A Gift of Matrimony (Lover's Gift Book 2) Page 9

“Please leave,” I demanded, cutting him off. He took his coat and walked out of my office. I removed my glasses and placed my face on my palms. We’re going to have to vet our employees a bit stricter. I put my glasses back on when I heard a knock on my door. I thought I’d told him to leave. I rushed over to the door and swung it open.

  “Oh, Dante! It’s you,” I said in exhilaration.

  “Yes, it’s me. After waiting for you for almost three hours, I decided to give you a call. I know you work late and I didn’t want to bother you. When I went to call you, I saw your message. So, I came by and brought dinner to you.” He was holding Chinese takeout.

  “I’m so sorry, Dante. Thank you so much.”

  “Not a problem, my love. I know what it’s like to work long hours. You don’t have anything to apologize for.” I took out the fried rice and chicken and dug in. He handed me a bottle of apple juice, as he didn’t believe in drinking while working. Just like my mother.

  “You will not believe what just happened,” I said.

  “Don’t worry. I already know,” he said with a mouth full of sweet-and-sour chicken.

  “You know what?”

  “That—that little shit just tried to kiss you.” His voice was annoyed.

  “How?”

  “Just as I was about to knock on your door, I heard that boy tell you how beautiful you were. A jealous rage built up within me, and I was about to tear your door down until I heard you smack his face away. I guess your beauty hypnotizes every man you encounter,” he said, laughing.

  “That’s not funny, babe. Which direction did he go? Back to his office or downstairs?”

  “Well, after I threatened his life he ran downstairs.”

  “Dante!” I shouted playfully.

  “I’m joking, love. I didn’t threaten his life, but I did tell him I would ruin his career if he ever touched you again.”

  “Aww. So, what surprise do you have for me?”

  “You’ll see when we get home.” He gave me secretive grin. We finished the night eating our fried rice and sweet-and-sour chicken while completing my work. My man was quite the genius. He spotted five inconsistencies that could be done better with our accounting practices for our budget. I was lucky he’d stopped by when he did. Otherwise, I would have been here all night. It was eleven thirty at night when we left the office, and I couldn’t wait to get home and out of these shoes. Words couldn’t describe how exhausted I was.

  Chapter 16

  Isabella

  As the car came closer to our driveway, I saw sparkling lights all around our yard along with a crowd of people. My heart thumped faster the nearer we got to our house. I thought I knew what this was, and that knowledge made me even more nervous.

  “Dante, what is this?”

  “You’ll see,” was all he said.

  “Dante, what’s going on? Talk to me. What is going on?” I saw my mother in the driveway as the driver stopped to let us out. “Mom, what’s going on?”

  “I’ll let him explain,” she said gleefully. Dante took my hand and walked me up the driveway, where we were met with everyone, all my friends and family, some of my closest coworkers including Julianna, and even Commodore Noah. Dante’s family was here as well. I shook in suspense, repeatedly asking him what this was all about. In the center of our lawn, everyone crowded around us when Dante dropped to one knee. Tears of joy poured from my eyes as I planted one of my hands to my face to keep from screaming in excitement.

  “W-what are you doing, Dante? What—what are you doing?” My voice cracked and I began to stutter. He took my hand and held it close to his heart. I couldn’t believe he was doing this.

  “Isabella. You are the love of my life, the soul of my being. I will cherish you until my last breath. The things you have done for me, I will forever be grateful for. When I look into your eyes, I know my life is complete. No other woman this world over could bring happiness into my life as you have. I want to be with you forever, in life and death. Will you dance this dance and sing this song of love with me eternally? I ask you, Isabella, will you be my lover, my partner, my best friend, my everything? Will you be my wife?” he asked, kissing my hand. Everything went black, and I collapsed on the lawn. Everyone crowded around me to see if I was all right.

  “Please give her some space. She’s okay,” Dante shouted. I opened my eyes and there he was, hovering over me with the same smile he’d made the first time we met, one of confidence and tenderness.

