The Guzzi Legacy: Vol 1

by Bethany-Kris

  Regal.

  Beautiful.

  Like Valeria wearing it.

  “It’s perfect, Val,” Haven said.

  “It’s not at all like my first.”

  Haven’s smile slipped. “No?”

  She hadn’t talked a lot about her first—forced—marriage, but especially not to Haven. Not even when she was on the run and had lived with Haven for years. It was something she didn’t bring up because she figured ... then she wasn’t putting Haven in danger unwittingly.

  “No, that was some stupid princess ... God, it was an ugly thing.”

  Haven grinned. “Yeah?”

  “Not what I wanted.”

  “And this is?”

  That’s what she was trying to say.

  The emotions made it difficult.

  “All of this is exactly what I want,” Valeria whispered. “I’m still trying to convince myself that it’s real, you know?”

  “This is so fucking real, Val. That man loves you. His family loves you. Your kid? She’s theirs, now. You did good, okay? You will not wake up tomorrow and find out this was all a lie, I promise. This is real life—your life as long as you want it. Got it?”

  Valeria nodded, dragging in a shaky breath to keep the tears lining her eyes at bay, lest she ruin her makeup. What a mess that would be, and they couldn’t fix it when she was a couple minutes away from walking to her future.

  “Yeah, I understand,” Valeria whispered.

  “Good. Sometimes, we need to hear it, right?”

  “Right, Haven.”

  Her best friend winked. “You are worthy of this, never forget that. Him? These people? Me? They deserve you. We are lucky to have you, and we are better because we know you.”

  “I think it’s the other way around, too.”

  “Maybe,” Haven agreed, “but today isn’t their day, either. It’s yours.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ready to get married?”

  “More than ready.”

  “Then, let’s get you married.”

  Haven’s pep talk came at the right time because beyond the double oak doors lined with waves of white and red tulle, the music changed to a familiar tune. Ginevra shot a wide smile over her shoulder and lifted her bouquet of red roses high.

  “That’s me,” she said.

  The doors opened a little. Not enough to show the rest, but it allowed Ginevra to walk through first. Haven gave Valeria a wink.

  “Me next. You’re not sad, right?”

  “For what?”

  “Well, I’m not sure. Maybe because your side of the aisle might be a little ... empty.”

  Valeria shook her head. “Not at all. The people who count are already here, and the only other person I might like to see ... well, my parents are dead, and Abril called to congratulate before she asked after Maria. I’m not sad.”

  “Good. I love you, huh?”

  Valeria nodded. “I love you, too. Thank you ... for everything.”

  When she had nothing, Haven was there. Against all odds, Haven had been the one who never gave up on Valeria. Now she had everything, and she was so glad she could share this with her best friend. That was the beauty of life.

  “We’re just getting started, Val.”

  “Absolutely.”

  A minute later, Haven slipped through the doors when they opened for her. That left Valeria and Maria waiting in the corridor. Gian, Chris’s father, had offered to walk her down the aisle, and while it meant the world to her ... she still asked to do this alone.

  So much of her life was forced upon her. She wasn’t given any choice, and she had never been free to do something willingly.

  More than anything, she wanted to do this.

  Gian understood.

  “Almost time, Mamá,” Maria whispered, smiling.

  She looked so beautiful in her red and white gown.

  “Almost,” she echoed.

  Maria would walk first, spreading her rose petals down the aisle. When the song changed to the one she chose for her walk, then she would go, too.

  “And then we get to keep Chris forever, right?”

  “Yeah, baby, we get to keep him forever.”

  Maria turned with her basket ready when the doors opened for her. Instead of walking in, she skipped. Chuckles murmured down the line of chairs before the doors closed again, leaving her to her thoughts.

  She wouldn’t be alone for long.

  Chris promised.

  She didn’t have to do anything alone now. And hadn’t he proven that he always kept his promises?

  Soon, the song changed behind the closed doors, and Valeria dragged in a heavy breath. Lifting her head to smile, the doors opened wide open to expose her waiting behind them.

  Every guest stood.

  Valeria smiled wider behind her veil.

  She should have taken the time to admire the way the decorations had come together in the hotel's hall where they chose their venue. All the reds and whites, melding together with the roses as accents, and centerpieces. The silk aisle runner dotted with red and white rose petals, compliments of her daughter. The event planner and the small army she brought in to decorate the place had worked so hard to get it ready for this moment.

  She looked over the people, noting familiar faces; some she had only recently met, and others she had known for months now, smiling back at her.

  And then, she stared forward.

  At him.

  Chris waited at the end of the aisle, his twin at his left, wearing a custom, tailored tux he filled perfectly. It reminded her how lucky she was to have this gorgeous man waiting on her—smiling for her. Well, he reminded her of that every time he woke her up in the morning, and each night before she fell asleep with him next to her. His white silk vest and tie was a stark contrast to the red set his twin, and other brothers wore for the day.

