by Brynne Asher
I walk out of my office and start toward my room. I hear her in the kitchen so I change my course but stop immediately before she sees me when I hear her talking. And she’s talking to Fin.
“He’ll come around, Finny, I promise. He just thinks you’re too big, but you’re not too big, are you? Of course you’re not, you’re perfect,” she says in a voice women only use when they’re talking to dogs or babies.
I drop my head and squeeze my eyes shut listening to her talk to her dog.
“Mama will talk him into it, I promise,” she goes on. “I don’t want you to have to sleep in that old icky kennel. Those are for bad dogs, not good puppies like my Finny. I don’t know what your daddy is thinking anyway, he and I only use half the bed, there’s plenty of room for you.”
I feel my chest expand and even the fucking contents on my desk can’t keep me from tipping my lips from listening to this.
“We’ll go for a walk later, the weather is still nice. Maybe if you get in better shape, your daddy will take you running with him. I don’t run, I think your daddy and Aunt Gabby are crazy because they love it. It hurts my side. But we’ll go for a walk later—Tony! You scared me! You can’t sneak up on me like that,” she yells at me since I’ve moved into the open space by the kitchen where she can now see me.
She’s sitting on a barstool drinking coffee and Fin is sitting at her feet, but now they’re both looking at me, surprised by my presence. Fin’s tail is going a mile a minute but he stays by her side, communicating to me who his person is. Leigh is wearing my t-shirt again and it barely covers her ass on the barstool with her long thin legs crossed, turned to the side. I can tell by their positions they were deep in conversation before I entered the room.
I let my eyes drag over her like I’ve become addicted to doing. Soaking her in, finding it hard to believe she’s here, she’s real and she’s mine. I think about how far she’s come over the past few months, how she’s happy, she wants to be here and most importantly, that she loves me.
But someone is threatening her. Someone wants to take her from me. Someone could hurt her and the thought of fucking anyone, anyone touching her let alone hurting her makes me feel like my insides will explode. It’s got to be Preston, but I don’t give a fuck who it is, no one on this Earth is ever going to hurt her again. She’s had enough hurt to last a lifetime. I’ll do everything I can to make her safe and make sure she’s never scared again.
“Tony?” she calls, pulling me out of my trance. “What’s wrong?”
Her makeup free face is now wearing a concerned look as she questions me. I find myself having to clench my fists tightly to control myself, my emotions, my need to rip someone’s fucking head off. I let my mind wander back to when Gabby brought her home from the hospital, her eye swollen shut, bruises on her fair skinned face, a broken arm and how she was recovering from losing a child because of blows to her gut. And that was just what was physically wrong with her. Her nightmares that would take over her brain in her sleep, nightmares that stayed with her night and day. Demons she couldn’t seem to escape. Demons I could see in her eyes every time she woke from dreaming of her reality.
“Honey?” she calls again, her beautiful but worried emerald eyes wondering what in the hell is going on with me.
Doing my best to put all that out of my mind, I pull in a calming lung full of air and let it out before making the decision saying to her, “Marry me.”
I don’t take my eyes off hers, but I know her body jerks and hear her coffee cup hit the granite as she yelps, “What?”
“Marry me,” I repeat. “Tomorrow.”
Her eyes get bigger and her voice gets higher, “Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow.”
“We can’t get married tomorrow!”
“Yes we can. I’ll get a license today, take a couple days off. You’re off tomorrow, too. It’ll be just you and me. You want Gabby there, we’ll call her and Jude, but that’s it. No one else. Not my family to make it something we don’t want, not your mom to stress you out or piss me off, just you and me. Marry me, Leigh.”
“Tony, what is this about? We can’t--”
“You love me?” I demand.
She slumps ever so slightly in her seat she hasn’t moved from and with a little shake of her head, she says on a huff, “Of course I love you.”
“Is that going to change?” I ask, not moving a muscle from where I’m standing.
Her face softens and she says quietly with meaning, “No Tony. I will always love you.”
“You’re mine?” I ask further.
