Page 65 of Forbidden Sins
ESTELLA
I ’m not sure that I believe it’s all really happening until we’re back at the mansion, back to a life I was so desperate to escape just days ago.
Sebastian's hand is warm in mine, his presence solid and reassuring beside me.
Across from us, my father stares out the window, his profile sharp and hard, his thoughts hidden behind that impenetrable mask he's perfected over decades.
I know he’s not pleased with me, with the demands I placed on him. But I can’t bring myself to care. Having tasted freedom and love with Sebastian, there was no other way I could have lived going forward.
“What happens now?” I ask curiously.
A faint smile touches my father’s lips, and he adjusts his cuffs, looking at me calmly. “We’ll have to spread a different story about what happened. The former don in Boston will want to know what happened to Vito. We’ll need to make arrangements and perfect our story.”
“The truth won’t work?” I ask, a touch sarcastically, and my father chuckles darkly.
“That Vito tried to assault my daughter, so she ran away with her bodyguard, was captured, threatened by Vito, and then rescued by that same bodyguard and myself, ending in Vito’s death?
No, not unless we want war with Boston and their allies.
These are the kinds of things you’ll learn over time, daughter.
” He pauses. “The right lie, told convincingly, can prevent bloodshed.”
"What will you tell them?" Sebastian asks.
“We’ll consider different options. We’ll choose one, create evidence, a paper trail, witnesses. We’ll make sure that the truth doesn’t come out. And then eventually, it will all be behind us.”
“This could all have been avoided if you listened to your daughter from the start,” Sebastian says coldly. I place my hand over his, my heartbeat quickening slightly. But my father doesn’t retort right away.
“I’m listening now,” is all he says. “And you would do well to listen, too, Sinclair. The road you’ve both chosen isn’t easy. You’ll need to walk it with care.”
As we pull through the gates, I feel a strange mixture of fear and relief. This place has been both my home and my prison, and it feels like almost too much to hope that I could finally, really be happy here.
But we have the chance to try.
The next hours are a flurry. A doctor arrives to check both Sebastian and me, tending to us without questions, confirming that my wound was infected. I’m told it will scar, although I can’t bring myself to care. After everything we’ve survived, a scar feels like the least of my worries.
After a hot shower, I feel more like myself again.
I was instructed to go back to my own room, and Sebastian was told to stay the night in his.
But I can’t quite feel safe that something won’t happen to him in the night, that I won’t wake and find that this hasn’t all been a trap set up by my father, to bring me home and still take Sebastian away.
As soon as I’m out of the shower and dressed, I sneak downstairs and into his room, where I find him propped up in bed, his hair wet from his own shower and his shoulder freshly bandaged, wearing only a pair of dark pajama pants.
As always, my breath catches at the sight of him shirtless, my heart stuttering in my chest.
“You’re not supposed to be in here, princess.” Sebastian sets the book he was holding aside, smiling faintly at me. “You could get in trouble.”
“I’m afraid they’ll take you away from me.” I crawl into bed next to him, on his mostly uninjured side, curling against his chest. “I don’t want to wake up and find that you’re gone.”
“We’re going to have to trust that this is real.” He smooths a hand over my hair. “But I understand the fear. It will take time for this to feel normal.”
The look in his eyes undoes me—pride and love and a fierce, protective devotion that makes my breath catch. I lift my chin, pressing my lips to his in a kiss that starts gentle but quickly deepens, fueled by the lingering adrenaline and the desperate relief of being alive, of being together.
“I want to keep going,” Sebastian murmurs, his breath warm against my lips. “But we might have to wait until the wedding night, princess. I don’t want to risk making your father angry. Not when we finally have what we wanted.”
I smile at him, pulling back slightly. “Sebastian Sinclair, are you asking me to marry you?”
He smiles back, his mouth twisting up at the side in an amused smirk.
“I’ll ask properly later, princess. With a ring and all the formalities.
But… yes, Estella. I’m asking.” He reaches up, brushing my hair away from my face.
“I think your father assumes it’s a foregone conclusion.
But I would never be so bold as to assume that you’re mine forever, until you tell me that you will be. ”
“Except I said it already,” I whisper, cupping the side of his face with my hand. “A few times, I think.”
Sebastian smiles. “Then say it again, dove. Please.”
“I’m yours,” I breathe. “Your love, your heart, your wife, if you’ll have me as that. I love you, Sebastian. I’m yours forever, if you’ll be mine.”
He sucks in a breath, pressing his forehead to mine. “I’m yours,” he whispers softly. “Forever, Estella. No matter what life brings.”
—
The next morning, my father summons us to his study.
My heart hammers as I stand there—I’ve been here before, when he told me that I would marry a man of his choice.
When he told me that I would marry Vito Bianchi.
I’m not entirely convinced that everything I want is going to come true, yet. Not when it all still feels so fragile.
Sebastian and I sit across from him, the massive mahogany desk between us. Early sunlight streams through the tall windows, catching on the silver in my father's hair, illuminating the fine lines around his eyes I've never noticed before. He looks older today, more human somehow.
"I've been thinking about everything that’s happened," he begins, fingers steepled beneath his chin. "About what I witnessed at Vito’s penthouse."
I feel Sebastian tense beside me, ready for whatever comes next. I reach for his hand, interlacing our fingers openly on the armrest between us.
My father's eyes track the movement, lingering on our joined hands before returning to my face. "You love him," he says. It's not a question.
"Yes," I answer simply.
He nods, as if confirming something to himself. "You stepped out from behind that tree, facing a man who could have killed you. You protected Sebastian, just as he has protected you. You trusted him at the penthouse. You believed he would keep you safe."
