Her emerald eyes widened at the sight of the little, round, pink crushed velvet box as he untied the bow on top.
“I saw this in the window of a jewelry store after we left the bridal shop to pick out Kat’s wedding dress.” Opening the box, he revealed a shiny ring that somehow still caught the light in a dark room. “And even though I was drunk when I passed it, I knew that, once I sobered up, I would be back to buy it.”
“You …” Maria’s breath caught in her throat. “You had it this whole time?”
“Yes,” he said, taking it out of the box before he slid it on her finger, “I did.”
Staring down at the most perfect, size six ring, she felt her eyes go a little misty. “It’s a princess cut.”
“I know, princess.” He rolled back over top of her and kissed her lips with a dimpled smile. “Do you like it?”
“No.” Maria shook her head, not looking at the handsome face, but to the beautiful gold ring that held a huge, crystal clear diamond. “I love it.”
Kissing her deeply, both Dominic and her knew that was the closest she was going to get to telling him she loved him for now, and yet it still made him the happiest man in the world.
“I would have asked you to marry me again,” he said after sweeping a tongue over a pouty bottom lip, “but I was afraid of getting turned down again.”
Maria gave the same attention to his bottom lip with a hinted smile. “You should ask me now.”
“Maria Caruso”—his fierce but very loving gaze returned, as his hazel eyes bore into hers—“will you marry me?”
“I will, on one condition.”
“Anything,” he promised without even having to hear it, but Maria was unsure how he would react.
“I don’t change my last name.”
“Princess”—Dominic reached up to touch the back of his tatted fingers to her cheeks—“I would have never allowed you to do such a thing.”
Closing her eyes for a moment after feeling the somersault in her gut, she opened them only to shove him off her so she could get up and take him with her.
“What are you doing?” he asked with a laugh while she tried to drag him out of bed.
Interlocking their hands that were opposite in every way possible, inside and outside, Maria could no longer hold out. “We got a wedding to plan fast.”
Forty-Six
A Changed Woman
“Ahhhhh!” The collective screams of three girls erupted when she showed them the ring.
“Ha!” Lake shoved a finger in her face. “I knew you were secretly like us.”
Adalyn did as well. “Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Maria is no different than us! She likes boys too!”
Katarina shook her head, smiling. “Oh, how the mighty has fallen.”
The other two girls, however, stood there in utter shock.
“Y-you’re getting married?” Chloe asked, blinking to see if this was real fucking life.
“Before us?” Elle stood there, unmoving, most likely wondering why she had put in the most work and been with her man the longest, yet she didn’t have anything to show for it.
Maria understood why Elle and Chloe were shocked—because she was like them. She also understood why Kat wasn’t. However, she didn’t understand the reaction from the other two. “Why are you two not shocked?” She looked at the two best friends, Lake and Adalyn.
“Because I’ve seen him, Maria,” Lake kept reminded her just how similar they were underneath, no matter how much she denied her boy crazy side. “I don’t need to know anything else.”
Adalyn wiggled her brows, clearly thinking about her man, Angel. “The Luciano brothers are hot as fuck, huh?”
“Ew.” Kat tried not to gag.
“Nope,” Maria told her. “Just the one is.”
“Holy shit.” Elle looked at her as if she could see the wild thoughts behind Maria’s emerald eyes. “You really are getting married ….”
“Yep,” she confirmed sharply before she dropped another bomb on them. “Tomorrow.”
“Ahhhhh!” Another shriek roared out, this time between all five.
“Tomorrow?” Elle’s mouth dropped. “Why so soon?”
“Uh ….” Maria looked over at Kat.
“Are you sure you’re not rushing into it?” Chloe asked, concerned for her friend, who’d recently been through a lot.
“Kat, cover your ears,” Maria instructed.
Katarina immediately held a gruesome face as she hummed with her hands over her ears, instinctively knowing she didn’t want to hear anything that was about to come out of Maria’s mouth.
“He won’t fuck me till after we’re married.”
“Oh …” Chloe was the one who spoke first, her eyes growing wide.
“So, you’re telling me he’s respectful and hot?” Lake’s face was a picture of disbelief, as she tried to keep her swooning to a minimum. It was understandable, as she was dating Vincent.
“Did you try?” Adalyn asked in horror.
“Try?” Lake was the one that slapped the back of her head. “Look at her. Maria doesn’t have to try anything.”
Maria appreciated the compliment, but she understood what Adalyn meant.
“Trust me.” She looked them dead in the eyes, remembering all the endless things she did to try to get Dom in her bed. “I TRIED.”
“Oh,” Chloe said again, and Maria didn’t miss the sympathetic look, now understanding why she was eager to get married.
Adalyn took Maria’s hand in all seriousness. “Honey, I am so sorry.”
“I think it’s sweet,” Elle said with a sweet smile, her mood instantly changing. The hopeless romantic at heart was easily swayed.
“What can we do?” Lake asked as they were all now on board for mission “Get Maria Fucked.”
Maria put Katarina’s arms down as it was safe now to listen. “Now, we have some fun.”
“Why are they screaming over there?” Nero asked in concern, hearing the screams on the other side of the wall. “Are they all right?”