  The chiseled line of his jaw softened when his grin deepened, and his dark gaze drifted down her dress to take her in. The proud glint in his eye said he liked what he saw waiting for him. Just like that, she was the only woman in the world, and he was the one man made for her. She’d been careful to do that for this day. Ensure he didn’t see her dress—that it would be a complete surprise.

  Chris had been more than willing to play along.

  Whatever she wanted.

  He loved her too much.

  She understood.

  She loved him the same.

  From all the way across the room, she sensed his stare. The way he drank her in and appreciated her. Adored her. He never hid it. Not from her, or from anyone else. She couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life being loved by this amazing man.

  Maria waved at her mom from her spot next to Haven, reminding her they still had a whole ceremony to get through. Valeria stopped wasting time standing at the end of the aisle when where she wanted to be next to Chris far more.

  That’s where she belonged.

  Forever.

  Epilogue

  “Whatever it is,” Chris said when he answered the ringing phone while heading up the stairs, lest it wake up his sleeping wife or Maria, “make it good, and fast. I have better things to do this morning than talk on the phone.”

  “Is that how you greet your father?”

  “Well ... no.”

  “Good,” Gian said, “I was worried you forgot your manners in your new married life.”

  “I’ve been married almost two months. You don’t think it might take longer?”

  Gian made a noise under his breath. “I’ll be honest, I might as well have forgotten the rest of the world existed for the first six months of mine and your mother’s marriage. That was a wonderful time.”

  “And that’s enough of that,” Chris muttered.

  “Anyway,” Gian said, “I called for a reason. Happy birthday.”

  “Who did you tell first this year, me or Corrado?”

  “Both of us,” came the new voice on the call.

  A three-way call.

>   Nice.

  Chris chuckled. “Ah, Papa got smart this year.”

  “Wouldn’t want either of you feeling left out,” Gian returned, his amusement clear.

  A long running joke between Chris and his twin on their birthday was whoever got called first by their parents—mother or father—was clearly loved the most. It was only a couple of years ago that their parents caught onto the joke which they didn’t find all that funny. Or rather, their mother didn’t find it as cute as they did.

  Their father played along.

  They couldn’t say the same for their ma.

  “And now can I go back to bed?” Corrado mumbled. “It was way too early for this.”

  Chris checked his watch. “It’s nine.”

  “Thank you for that information. I will let a very pregnant Ginevra and an extremely anxious Alessio know that their nightly habits of walking the halls and worrying about every little thing isn’t an acceptable excuse to keep me awake until two in the morning. Care to be here while I do that, brother? Or to lend me a couch when they kick my ass out?”

  Gian laughed.

  Chris was quick to say, “No, you’re on your own there.”

  “Thanks for that, really.”

  “I do what I can,” Chris replied.

  “Go back to sleep, Corrado,” Gian said, “and call your mother later. Alessio isn’t the only anxious one lately.”

  “Right, right. Later.”

  One call clicked off, and Chris knew he was left with only his father. During his conversation, he had climbed the two levels of stairs in his three-level home and stood in the doorway of their master bedroom. Across the large space, Valeria slept happily under gray and white striped sheets, only a peek of her bare shoulders and a splash of black hair could be seen on her pillow.

  God.

  He loved this woman.

  So much.

  More every day.

  “Someone asked Ginevra who the father was when she went to the salon the other day with your mother,” Gian said.

  Chris frowned. “What?”

  “The boys were very angry.”

  “I mean ... I understand the curiosity someone might have,” Chris said, “but not the ignorance to outright ask. That’s nobody’s business.”

  From the moment his twin had announced Ginevra’s pregnancy to their family, the expectation of how to act and receive it was undoubtedly clear. It was we are pregnant. It was they were expecting a baby. Their daughter. From the start, neither Corrado nor Alessio had differentiated, and Ginevra was the same way.

  Everyone fell in line because, sure, while the circumstances of a poly relationship might be strange to some, it was his twin’s everyday normal. What was Corrado’s life didn’t have to fit into everyone else’s box—they didn’t have to live it. They did, however, have to respect it.

  “What did Ma do?” Chris asked. “You said she was there, right?”

  Gian chuckled. “Had all her future appointments cancelled and found a new salon before lunch.”

  “Easy when her last name is Guzzi.”

  “Easy when she is who she is, you mean.”

  “That, too.”

  “Nonetheless, I thought you might want to know for later today when we’re having the birthday dinner at the mansion,” Gian said. “In case they’re sensitive about the baby and the pregnancy, that might be why.”

  “Yeah, thanks. I’ll let Val know.”

  “And how is she, hmm?”

  “Pardon?”

  “Valeria. How is she?”

  “Perfect. She’s perfect.”

  “I bet. I know she’s been busy prepping for the fall semester to start. Has she settled on a major after her bachelor’s?”

  “Not yet,” he said, “but she’s got all the time in the world.”

  Chris had promised her that.

  He intended to keep it.

  “Well,” his father drawled, “I will let you get back to your morning. I’m sure you have plans, and I didn’t mean to interrupt them. Living that good life, huh?”

  Maria was still sleeping.

  Valeria, too.

  Still, his father wasn’t wrong.