  “Are you all right?” he asked. I sat up, placed my hand on his right cheek, and kissed him delicately.

  “Yes, I’m all right. I just felt a little lightheaded. I had a strange daydream where you got down on one knee and asked me to marry you.”

  “Look around, my love. I did ask you to marry me.” He laughed. This wasn’t a dream. He had asked me to marry him. My palms started to sweat again as everyone around us waited for me to give him an answer.

  “I love you so much, Dante.” I stood back up.

  “So, will you marry me?” he asked again, still on one knee.

  “Of course, you idiot!” I dove into his arms and held him tightly. Everyone yelled in excitement, and fireworks emerged from the back of our house, shooting bright, colorful lights into the night sky. Our house lit up with red-and-white fluorescent lights spelling out the words, She Said Yes! Orchestra music began to play from within our living room. Everything was like a dream. Bottles of champagne were opened, and Gaspard and a few others showered Dante in the liquid gold, congratulating him. Dante, soaking wet, tried to hug me.

  “Don’t touch me, you’re wet.” I laughed and pushed him away.

  “Oh yeah?” He grabbed a bottle of champagne and soaked me with it. “Now we’re both wet.” I wiped my eyes and hair and jumped on his back, dragging him down to the grass. We both collapsed on the lawn, and I kissed him frantically all over his face.

  “Are you going to show her the ring?” my mom asked. Dante reached into his pocket and revealed a heart-shaped Cracker Jack ring. He put it on my finger, and we both laughed hysterically. He’d once joked in South Korea that if he were ever to propose, he would present his wife-to-be with a Cracker Jack ring just to see her reaction.

  “I love it!” I kissed his nose.

  “I probably shouldn’t have told you about my ring joke. It kind of ruined the surprise.”

  “A Cracker Jack ring? Are you serious?” asked Maya.

  “It’s an inside joke. Come dance with me,” Gaspard said, pulling Maya into the house. Everyone went inside for drinks, food, and dancing, leaving Dante and me both lying on the lawn, dripping with champagne.

  “I love you.” He moved my hair from my face.

  “So, this was your surprise, was it? Were you planning on doing all this at the restaurant?”

  “Actually, this is Plan B. The restaurant was Plan A. I like to be strategic in my planning, and I figured you might not make our dinner date with how busy you’ve been with work lately.”

  “Was there a Plan C?” I removed a bit of grass from his hair.

  “Of course there was. But it involved me skydiving into your office.”

  I busted out laughing and hit him on the shoulder.

  “I’m so grateful for you. Where do you want to get married?” I asked.

  “I was thinking maybe Macau or Belize, or Spain.”

  “I think I should plan the wedding.” My smile was sly. I knew exactly what I wanted in a wedding.

  “As you wish.” He kissed me and tried to remove my blouse.

  I took hold of his hands. “Dante, no. We’re in public and everyone is in our house. They can see us.”

  “But I want to be inside of you,” he said with desire in his eyes. He tried to take off my bra, but I grabbed his hands again.

  “Dante. We can’t. My mother is right there,” I whispered.

  “But I need you. Come on.” He took my hand and led me to the small-enclosed courtyard we rarely ever used. “Right here.” He put me up aga
inst the wall, reached his hand under my dress, and ripped off my panties. I unbuckled his pants and they dropped to the floor. The man was already throbbing.

  “Oh my God. You’re really going to do this.” Wrapping my legs around him, I inhaled deeply as he pushed himself inside of me. I was apprehensive and I feared they would come looking for us, but it felt so good.

  “You’re so . . . spontaneous . . . and—and,” I panted, trying to keep from screaming in pleasure. He licked and sucked on my neck. I was dripping wet. He caressed my breast with one hand and squeezed my backside with his other. I’d made love to him more times in the last six months than I had anyone else in my entire life. We couldn’t get enough of each other. I loved this moment.

  “Don’t stop, Dante, please don’t stop,” I whispered.

  “Dante, Isabella, where are you two?” I heard my mother shout in the distance.

  “Oh crap, she’s coming!”

