He slept forfourteenhours. The poor man had run himself ragged for the last three days and he needed it. I didn’t dare wake him, even though I was dying to get to the hospital. I’d been exchanging texts with Connie and Scar all day. They’d already been to see Ettie. It sounded like she was doing far better than expected. I couldn’t wait to see her.
When Sal wandered out to the living room close to dinnertime that night, my heart nearly burst with the tenderness I felt toward him. In that moment, I saw so clearly what our children would look like when they first woke up all bleary-eyed, with dark hair going in every direction. They’d be beautiful.
“Hi, honey, you hungry?” I asked with a smile.
“Yeah,” he nodded, his eyes adjusting to the light in the room.
I stood up, tossing the magazine I’d been reading aside. “I’ll make you something.”
“Did we miss visiting hours?” he asked, his voice rough from sleep.
“Yeah, we can go first thing tomorrow,” I replied, peering into the fridge. I settled on breakfast for dinner. He was just waking up after all.
“How’s she doin’?” he asked, watching me as I made him an omelet.
“Okay, I think.” I shrugged. “The girls sounded surprised at how well she looked,” I added.
“Good,” he replied as he continued to watch me. Something was on his mind. I just had to wait for him to share.
It wasn’t until I plated his food that he spoke.
“It was a dick move on my part to show you that shit with Parker,” he surprised me by saying.
I turned to him, meeting his intense gaze as he sat at the bar.
“Yeah,” I agreed simply.
“Can you live with it?” he asked, his food untouched as he clasped his hands on the table.
“Live with what?”
“That part of my life. That violence can be part of my life,” he clarified, his dark eyes assessing as they met mine.
I swallowed hard. The truth was, part of what had kept me up last night was that it hadn’t bothered memore. Maybe that made me a bad person, but after everything I’d been through, I couldn’t manage to spare much sympathy for someone like Allen Parker.
I walked over to him, standing in-between his legs as his big arms pulled me close. “I’m still fairly new to your world,” I began quietly. “But I know you all operate with a code of loyalty and respect. I know you’d never exact vengeance where it wasn’t deserved. I trust you. So, yeah, I can live with it,” I nodded while looking up into his somber eyes.
He put his forehead to mine, his entire body pulsing with energy. “Marry me,” he said firmly.
“What?” I asked, completely flabbergasted as I took a step back to regard him. That was the last thing I’d expected.
“Marry me,” he repeated, not missing a beat.
I continued to stare at him with what I’m sure were eyes as wide as saucers.
“You make me want to be a better man while accepting who I am at the same time. You’ve seen all my ugly and pulled out all my sweet. I fuckin’ love you with something so fierce, it feels like it will eat me from the inside out. You’re the only woman for me. Marry me,” he said again.
My eyes filled with tears. It was so Sal to not even ask. He was practically demanding it. But, that was my man. And there was only one way to answer his question.
“Yes,” I whispered, tears spilling over my cheeks.
“Yeah?” he asked, his mouth turning into a heartbreaking grin.
“Yeah,” I nodded as he pulled me into a passionate kiss. His mouth took mine with a possession so complete I was simply lost for a time.
“C’mere,” he coaxed, breaking away while we were still panting for breath and pulled me enthusiastically to the bedroom. I assumed he was planning on taking me to bed, but instead, he went straight for his dresser. He pulled out a ring box and stood before me, opening it to reveal a gold band with rubies imbedded in its metal. “I know it’s not traditional. Maybe you want something with more sparkle. But this was my grandma’s,” he told me, pulling it out of the box.
It looked so tiny and delicate in-between his large fingers.