Chapter 1
MASSIMO MANCINI
I was doing up my cufflinks when I felt a pair of arms wrap around me from behind, squeezing me tight. I didn’t need to glance in the mirror to know who it was.
There was only one woman who would dare to put her hands on me without the fear of risking her life.
My Cara.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” Yasemin asked, skimming a kiss against my back. The simple touch sent a flutter through me, and I knew there was only one woman who was capable of ever making me feel this way. Of making me feel remotely human.
“You,” I murmured and turned around to pull my Cara into my arms. “I’m always thinking about you, Cara.”
Yasemin grinned up at me and rose on her tiptoes to brush her ruby-painted lips against mine. My Cara looked great in every colour and everything she wore, but I especially loved her in red.
“You’re such a smooth talker when you want to be,” she whispered against my mouth before trailing her tongue along my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I groaned against her mouth and granted it eagerly, wanting to taste her just as much as she wanted to taste me.
We pulled away from the kiss when we ran out of breath, but it wasn’t enough. I could never get enough of my Cara, and trailed my lips down the long, elegant column of her neck. Here, I could feel her heart beat against my lips, and it was my second favourite place to feel it. The first was with her naked in my bed, and my face pressed against her chest, over where her heart was beating wildly underneath.
So alive and carefree.
So beautiful.
So mine.
“Are you okay, Massimo?” Yasemin asked, raking a hand through my hair. I groaned at the soft touch of my love and held her tighter.
“With you in my arms, I’m perfect,” I groaned. “So fucking perfect.”
“You’re sweet today,” she noted in a happy tone, and I wanted to hear her sound like that every day for the rest of my life. “You’re always sweet with me, but you’re especially sweet today.”
“I guess your parents’ 30th anniversary is making me feel a little sentimental.”
She smiled. “I like it when you’re sentimental.”
“And I love you.” I pressed a hard kiss against her mouth. “Now, spin for me. Let me see what you’re wearing.”
Yasemin grinned and held out her hand for me to take. She did a little spin on the spot, showing off the sexy red number she was wearing. It was strapless and short, just about covering her ass, and she paired it with a pair of black fuck-me heels.
“You look beautiful tonight, Cara. Fucking gorgeous.” I twirled my Cara away from me before quickly twirling her back into my arms. It pained me to have her away from me for too long. “Though you look beautiful every night. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
“You have to say that,” she giggled and pressed her face to my chest. “You’re my boyfriend.”
I’ve been trying to be more than just your boyfriend for half a year now.
“I can’t wait to be more than just your boyfriend, Cara,” I whispered in her ear and gave the lobe a little nip. When her body stiffened as it always did when I hinted at making things a lot more serious between us, I twirled her away again.
We danced upstairs in her childhood room with no music and dressed to the nine’s for the party downstairs until she relaxed in my arms.
I never knew love could be like this. So happy. So pure. So fucking fulfilling.
“Are you ready to celebrate my parents’ 30th anniversary?” Yasemin sighed, looking up at me from under her long, sultry lashes.
I chuckled at the glee on her face and nodded. “I can’t wait for us to celebrate our 30th anniversary one day, and then 40th, 50th…actually, all the anniversaries.”
“50th anniversary? Seems so far away.”
“I’m afraid that with you by my side, the time will pass in the blink of an eye.”
“And you don’t want that?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I want time to crawl by, to pass incredibly slowly because I want to savour and cherish every moment with you, Cara.”
My Cara wasn’t one to blush but at this moment, heat coloured her cheeks. She looped her arms around my neck and rose on her tiptoes again to press a soft kiss to my lips. “You have such a beautiful way with words, Massimo Mancini. It’s one of the things I love about you.”
I sucked on her bottom lip. “And I love everything about you.”
-
Sometime during the evening, I lost my Cara to the crowd and I resorted to grumpily standing in the corner, sipping a glass of whiskey and watching her from a distance. I knew no one in this circle, the people here to celebrate her parents’ 30th wedding anniversary, would ever dream of harming Yasemin, but you couldn’t take the Mafia Don out of the man. I would always be on edge, watching my Cara, and I would always make sure she was safe and happy.
The object in my pocket suddenly felt very heavy, reminding me of its presence. As if I could ever forget.
I had been walking around with the small velvet box on my person every day for the past couple of months. It was hopeful and optimistic, and I was always waiting for the right moment to propose to my Cara and make her mine in every sense of the word.
We often spoke about marriage and I knew she wasn’t ready for marriage yet. I had suggested that we get married a few times over the past couple of months already, and the answer was a resounding no. I felt like she was slowly but gradually warming to the idea, and that was good enough for me. For now, at least.
I would spend the rest of my life proposing to my Cara if that was what it took.
She lifted her head, laughing at a joke one of her childhood friends had made, and eyes connected from across the room. Her laughter subsided, but her lips turned higher at the corners. I watched as she made an excuse to her childhood friends and quickly crossed the room to walk right into my arms.
“I missed you,” she whispered, brushing the words against the underside of my chin. “I could be standing right beside you, Massimo Mancini, and I would still miss you. Sometimes, I’ll be in your arms and it still wouldn’t feel enough.”
She looped her arms around my neck and I bowed down to meet her halfway and press my lips against hers.
“I know exactly how you feel, Cara.”
“How?”
“Because I feel exactly the same way.” The ring felt even heavier in my pocket. “I’ll never have enough of you, Cara. I’ll always love more. I love you more and more every single day, and it still doesn’t feel enough. A single lifetime with you will never be enough.”
“Here’s to many, many lifetimes together.” Love shone brightly in her eyes, and she tipped my whiskey glass toward her. She took a tentative sip and fed me the taste of it in a sweet, innocent kiss.
I held her eyes and took a sip of my own. “To all the lifetimes.”
-
Layla Knight
03.09.2023