  He wasn’t sure what that good life was his father spoke about, or if this was it, but it was the perfect life for Chris. That’s what mattered most to him.

  “I will see you later, Papa.”

  “You, too. Happy birthday, son.”

  Oh, it was about to be very happy.

  • • •

  “Oh, my God.”

  Chris’s dark chuckles whispered along his wife’s naked skin as he raised from between her thighs, dropping hot kisses to her trembling stomach, up to the valley between her breasts, and finally along the damp column of her throat.

  Valeria’s heavy breaths, thick from her orgasm, panted into the bedsheets. There was nothing he liked more than waking this woman up by loving her. Usually, with him between her thighs because fuck ...

  That was a win-win for him, too.

  Her taste was still tart on his tongue, and she all but sucked the flavor of her arousal off his tongue when he kissed her. Her soft moans were swallowed by his kiss, but he was already lost in the way she had widened her legs for him. The slickness of her pussy grinded against his bare length while her fingernails dragged burning lines down the muscles of his back.

  “Fuck,” he breathed.

  “Yes, yes.”

  He was a lucky fuck.

  Every morning, this woman was in his bed.

  She arched into his hands that slid down her body, and he leaned up to hover above her while she licked her lips. Sinful and inviting. Begging and ready.

  God, he loved it.

  His fingers flexed around her waist, loving that he knew this woman never missed a fucking meal. He was fit, and toned, but her curves drove him crazy. From the expanse of her hips, to the roundness of her ass when she was backing into his thrusts. Every part of her was perfect, and he wanted her to know it every morning she woke up, and each night before she fell asleep.

  That was his job.

  He did it.

  “You want that dick, huh?”

  Valeria laughed breathlessly. “So bad.”

  See, and now he had wakened her up with his tongue between her thighs, it only made her want more. That was the win-win for him.

  It was only once Chris slid home inside Valeria’s clenching pussy, feeling her tightening around him in the best way, that he kissed her again. He loved to feel the way her lips trembled against his when he stretched her open one inch at a time, slow but so fucking good, too. She was always so shameless, her hips rising to meet his while her hands pulled him closer to her.

  “Stop teasing ...”

  Because she knew.

  And he loved that, too.

  His control snapped when her heels dug into his back, and her fingernails found the best spot to dig in along his sides. He couldn’t fuck her hard enough, then, or fast enough. He would never get enough of this woman, no matter what.

  But wasn’t that the beauty of it?

  Chris lost himself in the way Valeria worked her body against his, fast to seek her own bliss while he was chasing his. Her noises muffled against his kiss until he felt that climax rush through her again as she froze beneath him. He followed soon after, holding her tight as he thrust deep, and came hard.

  “God, I fucking love you.”

  Valeria’s laughter, so high and sweet, was better than a morning prayer. Hell, maybe it was his new prayer. He tangled his arms around her, flipped them over so they were both on their sides, and he could bury his face into the mess of her hair, and sighed.

  “Happy birthday,” he heard her say. “I love you, too.”

  “Best fucking birthday yet.”

  “You wait,” she whispered, “it will get way better.”

  He didn’t know how.

  Chris was willing to find out though.

  • • •

  “Can I get it for
Daddy now, Mamá?”

  Hearing Maria call him daddy never failed to make Chris smile. It didn’t matter if she was saying it because it annoyed her that he refused to let her wear her pink, sparkly running shoes on a rainy day, or because she was asking for five more minutes of storytelling at bedtime. He wasn’t sure when she thought of him as her father, but he vividly remembered when she asked if she could call him that.

  You’re kind of like my daddy, right?

  Kind of?

  It’s all he wanted to be.

  She all out refused to call him papa or father, and Chris understood why. She related those titles to a man whose name they didn’t speak because it upset her, and of a time in her life which was still all too recent, and traumatic.

  So, instead, he got to be her daddy.

  That was better.

  Because her daddy didn’t let her down.

  Ever.

  Her daddy loved her unconditionally.

  No exceptions.

  “Okay,” Valeria said, “you can go get it, but hurry before Uncle Les gets up there to take his bat.”

  Chris shot her a look across the backyard of the mansion where she sat beside Cara and Ginevra. There, they could watch the rest of the Guzzi men—well, most, as the younger Guzzi twins had been sent off to Chicago after their twenty-first birthday—and the other guests who wanted to join from their birthday dinner play their game of baseball from a safe distance. Valeria pretended like she didn’t see Chris glancing her way with his questioning stare about just what she was hiding from him, but he knew she did.

  Alessio came up to bat after Maria darted for the back of the mansion, and from the spot they’d chosen as the pitcher’s mound, Corrado grinned. “You want that curve ball, Les?”

  The man tapped the metal bat against the heel of his shoe before pointing it at Chris’s twin, saying, “I’m up for whatever—you know that.”

  “Right.”

  Sitting on third base, Chris just wanted to hit home so he could sneak over to Valeria and find out why Maria disappeared into the mansion. She had already given him a birthday present earlier after they cut the cake. A damn nice Rolex, custom-made with the Guzzi G designed in diamonds on the face.