With as much meaning, she says simply, “Forever.”
I finally let my body move to her and her head tilts back not losing my eyes. I claim her face with my hands and lean into her to say in a low voice, “Then let me be yours, Leigh.”
She closes her eyes and I feel her exhale against my lips.
“Sweetheart,” I call to her.
Opening her eyes, she states, “You’re crazy, Tony Carpino.”
“I’m not crazy,” I assure her.
“Your mother will hate me forever,” she goes on.
“How could a mother hate someone who makes her son happy?” I ask.
“Tony,” she huffs.
“Tomorrow.”
She shakes her head slowly asking, “What are we doing?”
“We’re starting our lives together, gem. And it’s going to start tomorrow,” I answer her.
“Your words, Tony. They carry such heavy meaning. Soon…ready…next…tomorrow…I’m honestly afraid of what could come out of your mouth next,” she starts rambling.
“Say yes. It’s all you have to say,” I state.
What she doesn’t do is say yes, she says, “Crazy.”
“Say it,” I demand.
“Will being a Carpino make me crazy, too?” she asks as if she’s giving in.
“Probably,” I answer. “Leigh, I need you to say it.”
“I’ll have to change my name on everything again,” she sort of complains, but now I know she’s going to say yes.
“Leigh,” I give her a warning with my voice.
She pulls in a breath and while looking deep into my eyes, she says softly, “I want you to be mine, Tony. I’ve never wanted anything more.”
“Say it, gem.”
After many beats, she murmurs, “Okay, yes. I’ll marry you tomorrow.”
I try and control myself but I can’t help it, my fingers tense on her face and I pull her up to kiss her. I kiss her deep and long and intense. If I couldn’t feel her in my hands and taste her on my lips, I might not believe this is real.
I break the kiss and tip my forehead to hers holding her close to me and say, “I love you, Leigh. I promise to give you a beautiful life.”
“You’ve already made my life beautiful, honey. I’ve never had anything as beautiful as this,” she says looking up to me.
I smile down at her and pull her in for another kiss, slow and soft this time before saying, “I need to make some calls and move some meetings for work. Give me an hour and meet me in the shower. We’ll get the license, throw the ball with Fin and take it easy the rest of the day.”
“Well, I told Rosa I’d go to the store for her and bring Finny over to meet her today. I don’t think she has a lot of company during the week and she’s looking forward to us coming,” she says, like she’s apologizing for something.
“Okay, we’ll do that after we get a license,” I say giving in to her.
She grabs on to my sweaty t-shirt and looks up to me with her soft face and says, “We’re getting married.”
“Yeah,” I smile down at her.
“You’re sure you don’t want a wedding? I don’t want you to have any regrets.”
I brush her cheek bone with my thumb, trying to put the bruises and swollen eye out of my mind, “My only regret is this is four to five years later than it could have been, Leigh.”
“Tony,” she admonishes as she shakes her head bac
k and forth.
“I could have had you all this time. I could have saved you from him,” I mutter.
“Please don’t,” she says, fisting my t-shirt in her hands.
“I wish I could take that away from you. I’d do anything to wipe that clean from your head.”
“Stop. I chose him, that’s on me. But today I’m feeling like the luckiest girl alive to get a second chance. I’ll never take you for granted. I thank God every day for you. You made me whole again when I didn’t think I ever would be. You healed wounds I never thought would close. You took away my nightmares and replaced them with a dream. Not many people have their dreams come true, but I get mine. I get my puppy and my hot guy with daisies and milkshakes all tied up with a baby blue bow. But it’s better than I ever dreamed because my hot guy isn’t just hot, he’s gentle and sweet and knows just what I need when I need it. And he loves me,” she finishes on a sigh.
I shake my head at her, “Sweetheart, I don’t know what in the hell you’re talking about with the daisies and milkshakes, but I’m pleased to give you the rest of your dream.”
She stands and fits herself to my sweaty clothes informing me, “It’s my innocent girly dream, Tony. Daisies, puppies, milkshakes and a hot guy. What more could a girl want?”
