Chapter 15 - “Can You Marry My Mommy?”
Nobody moved.
Sophie waited with her hands clasped against her pale pink dress.
Claire wanted the marble floor to open and swallow her.
Aleandro remained on one knee.
Dozens of guests were pretending not to watch.
All of them were watching.
"Sophie Bennett," Claire whispered, "this is not—"
Aleandro lifted one hand gently.
Claire stopped.
He looked at Sophie.
"You want me to marry your mother?"
Sophie nodded.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Claire stared.
"Do not encourage her."
But Sophie had prepared an argument.
"Because Mom smiles when you're coming."
Claire closed her eyes.
"And you smile when Mom calls."
Aleandro's mouth twitched.
"And Max likes you."
"Important qualification."
"Very."
Sophie continued.
"And you don't have anybody at your house."
Aleandro's amusement disappeared.
Sophie spoke with innocent seriousness.
"Mom says people shouldn't be alone just because they're used to it."
Claire felt tears threaten.
She had said that months earlier.
Not about Aleandro.
Or so she'd thought.
Aleandro looked at Claire.
The room became irrelevant.
Claire saw the question before he spoke.
Not Sophie's question.
His.
Could there ever really be a future after everything?
Aleandro turned back to Sophie.
"I can't marry your mother because you ask me to."
Sophie's face fell.
Claire's heart twisted.
Then Aleandro continued.
"I can only marry your mother if she wants me to."
Sophie brightened.
"She does."
"Sophie!"
Laughter rippled through the guests.
Claire covered her face.
Aleandro finally smiled.
A real one.
He took Sophie's small hands.
"And there's something else."
"What?"
"I would need to deserve her answer."
Sophie frowned.
"She likes you already."
"Your mother has questionable judgment."
Claire dropped her hands.
"Careful."
More laughter.
Then Aleandro became serious.
"If I ever ask your mother that question, it won't be because you're standing here waiting for me to make you happy."
"Why?"
"Because promises like marriage belong to two people first. And if she says yes, it should be because she chooses me freely."
Claire could no longer hide the emotion on her face.
Sophie thought about it.
"Okay."
Aleandro nodded.
"Okay."
She leaned toward him.
"But are you going to ask?"
Everyone froze again.
Aleandro looked at Claire.
Claire raised one eyebrow.
He wisely replied, "I'm beginning to understand interrogation runs in your family."
Sophie grinned.
Claire took her daughter's hand.
"We are getting cake."
"But—"
"Cake."
Sophie looked at Aleandro.
"Think about it."
"I suspect I will."
Claire dragged her gently toward the dessert table while laughter followed.
Aleandro stood.
Luca approached.
"That was excellent."
"You're fired."
"For what?"
"Allowing her to reach me."
"Sir, I stopped armed men for twelve years. I am not stopping Sophie Bennett."
Aleandro watched Claire across the room.
"She looked terrified."
"Claire?"
"Yes."
Luca smiled.
"So did you."
"You're definitely fired."
Later, Claire stepped onto a balcony for air.
Aleandro followed.
"No audience this time."
"Good."
Claire looked over Manhattan.
"You handled that well."
"I considered jumping from the balcony."
"We're twelve stories up."
"Still considered it."
She laughed.
Then silence.
"Aleandro."
"Yes?"
"Would you?"
He knew exactly what she meant.
"Marry you?"
Claire nodded.
"Yes."
Her breath caught.
Aleandro continued.
"But I'm not asking."
She turned.
"Why?"
"Because I'm still rebuilding my life."
"So?"
"Because Vescari is still free. Because the investigation isn't finished. Because six months ago you were running from a man using companies I controlled."
"Aleandro—"
"I love you."
Claire stopped.
There it was.
No ballroom performance.
No kneeling.
No ring.
Just four words beneath a quiet night sky.
"I love you," he repeated. "Which is why I'm not going to make a dramatic proposal while your life is still tied to the consequences of mine."
Claire stared.
"You realize normal men sometimes say hello before dropping an 'I love you.'"
"I've never been accused of normality."
She stepped close.
"I love you too."
Aleandro closed his eyes briefly.
Claire touched his cheek.
"And I understand why you're waiting."
"Good."
"That doesn't mean I'm pleased."
"Also understood."
She kissed him.
Behind the balcony glass, Sophie watched.
Luca gently turned her around.
"Privacy."
"They're kissing."
"I am aware."
"That means it's going good."
"Go eat cake."
When Claire and Aleandro returned to the ballroom, the tension had lifted.
For twenty minutes.
Then Giovanni approached.
His face warned Aleandro before he spoke.
"What?"
"We found Vescari."
"Where?"
"He didn't return to New York to kill Matteo."
Aleandro's eyes narrowed.
"Then why?"
Giovanni handed him a phone.
A surveillance photograph showed Vescari meeting a man outside a federal building.
Claire approached.
"What's happening?"
Aleandro showed her.
She didn't recognize the second man.
Luca did.
"Assistant U.S. Attorney Feld."
Claire looked confused.
"The prosecutor?"
"One of them," Aleandro said.
"Why is Vescari meeting a prosecutor?"
Nobody answered.
Another photograph.
An envelope exchanged.
Claire's stomach tightened.
"You think the investigation is compromised."
"We don't know."
Aleandro hated those words now.
The prosecutor handling parts of Matteo's cooperation had secretly met the one man with the greatest reason to prevent Matteo from testifying.
The happy ballroom vanished around them.
Aleandro called his attorney immediately.
"Do nothing yet," the lawyer warned. "If Feld is dirty, we need proof. If he isn't, accusing him could destroy your agreement."
Claire looked toward Sophie.
"Not tonight."
Aleandro nodded.
For the rest of the gala, they smiled.
They danced once because Sophie demanded it.
Aleandro was surprisingly good.
Claire hated that too.
"You've been hiding this."
"I attended many weddings."
"As a guest?"
"Sometimes."
She laughed.
For three minutes, there were no prosecutors.
No rival families.
No old crimes.
Just music.
When the song ended, Aleandro kissed Claire's forehead.
Across the room, Sophie leaned against Max and smiled.
They left shortly before midnight.
Security drove Claire and Sophie home.
Aleandro went with Luca to meet his attorney.
At 1:18 a.m., Claire's phone rang.
Aleandro.
She answered immediately.
"What happened?"
"Feld isn't working for Vescari."
Relief.
"Then why the meeting?"
Aleandro's voice was grim.
"Vescari is trying to become a government witness."
Claire sat up.
"Against who?"
"Everyone."
A pause.
"Including me."
"Can he hurt your agreement?"
"If he can prove I withheld anything, yes."
"Did you?"
Aleandro didn't answer quickly enough.
Claire's heart sank.
"Aleandro."
"There is one thing I never disclosed."
"What?"
"It has nothing to do with Ethan. Or Matteo."
"Then what?"
A long silence.
"Niccolo."
Claire closed her eyes.
Seven years earlier, after Niccolo's murder, Aleandro had taken revenge.
He had told Claire that much.
What he had never told prosecutors was exactly how far that revenge went.
And Rafael Vescari knew.
Aleandro's attempt to become a different man had finally collided with the one part of his past he had refused to expose.
If he told the truth now, he could lose his freedom.
May you like
If he lied, he could lose the future Sophie had just asked him to build.
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