"We protect each other." I meet his gaze unflinchingly. “We have since we ran from the garden.”
A ghost of a smile touches my father’s lips.
“Your grandmother was a strong woman, too, Estella,” he says, reaching for a wooden box at the side of his desk.
He taps the top of it, and when I lean forward, I see the Gallo family crest emblazoned into the wood.
He opens it, slowly, and I see a gorgeous ring nestled in velvet inside, sparkling in the sunlight streaming in from the window behind him.
It’s an emerald cut diamond, surrounded by sapphires, set in platinum.
“This was your grandmother’s ring,” Antony says simply. “My grandfather gave it to her. I meant to give it to your mother, but she wanted something different. I offered it to Vito, but he said he would choose his own ring for you.” He looks at Sebastian. “I’m offering it to you, now.”
I see Sebastian look at me out of the corner of my eye, and I know he’s waiting for my reaction, to see what I want.
A part of me wants to turn it down, to have a ring that Sebastian has chosen for me, himself.
But a bigger part of me, the part of me that understands duty and family, knows what this means.
This is my father, asking us to keep this bit of tradition with us, when he’s allowed us to break all of the rest of it. It’s him, offering a part of our family to Sebastian. A peace offering. An olive branch made of diamonds and sapphire, and platinum.
I give a small, almost imperceptible nod, and my father pushes the box forward, toward Sebastian.
"Sebastian," my father says. "If you wish to ask my daughter a question, you have my blessing. My full and complete blessing."
Sebastian looks at me, surprise and love mingling in his eyes. He reaches out, sliding the ring from the velvet where it’s nestled, then slides from his chair to one knee before me.
"Estella," he says, his voice rough with emotion.
"From the moment I was hired to protect you, I knew there was more to you than I thought I would ever be lucky enough to discover. I think I fell in love with you the moment I met you, even though I tried to pretend otherwise. I didn’t intend to fall for you, princess.
" He smiles. "But it's the best thing that's ever happened to me. "
Tears blur my vision as he continues.
"I promise to stand beside you, not in front of you or behind you, for all the days of my life. I promise to be your partner in everything—in love, in family, in business. Whatever path you choose, we walk it together." He holds out the ring, taking my hand. "Estella Gallo, will you marry me?"
For a moment, I can’t speak. My throat tightens, and my eyes blur with tears. I have a hard time believing this is real, that I’m not going to wake up and find that this was all a dream.
“Yes,” I whisper, my heart pounding as I look at the man I love, the man that I undoubtedly want to spend the rest of my life with. “Yes, Sebastian. I’ll marry you.”
As he slides my grandmother's ring onto my finger, I can’t help but feel that this is right…
that everything has led to this moment. That we made the right choice, at the end of it all.
When he rises to kiss me, I forget my father is watching, forget everything except this moment, this man, this love that survived against all odds.
Everything, except the softness of his mouth on mine and the feeling of knowing our future together is secure.
My father clears his throat, reminding us of his presence. "It's settled then," he says, his voice gruff with suppressed emotion. "Now we must discuss the future. Your future."
He rises, walking to the window that overlooks the estate grounds. "The Gallo family is at a crossroads. The old ways are dying. The new generation requires new leadership. I refused to see it before, to listen to Dimitri and Rowan’s counsel. But I’m beginning to see the error of my ways."
He turns back to face us. "Estella, you will be my heir. You will learn every aspect of our business, legitimate and otherwise. Sebastian will work alongside you, learning as well. Together, you will lead our family into the future when I step down."
Sebastian squeezes my hand. "We won't let you down, sir."
My father nods. "See that you don't." Then his expression softens, just slightly. "I am proud of you, Estella. Of the woman you've become. Of your bravery, and your strength. You’ve done what I would have never believed possible." He chuckles, a low, rough sound. “You’ve changed an old man’s mind.”
I stand up, letting go of Sebastian’s hand, and for the first time in years, I cross the room and embrace my father. “Thank you,” I whisper. “Thank you for letting me be happy.”
He nods, swallowing hard, and he hugs me back for just a moment before he steps out of my embrace. “I’m sure the two of you have plenty to talk about,” he says. “I’ll see you at dinner.”
Sebastian and I nod, leaving the office hand in hand. My heart is pounding, and I’m so stunned by it all that I don’t realize where he’s leading me at first until we head out of the wide doors that lead out to the gardens.
I have some idea of where we’re going, then. It’s confirmed when Sebastian leads me all the way to the rose lattices, stopping only when we’re standing beneath them, shrouded in shadow and the soft scent of roses.
“I’ll never regret kissing you here, little dove,” he murmurs, pulling me in. “No matter what happened after. Even if it hadn’t turned out like this, I’d never have regretted it for a moment.”.
I stare up at him, taking in the sight of his handsome face, the love shining in his eyes. I lean into him, feeling the hard press of his body against mine, the safety and peace of having him so close and not having to fear who might see. “You’re okay with this?” I ask softly. “All… all of it?”
Sebastian smiles, and it lights up his face as he reaches out, taking me in his arms. “I’m okay with anything, as long as I have you,” he says quietly. “I love you, Estella Gallo. And I will spend my life making sure that you’re always glad that you chose me.”
I lean up on my tiptoes, my hand braced against his chest, the ring sparkling as I lean in to kiss him, long and slow.
His hand twines in my hair, sliding through the strands as he holds my mouth to his, his tongue caressing mine as he groans, pulling me closer before I break the kiss for a brief moment.
“I will always choose you,” I promise, kissing him again, here in the spot where he kissed me for the first time, where we ran away together, where everything has come full circle at last.
Where we can choose each other, and no one will tell us any differently.
And in this world that we live in, where choice is so hard-won, that’s all that really matters.