Chapter Seven

~ Luca ~

It took some convincing to get the reception girl to understand that Nico and I truly just wanted to get married without all the fancy bells and whistles, but here we finally stood.

I was facing Nico, holding his hands in mine while I listened to the ceremony words spoken by the minister. My heart picked up a beat when Nico smiled up at me, his eyes glossy with tears as he repeated the words the minister indicated. I listened to them, but his eyes were speaking louder than he was.

I had ordered my guards to bar the door to prevent anyone from interrupting our wedding ceremony. I wasn't going to let anyone interfere in what Nico wanted and he wanted to get married right now. I was in full support of this and I was going to make sure it happened.

When it was my turn to speak, I repeated the words the minister gave me, said my "I do's" when indicated, and then slid the ring I'd been holding onto for years onto his finger. I'd purchased it before I went to prison, intent on asking Nico to marry the day he turned eighteen.

I was a little late.

When the minister said we could kiss, I cupped Nico's face with my hands. " Ti amo , tu sei tutta la mia vita, " I whispered right before pressing my lips to his. I didn't make it a deep kiss because we didn't have time and I didn't want anyone to see my physical reaction to the feeling of Nico's lips on mine.

When I finally lifted my head a few moments later, I smiled down at Nico. "You're mine now and no one can ever take you away from me."

"We're really married?" Nico whispered as if afraid to ask his question in a louder tone in case it wasn't true.

My smile grew into a full on grin. "We are."

"Don't we have to wait for the papers to be filed?"

Uh...

I glanced at the reception girl that had been assigned to help us. Surely she would know the answer to my question. "How do the papers get filed?"

She smiled warmly. "They just need to be signed and then we can fax them over to vital statistics. As soon as they are processed, you'll be legally married."

"Then let's get that done." We could drop by the vital statistic office on our way to the airport and make sure it had been processed.

Nico and I both signed the marriage papers and then had Stefano and Franco sign as our witnesses. As soon as that was done, I grabbed the papers and handed them to Franco.

"Go now and get these faxed and then go down to the vital statistics office and make sure they get processed," I ordered him. "Make sure you get the finalized license so we have official proof of the marriage. When you're done with that, meet us at the airport."

"Yes, sir." Franco took the papers and left with the receptionist girl.

I glanced down at Nico. "Is there anything you want to do before we head to the airport?"

"Can we get a wedding photo in front of Niagara Falls, something for us to remember today?"

"Excellent idea." I wrapped Nico's arm around mine and started walking toward the entrance.

There were two cars waiting for us right outside the main doors. I'd been expecting that. My men were very well trained. I'd made sure of it when I started working for my grandfather. I'd always suspected that was one of the reasons I'd been promoted so quickly.

I never left anything to chance.

Nico and I climbed into the first vehicle along with Stefano and a driver. The other guards climbed into the second vehicle. I told my driver to head to one of the scenic spots overlooking at the falls, someplace where we could take pictures.

With the afternoon traffic, it took about twenty minutes before we found a good spot. Once we parked, Nico and I got out—along with our guards—and made our way to the viewpoint.

I I told Stefano to take several pictures and then stepped back and drew Nico into my arms. We made several different poses for the pictures Stefano was taking until Nico felt we'd gotten enough for our wedding memories.

Piling back into the car seemed almost anticlimactic. We had been so tense while gearing up for the wedding, and even through the wedding, and now we were married, complete with wedding pictures.

There was still some tension and I doubted it would go away until I had Nico safely tucked away back in Italy. While we had this plan, things could always go wrong. I could only hope I had prepared for anything that could go wrong.

Franco was waiting for us in the hangar at the airport. As soon as I stepped out of the car, he held my charged cell phone out to me. "Mr. Borelli would like you to call him, sir."

"Did you get the papers?" I asked as I took the phone.

"Yes, sir." He pulled a large manila envelope and handed it over.

I pulled it out to check it over and then shoved it back into the envelope. I handed it back to Franco. "Put this somewhere safe."

"Yes, sir."

I reached a hand back for Nico, helping him out of the car. When we reached the plane stairs, I said, "Go on up and get buckled in. I need to call Vinnie."

I waited until Nico climbed the stairs and disappeared inside the plane before dialing Vinnie. "Hey, it's me."

"Did you get it done?" Vinnie asked.

"Yeah, Nico and I are finally married and the papers have been filed. It's all legal. We're just getting ready to board the plane now."

"I need you to fax me a copy of the marriage license and then get on that plane and get to Italy."

There was an urgency in Vinnie's voice that unnerved me. "What's going on, Vinnie?"

"Like I told you earlier, Nico's parents called the cops and reported him as kidnapped. Through a friend, I've spoken to a police detective he trusts and told him that Nico wasn't kidnapped, he eloped. I need that marriage license to back up my story."