“They’re fine.” Lucca stopped him from getting up before he looked at Dominic to continue. “You were saying?”
Dom looked around the room that consisted of his and Maria’s close family of men. While she was breaking it down to the girls in the next apartment over, Dominic was breaking it down to the men. Why, you might ask? Because his future wife was a psychopath who had insisted it be done this way.
Dominic just got to the fucking chase. “Maria and I are getting married … tomorrow.”
The Caruso side of the room went silent, while Lucca and the Luciano brothers smiled as they watched the reactions around the room.
“You’re marrying my sister?” Nero asked, confused.
Dominic nodded. “Yes.”
“Maria Caruso?” he asked just to make sure Dom had it correct.
“Yes.”
“And she is doing this willingly?” Nero didn’t ask the question to the Luciano boss but to his brother.
Lucca nodded to confirm. “Trust me; she is.”
Looking at Nero, Dominic could tell he still didn’t believe it, needing to see it for himself.
Dominic couldn’t help but notice the one-eyed Caruso brother sat in the back of the room quietly, unfazed.
“Oh, great.” Vincent sat back in a huff, hearing the girls let out another scream of excitement. “You know what this means?” He looked at Nero and Angel sullenly. “They’re going to expect us to put out too.”
Dominic snapped his head to the little prick that was neither a brother or friend of his or Maria’s. “Why the fuck are you even here?”
“Because my girl’s over there, screaming out a fucking lung.” Vincent threw a cocky thumb in the direction the screams were coming from before he patted the back of the man sitting next to him. “And me and Nero are friends, so I just followed him in here, because I wasn’t going to be left out of whatever the fuck was going on.”
Nero scooted his chair away from Vincent’s,
clearly not wanting to claim him as a friend at the moment.
“Well, now you know.” Dominic nodded toward the door. “Good-bye.”
“Hell no, I ain’t going nowhe—”
“You do not want me to touch this asshole,” Dominic warned, looking at the underboss.
Lucca didn’t make a move.
Thankfully for Vincent’s sake, Drago got up ….
“Okay, fine!” Vincent yelled before Drago could touch him. “Maria asked me to be here.”
Dominic and Lucca furrowed their brows as they both had the same thought …
Why?
“Maria and Dom, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g …” The girls behind her sung in unison as they danced and taunted the blonde who had sworn she would never let a man break her into marriage.
“First comes love …”
Luckily for them, Maria felt a little less coldhearted today with a ring on her finger.
“Then comes marriage …”
It really fucking sucked to eat crow.
“Then comes the baby in a …” All the girls trailed down the hallway after Maria when she threw open the apartment door to find all the men sitting there, waiting.
“Hello, boys.” Maria waltzed in with the prettiest smile on her face. “Now that you’ve heard the news ….” She went right up to Dominic and planted a big kiss on his lips to get it all right out of the way.
All the girls gasped.
“Holy shit …” Nero quickly realized that it wasn’t a joke, as he had never seen his sister touch a man before, let alone kiss one. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”
“Don’t worry.” Drago made a weird face after seeing it. “I needed a minute too.”
“Oh, shut up.” Maria rolled her eyes at her dramatic brother. “Like I haven’t seen your tongue down Elle’s throat enough.”
Even though Maria had let him go, Dominic was still a bit thrown off by her kiss.
“Anyway,” Maria got back to why they were all here, “I thought you boys could have a little bachelor party while the girls and I go out to have my bachelorette.” She quickly waved as she turned to leave with four very excited girls. “Okay, bye!”
“No.” Lucca’s grave voice had all the girls stopping but her.
This time, Dominic tried. “Come back here, Maria.”
Maria stopped, wondering if Dominic’s dick was going to be worth it. She decided it was as she turned back around.
Nero almost fell out of his seat. “Oh my God.”
Passing Dominic, she went right up to Lucca, knowing it wasn’t her future husband who minded if they went out.
“We can all go out together.” It wasn’t her brother who spoke, but the underboss.
Maria simply said one word. “No.”
“Maria,” Lucca said her name in warning that he was trying to be understanding. “I can’t have you girls go out unprotected.”
“Fine.” She already knew Lucca would never let Chloe go out without a guard. It was time to counter. “We’ll take Vincent. You all don’t want him anyway.”
“Well, I might want to stay, depending on what kind of bachelor party we’re talki—”
“It won’t be that kind of party,” Dominic hissed before turning to agree. “Fine by me.”
Lucca shook his head. “He’s an idiot.”
“Actually, I’d love to go.” Vincent got up to wrap an arm around Lake. “They’ll probably have more fun anyway.”
“He’s an idiot, but he’s crazy,” Maria told Lucca, knowing he wasn’t worthless when it came down to it.
“One isn’t enough for all you girls,” Lucca denied her again.
“Amo’s not busy.” With a smile, Maria said the name of the man who wasn’t there.
She was very interested to find out if Lucca was going to let Amo watch over Chloe.
Lucca flexed his jaw, but when he didn’t turn it down right away, Maria thought she just might have him ….
“I’ll be with her. I won’t let anything happen,” she promised.