  “I can’t stop, Isabella. I just can’t.”

  “I don’t want you to stop either, but . . .”

  “Isabella! Where are you?” she screamed again. I was almost there, and I didn’t want Dante to stop. It felt too good for him to stop now.

  “Isabella!” she shouted.

  “Mrs. Kam, I’m sure they’re doing fine. Please come back in the house. There’s something I would like to show you,” said one of Dante’s uncles. Crisis averted. Dante kissed me hard and squeezed my backside tighter.

  “Aww, babe, I’m about to come.”

  “Yes, come,” he growled. To keep from screaming, I bit his shoulder and sank my nails into his back. He sucked my neck so hard it felt as if he were a vampire drinking my blood. Our bodies shivered as we came together. The crickets were making their noises, and the birds chirped their songs as I and my love panted and wiped the sweat away from each other’s foreheads.

  “What do you say w-we rejoin—rejoin the party?” he said.

  “Y-yeah. That’s—that’s a good idea.” We caught our breath and put our clothes back on, then tried to fix ourselves up before rejoining the others. We walked back hand-in-hand with my hair all frizzy and Dante’s shirt slightly torn. Dante’s shoulder was bleeding from where I’d bitten him.

  By the looks on everyone’s faces, I was pretty sure they knew what we were doing. Yet not one of them said a word. They only whispered and giggled. We went up to our room to change clothes before dancing in celebration of our engagement. What a night this had been. A dream come true.

  Chapter 17

  Dante

  The date was set. We’d decided to get married next year on Valentine’s Day. That was four months from now, and my fiancée had had her work cut out for her. Isabella was busy planning our wedding, and it seemed as if she was content with our relationship moving to matrimony. So many mixed emotions clouded my mind when I found letters from Nathan hidden under her desk at work. In my attempt to surprise her with a vase of roses when she got in tomorrow, I’d stumbled across them.

  I was left trying to figure out why she would hide these letters from me. Was she still corresponding with him after everything he did to her? Never in a million years would I have thought she would still be harboring letters from that bastard. I loved her and trusted her, so I was sure she had a reasonable explanation for this.

  There must have been fifty letters in that box. Each one was opened, so she must have read them. Maybe she’d written him back. Perhaps I should check her emails to find out. I wasn’t sure. It would be a severe breach of trust if I did that. But these letters were all addressed to the office so I wouldn’t find them. I couldn’t let jealousy overcome me. I had to keep a level head.

  But why? Why would she do this to me after everything we’d been through? After all the trials I suffered to make her mine and everything she went through to find me in the Amazon. I could feel my heart and mind fill with jealous rage.

  She was mine. No one else would have waited as long as I had, particularly that unethical deviant Nathan. I dared not read even one of these letters for fear of what I might find. If I lost her to him, I would— I would— I didn’t know what I’d do. Why was she still receiving letters from him? Why? I—I couldn’t deal with this. I had to talk to her now. She had to explain this to me before my head exploded. I needed to calm down first. I might blow up on her if I didn’t. Not my Isabella. Not her. Please, not her.

  My phone rang suddenly. To my shock, it was her. Perfect timing. What should I say? I was trembling with so much anger I didn’t know what to do.

  Calm down, Dante. Just calm down and answer the phone. Everything will be all right. I’m sure there is nothing to worry about.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  “Hey, Dante. The dress my mom picked out looks lovely. I’m sure you’ll love it. Do you think we should go with white or—”

  “Why do you have these letters from Nathan? Why are you still in contact with that sick bastard?” I snapped, cutting her off.

  “Letters? Oh, shit,” she exclaimed. Her reaction only intensified my worry.

  “Answer me, Isabella. Why? How could you do this to me?”

  “Dante, this is not what you think. I told my assistant to shred those letters.”

  “To destroy the evidence of your correspondence, I presume?”

  “No, Dante, please. I never wrote back to him, I swear.”

  “Do you have any idea how much you’ve hurt me? I feel like dying. Why didn’t you tell me he was contacting you?”

