, how passionate you get when you watch that episode of Friends, even though you’ve watched it a thousand times.”

“But they weren’t on a proper break, no one said let’s see other people,’ I mock, using my fingers to make air quotations. “I don’t get how he didn’t get that.”

Brad snorts.

“I love how accepting you are, how big your heart is and how you always put other people before yourself, even when you shouldn’t.”

I feel my cheeks heat. No one has ever said such complimentary things. I grew up never feeling enough, and here he is telling me every single thing he loves about me.

“You’re making me blush. Those meds are making you soft.” I wink.

“No, dying on that table and thinking I’d never spend another day with you did that, Gabriella.”

I still as his words settle between us. There could have been a very different outcome, and I’d be sitting here, clutching his t-shirt and using it to wipe away my tears, instead of wearing it while I start my day with him.

“Close your eyes,” he whispers.

I eye him curiously before doing so.

The mattress dips.

“Hold out your hand.”

I open my hand, palm facing upwards and feel something small and hard placed in it.

“Open your eyes.”

I look down to see a small red box.

He reaches for my free hand, and I inhale sharply.

“You deserve all the grand gestures money can buy, and when I am back on my feet, I will do this right, but I’ve waited a lifetime to find someone that quietens the storm inside of me and that someone is you. When my life quite literally flashed before my eyes, all I saw was you.

I don’t want to let another day go by without you by my side, so…” He opens the box to reveal a stunning round solitaire diamond on a gold band, and I think I stop breathing. “Gabriella Diana Monroe, Mia cara, mi vuoi sposare?” Will you marry me?

I don’t need a second to think about my answer. I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.

“Yes, I’ll marry you.” He slides the ring onto my finger and I climb into his lap as gently as I can, wrapping my arms around him. He kisses me the same way he did the first time, with a want and a desire that makes me feel like the only woman in the world.

“And you don’t need to do it again. This was perfect. I don’t need a grand gesture or an elaborate proposal. I just need you.” I brush his dark hair, that’s a little overgrown, away from his forehead.

He brushes his lips against mine and I melt into his touch.

“I love you, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life, every day that I am graced with, showing you just how much.”