“Wrapped in a baby blue bow?” I ask, holding her tight to me.
“Yes,” she grins, lifting to her toes to kiss me. “I’ve out grown the polka dots.”
“I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say as I dip my hand in the back of her panties to cop a feel of my soon to be wife.
“It doesn’t matter,” she says. “Go make your phone calls. I need to figure out what to wear to my wedding tomorrow.”
I give her ass another squeeze, kissing her at the same time before letting her go.
She throws me an excited grin, grabs her coffee and looks down to say, “Come on, Finny. Let’s go find something to wear.”
I stand here and watch her pad off to my bedroom to look for something to wear to our wedding tomorrow. I reach out to the counter and drop my head while squeezing my eyes shut. I didn’t tell her. How all that transpired I don’t know, but I’m fucking ecstatic about tomorrow. I’ll keep her with me today, she’ll be safe and I’ll tell her before we get married. I can’t keep it from her. But to tell her right after she agreed to marry me, everything she said and shared about how happy she is? There was no way I could tell her after that.
I turn to walk to my office to make another police report about the pictures and note, call my family pastor to see if he can marry us tomorrow and then actually make some calls to move things at work for the next two days. I put the pictures and note away in my desk but before I pick up the phone, I go to the closet in my office and kneel to the safe. Punching the code, I hear the beeps, open it and find what I’m looking for. I pull out my Baby Glock 40 Cal and ankle holster. I check the clip, make sure it’s loaded and ready to go. Turning back to my desk, I put it in the top drawer so I can come back for it after I shower. Finally, I pick up my phone to make my first call to the police.
*****
Today we went to the courthouse to get a marriage license, which was kind of weird. I mean, I don’t have very many people in my life, but Tony has a ton of people in his life. But the only other person who knows we’re getting married tomorrow is the attendant at the licensing desk at whatever city building we were at.
Oh, and the pastor who’s going to marry us tomorrow.
Apparently Tony grew up going to his church, although he hasn’t gone regularly the last couple of years. From the sounds of it, Tony had to convince him our marriage is a good thing, a long time coming, I’m not pregnant and we don’t need counseling to make sure we both know what we’re getting into. Tony sighed and said, “It was a long conversation, gem. It’s a good thing you’re marrying an attorney. It felt like I was convincing judge and jury.”
Then we went to the grocery store for Rosa. When Tony grabbed her grocery list out of my hand to move us along faster, he frowns at me and asks, “Who is this Rosa, anyway?”
“She’s my new friend,” I defend her.
“But, isn’t she old? Shouldn’t we get her healthy stuff?” he asks, perplexed by Rosa’s grocery list.
“She has blueberries on the list, Tony. And dark chocolate is supposed to be healthy,” I throw back at him, knowing it’s a stretch.
“Leigh. This is her list: fudgesicles – only the generic brand and none of that fat free crap, blueberries – no matter the price, dark chocolate M&M’s, a box of sweet pink wine and a good trashy romance novel. This is not a grocery list. She wants cheap ice cream treats on a stick, expensive fruit that’s out of season, liquor, chocolate and porn. Who is this woman?” he asks.
I tip my head and frown at him, “It doesn’t matter what she wants. These are the things her kids refuse to buy when they shop for her. She’s eighty-five and she wants it so we’re going to get it. She only drives to church these days because she doesn’t like navigating the grocery store parking lot, that’s why we’re here. Grab a basket, Tony. We’re getting everything on that list.”
“Okay,” he sighs. “We’d better go to the porn aisle first, we don’t want the full fat fudgesicles to melt.”
“Stop it,” I say grinning. But he’s right so I head the books and magazines.
“What’s she into?” Tony asks. “Vampires, love triangles…oh look. Here’s a cowboy with no shirt on and he’s wearing chaps carrying a whip. Maybe she’ll get some western porn with BDSM in the same book. It’s like a buy one get one free.”
“Tony!” I yell, but I’m laughing now trying not to think about what kind of trashy romance Rosa might like.