  “Dante, meet me at home so we can talk about this face-to-face, please. I promise it’s not what you think.”

  “Did you think I wouldn’t find out? I promised never to keep any more secrets from you. I don’t understand why you would want him after all the shit he put you through.”

  “Oh my God, Dante! Babe, please, I’m driving home now. Meet me there. Promise me you’ll come home so I can explain it to you.”

  I could hear her crying on the other end of the phone. I didn’t know what to think. Was she crying because she didn’t want to lose me? Or was she crying because she got caught?

  “Dante, are you there? Dante, please say something!”

  “I’m here, Isabella. I’ll do as you ask. I’m on my way home now.”

  “Promise you’ll go straight there, no detours.”

  “I promise, love.” I hung up the phone. My hands were shaking. I went outside and told my driver to head home for the rest of the day. I decided to walk home so I could give myself time to cool down. I hated feeling this way. I had never felt this level of jealousy before. As I walked on these empty streets, I gazed at the sunset. It was beautiful. I tried to focus on anything that would divert my mind from picturing Nathan and Isabella together in that villa as I’d seen them before. I thought about all the times we’d spent together. It was the only thing I could do.

  I contemplated all the abuse she’d suffered at his hands. How she could even entertain the idea of talking to him again? Then it hit me . . . The time they made love as I watched from my villa across the way. Perhaps Nathan was a better lover than I was.

  Don’t even fucking think that, Dante. That self-serving sack of shit didn’t know how to please a woman.

  It felt as if someone had taken a spoon and tried to carve my damn heart out. A rusted spoon at that. I turned my phone off so I could be alone with my thoughts. Gaspard kept texting me about a meeting in New York next week, but that was the last thing on my mind. By the time I got home, it was already late into the evening.

  To think, this woman had the power to crush me at any given moment. Another man putting a smile on her face, the thought of her enjoying the company of someone else, entertaining flirtations from another suitor—all of it drove me insane. I couldn’t lose her. I was nothing without her.

  Tired, thirsty, and emotionally distraught, I approached our house hours later. I could see the driveway to our home and there she was, waiting outside on the front porch with her head between her knees, phone in hand, wear
ing the wedding dress I’d assumed her mother picked out.

  I stepped onto the porch, sat next to her, and nudged her shoulder with my elbow. She jumped up and hugged me so tight I could barely breathe.

  “Where the hell have you been? You scared me to death! I kept calling and calling.”

  “I decided to walk home to cool off a bit.”

  “You walked from my office all the way home? Babe, that’s close to thirteen miles. Are you insane?”

  “I’m insanely in love with you, which is why I needed the time to cool off.” She sat on my lap, wrapped her legs around me, and grabbed my head the same way she’d done when we were in the presidential suite of L’Ermitage a year ago.

  “Listen to me. I love you. You are my one and only. I would never do anything to hurt you or jeopardize what we have. I’d die if I lost you.”

  “Then explain the letters,” I said firmly.

  “That idiot has been writing me constantly, asking for my help. I stopped reading the letters long ago, and I told my assistant to shred them whenever they came in. I also told them to block any mail coming from him, but the bastard keeps sending them unmarked.”

  “If you told her to shred the letters, why were they all in a box under your desk? They were all opened as if they had been read.”

  “I don’t know, Dante. I really don’t.”

  I looked into her eyes, and I knew she was telling me the truth. How could I stay mad at this beautiful woman?

  “Why didn’t you tell me he was writing you?”

  “I didn’t want to upset you.” She tried to hold back her tears.

  “Don’t cry, Isabella. I believe you. You have no idea how much it hurt thinking you two were still talking. It felt like I was being skinned alive. Please don’t hide things from me. I want to know everything even if you think it might hurt me. From this day forward, we make a promise never to lie or to hold any truths back. Complete honesty, agreed?”

  We interlocked pinkies and kissed each other in agreement. I held her tightly as if I had never held anyone before. The thought of losing her was equivalent to death. I had to ensure that sick bastard never wrote to her again.