“Where are you going?” Lucca finally asked, seeming to relent as everyone watched Maria talk the boogieman into getting her way.
“Oh, you know, dress shopping. That’s about it.” That was all Maria was willing to give away.
The whole room was shocked as Lucca, reached into his pocket to pull out a black credit card.
Really?
And so was Maria as she stared at the card, knowing, in a weird way, it was him asking for forgiveness. He was extending an olive branch to put their brother/sister bond back to where it had been before everything had happened. If she took it, apology accepted.
Sliding the card out of his hand, she thought about how she missed him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Lucca’s deep breath told her she had her brother back, but no sooner did the mask slip back to the underboss. “I want updates every hour, and you all back by midnight.”
“Then I want rules too,” Maria countered. “Vincent and Amo have to stay ten steps back at all times, and they are not allowed to talk to us.”
“Deal.” Lucca nodded, liking the last part, before turning to the pretty boy, who made them all want to pull their hair out. “Talk or touch Lake while you’re out, and I’ll kill you.”
Vincent looked at them like they were crazy. “Lake’s my girlfr—”
“Not tonight she isn’t.” Maria gave him a wicked smile that had all the boyfriends scared.
“Maria,” Lucca began to warn her again, then decided to give up. “Try not to get in too much trouble.”
“I’m a changed woman.” Maria sweetly smiled as she went back to kiss Dominic.
Still not used to the sight, Nero had to look away. He and the other men got up to speak with their girlfriends, out of fear for what Maria had planned for them.
“You’re not worried?” Maria asked, wrapping her arms around Dominic.
“No.” He laughed, showing his dimples. “Should I be?”
“Nope.” Maria gave him another tender peck. “Should I?”
“No,” Dom assured her, leaning down to whisper in her ear, “your dress better be white this time, princess.”
“No promises …,” she teased, letting him go. Then she began separating the couples and taking the girls.
Lucca had let Chloe go first. He seemed to not be worried at all, which meant he either was the most nervous and didn’t want to show it or he really trusted Chloe.
Drago was next, but he was only nervous because he was afraid Maria would get Kat’s ass in trouble, since the two of them together weren’t a good mix for men.
Angel was nervous, knowing Adalyn was boy crazy, like Lake, and he knew if men strippers were involved, it could be bad.
Nero was the most nervous, however, knowing the type of shit his sister was capable of. He straight-out didn’t trust Maria, then his trust dipped in Elle because, when he went to kiss her, Elle had turned, giving her his cheek.
Internally Maria laughed, wondering how long it would take him to realize why.
And Vincent thought he was fine, because he was going to be joining them. Little did he know he wasn’t going to have the least bit fun.
“Maria …,” Lucca called her name for the last time. “End up in jail, and I’ll let you rot there on the night before your wedding while I bail Chloe out.”
Forty-Seven
A Whole Lot of Glitter
“Are we getting strippers?” Cassius asked as soon as the door closed behind the women.
“No.” Dominic threw over his shoulder to him.
“I hear there’s a pretty sweet spot in the basement.” Matthias raised his brows in excitement.
“Hell no,” Dominic said, still traumatized from his last event. He then made one thing clear to all the men in the room. “No girls.”
Matthias looked at him in offense. “No brother of mine can have a bachelor party without any girls. You’re getting married tomorrow; you won’t get this chance agai
n.”
“Are you forgetting who I’m marrying?” Dom looked at him like he was crazy. “Because there will be no fucking wedding.”
“Well, this is going to be fucking lame,” Matthias huffed out, bored already.
Not saying a word, Leo stood and headed up the steps while everyone in the room looked at him sympathetically.
Well, almost everyone.
“Where is he going?” Cassius asked as he narrowed his eyes at his back.
“His room.” Lucca was the one to answer. “He’s got a bunch of video g—”
“Cool.” Cass immediately stood to follow after him.
Dominic didn’t miss the cold shoulder Cassius gave Lucca, nor the look the underboss had given back.
When there was a knock on the door, Nero got up to answer it, and when he came back, he had a shit-eating grin on his face.
Dominic didn’t know what was so fucking funny until two women sashayed into the room.
Oh no.
“Howdy, partners.” Two sexy voices escaped the mouths of girls dressed in cowgirl outfits as they tipped their hats. They both went for their toy guns at their low, exposed hips as the blonde said, “We’re looking for an outlaw who goes by the name Dominic Luciano.”
The posse of girls walked into the bridal shop with huge smiles on their faces, while Amo and Vincent walked in behind them angrily, as they were not allowed to speak.
“Maria, my darling.” Ken came over to give her a kiss on each cheek before he gave one to Katarina. “How was the wedding?”
“It was … great.” Kat left out the part where it ended in death.
“You’ve brought me so many pretty girls.” He eyed them all enviously. “Which one is the lucky lady today?”
Maria smiled from ear to ear. “Me.”
Ken almost passed out from shock, but then he suddenly remembered. “It was that man you were with last time, huh? Kat’s brother. What was his name—Dominic! Oh, girl, I fell in love with him too.” He didn’t even wait for an answer, instead he just held out his hand for a high-five.
Dominic (Made Men Book 8) Page 34