"Well, it's not really a story." He had eloped with me. I'd just kidnapped him to kick start the process off. "Hold on a minute."

I snapped my fingers and gestured to Franco. "Go in the office and fax Borelli a copy of the marriage license and then get back here."

"Yes, sir," Franco said before turning and taking off for the hangar office.

"Okay, Vinnie, Franco is faxing the marriage license to you now."

"Good," Vinnie replied. "Now get Nico back to Italy."

I glanced toward the stairs. "He's already on the plane."

"Okay, good. Call me when you land so I know you got there okay."

"I will." As soon as I hung up with Vinnie, I boarded the plane and went to sit down next to Nico.

"Everything okay?" Nico asked.

I smiled for him even if everything was not okay. I didn't want him to worry. "Everything is fine. Vinnie just wanted to confirm if we had gotten married."

"Any word on my parents?"

God, I didn't want to lie to him.

"They are still searching for you, but the running story right now is that you eloped with someone."

Nico blinked at me. "I did."

As soon as Franco and the others boarded the plane, I ordered the pilot to take off. I wanted to get off this continent.

Nico gripped my hand as the plane taxied out to the runway and took off. As soon as we leveled out and the seatbelt sign went off, I unbuckled myself and then gestured to Nico.

"Come with me. I want to show you something."

Nico frowned, but unbuckled himself and then followed me to the back of the cabin. I waited until he joined me before opening the door and ushering him into the bedroom at the back of the plane.

"We have a ten hour flight ahead of us depending on jet streams. I thought you'd be more comfortable back here."

Nico's jaw dropped when he saw the room. "Private jets have bedrooms in them?"

"Not all of them, but some do. Vinnie's has a bedroom because the flight is so long from New York to Italy. He makes that flight often to go visit his grandparents and sitting in a seat that long gives you a flat butt."

Nico stared at me for a moment before he snickered. "Well, we wouldn't want that."

"Right?" I slid my hand down over Nico's ass. "You're seems to be in pretty good shape so far, but I'm still worried it might go flat. When we get back to Italy, I'll need to exam it. Just to make sure, you understand?"

Nico glanced at the bed. "Not now?"

"No, baby, when we go to bed together, no one else will be around."

"Oh, right." Nico's shoulders slumped. "I forgot about them."

As much as I wanted him, there was no way in hell I was going to let a plane full of men hear the sounds I planned to pull out of Nico when I made love to him for the very first time. Those sweet sounds were meant only for me.

This was going to be a long ten hour flight.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

Nico shrugged. "I guess I could eat."

"Why don't you get comfortable and I'll go get us some food? We can have a little picnic on the bed."

"Yeah." Nico began to smile. "That sounds fun."

I pressed a quick kiss to Nico's lips and then turned to go get us some food. I was just hoping that the stewardess had something good for us to eat.

I was lucky to find the stewardess already preparing a tray of food for us, most of it finger foods, which was perfect. There was a bucket of ice and a bottle of champagne to go with it.

When she turned to hand it all to me, she smiled. "A gift from Mr. Borelli on your nuptials."

I returned her smile and said, "Thank you."

I saw several of my guards' eyes widened when I turned and carried the tray and I knew it had to be because of the smile on my face. I knew it was ruining my thug persona. I just couldn't help it. I was happy for the first time in ten years, longer than most of them have been with me.

When I reached the back bedroom, I stepped inside and then pushed the door closed with my foot. When I glanced toward the bed, I almost dropped the tray.

Nico had removed his suit jacket, shoes, and socks. He was dressed in just his slacks and dress shirt, but he'd unbuttoned the dress shirt several buttons, leaving a sensual glimpse of his beautiful slim chest.

I swallowed tightly and then carried the tray over and set it down on the nightstand. I kicked my shoes off and then pulled my suit jacket off and tossed it over the chair next to the bed.

When I reached for the harness strapped to my chest, Nico asked, "How did I not know you carried a gun?"

I stilled for a moment and then lifted my head to look at Nico. "Baby, I'm a mafia boss. Of course I have a gun."

"No, no, that makes sense. I just can't figure out how I missed it." A frown pulled his eyebrows together. "Have you had it on you this whole time?"

"I don't sleep with it on, but yeah, other than that I've had it on me."

"I must be as blind as a bat. I totally missed it."

I pulled out the gun and set it on the nightstand next to the food tray and then took the harness off and laid it over the top of my suit jacket. I picked up the gun and put it into the nightstand drawer.

"Have you ever handled a gun before?"

Nico shook his head.

"When we get home, I'll take you target practicing. I don't want you to carry a gun, but I do want you to be comfortable around them."

Living in a mafia family, he'd be around a lot of them.