“I’m just trying to move this along, Leigh. I hate grocery shopping,” he mutters.
“I’ve noticed,” I say, reaching in front of him to grab a book with snake skin print high heels with handcuffs on the front and toss it into his basket.
“So, you’re going with the BDSM?” he smirks.
“I’ve heard it’s good. Don’t judge a book by its cover, Tony Carpino.”
After getting the rest of the groceries, we picked up Finny and headed to Rosa’s house. We had a fun afternoon visiting with my new friend and playing with Finny. Tony left us for about an hour to run an errand, but was back before I could miss him. Rosa was taken with Tony, like I knew she would be and mock threatened me that if she wasn’t so old, she would “steal him out from under my stockings”. She proceeded to put Tony to work and told him she needed her screens put back on her windows for spring. Tony worked around Rosa’s house while she and I chatted about her family, Tony’s family and I told her all about Tina.
When it was time to say goodbye, I told Rosa I would pick her up on my way home from work on Wednesday and she could eat dinner with us. However, she wouldn’t let us leave before she made Tony put his name and number into her cellular phone, “just in case,” she explained. Tony did this grinning and then kissed her on the cheek before we left to which Rosa exclaimed, “Okay, I don’t care how old I am. I’m gonna steal him out from under your stockings!”
Now it’s late and we’re ready for bed. I decided I want Gabby there tomorrow, so I had a phone call to make.
I look up at Tony who’s standing next to the bed with his arms crossed grinning down at me. I’m sitting Indian style and Finny’s head is in my lap. I’m scratching his ears while on the phone with Gabby, but I’m biting my lip trying to suppress my smile (or…excitement) about tomorrow.
My excitement surprises even me. If I ever had to guess Tony would ask me to marry him and demand it happen the next day, I would never in all my life expect to be excited. I’d expect to be freaked out and worried I was going to screw up Tony’s life the way all things with me tend to end up. But I’m not freaked out, I’m happy and actually feeling like this is the best thing that could have happened (which it is).
“Gabby, I’ve got to go. Can you meet us tomorrow? It�
�s over the lunch hour, we hoped you would both be free,” I pause, listening to my BFF who hates surprises try to demand to know why we need a favor from she and her new husband tomorrow at noon, meeting us at an undisclosed location.
“Look, Finny needs me, I’ve gotta go. Will we see you tomorrow or not?”
I smile up at Tony as I hear her begrudgingly give in to meet us for an unknown favor at noon tomorrow.
“Thanks! I’ll text you the address. See you then,” I disconnect before she has the chance to beg or argue any more.
“Nice,” Tony’s grin turns into a smile.
“I feel bad,” I say, looking down at Finny who seems to be in doggie heaven, sprawled out over my lap getting a doggie head massage.
“Why do you feel bad? There’s no way she could keep her mouth shut,” Tony drawls.
“Yes she would have,” I defend my friend. “I feel bad because we’re doing this without your family. I wasn’t kidding when I said your mom will hate me. I think they’ll be hurt, us doing this, getting married on the sly.”
“They’ll understand. If they don’t, they’ll get over it,” he says, putting a knee to the bed to climb in beside me. Finny moans as the bed moves, disrupting his massage.
“I know, I still can’t help but feel bad,” I say.
“Don’t worry,” he says, pulling me up the bed and away from Finny.
I feel his hands dip under his t-shirt I’m wearing and move up my bare back. He rolls me into the bed fitting himself in between my legs. He pulls my t-shirt up and yanks it over my head.
“You know they say it’s bad luck to sleep together the night before your wedding. Or see each other, or something like that,” I say, smirking at him. I know there’s no way he’ll sleep away from me tonight.
“You think after our last year we could have more bad luck? After what you went through and me being shot? No way will we have bad luck after going through all that and finally finding each other. I’m feeling pretty lucky, Leigh,” he mutters as he lowers his head to my neck working his way down to my breast and at the same time I feel his hand dip into my panties. He looks up at me grinning, “Plus, I’m hoping to get lucky.”