OMBRA:

Shade or shadow

V A L E R I U S ' S P O V:

FIVE WEEKS LATER

The time has come for me to finally propose to Shira. Ever since our scandalous sex in the barn next to the church, where her brother was getting married, I have sealed my fate and decided to make her mine permanently.

The wedding of Alexandre went fairly well since we came back in time before the 'I do's' yet we weren't the only one who had been missing. Dante and Abella looked as if they came back from a hunt in a rainforest.

Shira began to stir in my arms, lately she's been feeling restless for the past couple of days. She looks so cute when she naps, her mouth slightly open and as usual, a small piece of hair near her eyes.

My index finger gently pushes it behind her ear before I continue to massage her head. Shira shifts again and I stop what I am doing. "What's wrong amore?" I ask, seeing if I could help her. "I can't sleep, still." She pouts.

"Come on, let me take you upstairs in our room." Getting up from the couch outside, I tucked my hands under her body before lifting her up bridal style. Shira snuggled in closer and pecked my neck.

-

Three hours have gone by and I wasn't beside Shira in fact I was sorting out the final touches of the proposal. A message popped up and it was Shira asking where I am. Replying, I told her to follow the petals that I set out for her.

It would directly lead her to our chauffeur, who would bring her to me.

The day had finally come that I would make her mine. For the first time as each minute goes by, the feeling of the unfamiliar butterflies in my stomach become rapid. I'm nervous, something g that has never occurred to me before.

-

Minutes went by and from the distance I saw the black SUV park up. The place where I decided to propose to Shira is a place she fell in love with when she was younger. A private park that recently became mine. The fun thing about the park is that it's close to the beach where we shared our first kiss but also a couple of minutes to the restaurant where I told her those three special words ' I love you'.

The park was cleared out for today but on a daily basis it isn't private, it is for the children. The sun's rays were shining on the different areas of the park and especially on the big lights that spelled out 'Will you marry me, amore'.

Shira had the blindfold press to her eyes like I had asked her to. I plan to use that blindfold for other things too but that's until later.

The chauffeur leads her to the middle of the park where rose petals are scattered around her and in front of her is a path with candles leading her to me.

"Val..." Shira hesitates with a nervous smile, I send a nod to the chauffeur and he nods too before leaving us together. "I'm here, amore, don't worry." I reassure her, walking towards her, I slowly remove the blindfold and place it in my trousers' pocket.

"This is-" Before she could finish her sentence, I interrupted her and finished it for her, "the park you would visit almost every weekend with your dad." Taking a deep breath, I just began to pour my heart out to the woman in front of me.

"Amore, you are the most beautiful, sexy and freaky woman I have ever met and I love every spec of you. My rough beginning has ended with you coming into my life and filling it with love and happiness. I'm proud of how strong you are, fighting each imperfections that you find in yourself yet I only see a goddess in front of me." Shira's eyes become glossy and a tear finally slips from her eyes on to the cushion of her cheek.

"You have no idea how much I love you, how much I need you. I'm empty without you and every heartbeat is for you only." I say truthfully, wiping away the tears that have soaked her cheeks. "I don't want to wake up unless it is you that's beside me. I need you and I need to be with you. So, will you do me the favour of keeping the key to my heart?"

"Will you do me the favour of changing your name to Shira De Santis?" Getting down on one knee, I open the small box and presenting Shira the ring she loves. "Will you marry me, amore, and become mine forever?" Shira crouches down on the grass with me and nods her head. "Yes, a million times yes. I will be yours, Val." Smiling like a kid, I place the ring on her finger and without wasting any time Shira slams her lips onto mine as the fireworks go off in the background.

The whooping in the background from the both of our families took me by surprise, pulling away from each other I got up and wiped her tears before we could hear the sniffles from both of our parents especially from our mums.

"It's beautiful, Val." Pecking her lips again, I held her hand in mine and twisted the ring around, "It has Shira De Santis engraved on there." Shira wrapped her arms around me and mumbled 'I love you' against my neck.

"Well, I hope to actually see you at your wedding, not fucking like rabbits in a bush or anything." Dante whispered between us and Abella giggled. Shira and I both stared at them like they couldn't be serious. "From what I recall of, you two disappeared and turned up when they were cutting the cake." Shira replied with her arms crossed.

Dante and Abella coughed whilst looking like tomatoes. "Shira, welcome to the family," Papa smiled while him and Theo approached us. "I won't be taking her in as a daughter in law though, Theo." Theo frowned with confusion, trying to read Papa's expression but there was nothing.

"She's my daughter now." Papa cupped Shira's face and kissed her forehead. The smile that gleamed from her face sprouted tears from her eyes. "Mama and I are so happy for the both of you." Theo took both of our hands and placed them on one another.

"And Valerius," Shit. Here we go, another 'dad talk' or something that will end up with me, the don of the Italian mafia, to gulp down a heavy lump of fear down my throat. "Welcome to the family, son." Theo embraced me and I did the same.

I felt like a winner. I felt like I was over the moon. My mind felt at peace, I was marrying the woman that I crave for, I have everything that I wanted and I couldn't be more happier.

-

"Val, where are you taking me now?" Shira spoke as she sat on my lap in the backseat. I leaned over and poured a glass of whiskey and asked Shira wanted something but refused instead she was interested in dotting kisses on my neck. Again, teasing me.

"It's a surprise but if you keep teasing, then we are going to miss the fun of it once we are there." I chuckled, sipping on the strong liquor. "Oh, it's not a sex club is it?" Laughing, I shook my head 'no'. God, how is she so cute?

"I wouldn't take you there-" I began but was instantly cut off, "Why not? Is it because you don't want me to meet the girls you used to have fun with or is it the fact that you don't want me there because it's too 'dangerous' because-" Wow I love her.

I would be lying if I said I was listening to her rambling about how she is the daughter of the tench mafia but I couldn't keep my eyes off of those kissable lips and the way her eyes narrow down to make her look intimidating. Cute.

"Sh," I said dominantly, placing my hand over her mouth. "I don't want other men to even look your way or even think about you while you are there. Any girl they see they will think that you are stripper." Brushing her hair away from her neck, Shira didn't say anything but looked blankly.

"Was Grace working there?" Sighing, I nodded. Shira hummed whilst looking out of the window and not at me. "Hey, look at me," I held her chin with my finger as I bowed the truthfulness in my eyes. "That was the old me. I'm only yours and you are only mine." Bringing her hand left hand, I kissed her where the ring was situated.

"I love you, Val." Shira whispered, her eyes switching between my eyes and my lips. "I love you too, amore." Leaning towards her, I grabbed her leg and pulled it towards me, leaving her to straddle me. My lips were magnetised to hers and our kiss we shared was the start of our new beginning.

-

"We're here, Sir." The chauffeur announced. Shira was asleep on my chest, I hated to wake her up but she would be getting a good sleep soon. "Amore, wake up bellissima, we're here." Stroking her cheek, Shira yawned before opening her eyes, smiling slightly.

Shira looked out the window of the limousine to notice my private jet. "Where we going, Val?" Shira questioned as she turned to face me while yawning again. It amazes me how she looks cute all the time. I could bet you any money that she is going to scrunch her nose because she just yawned, a little habit she has.

"We're going to Italy, amore." Shira scrunched her nose and her eyes were opened wide in delight. "And, just so you know, amore, we don't make love in Italy, we fuck hard." I whispered against her neck before sucking hard on her sweet spot eliciting a moan from her sweet mouth.

Hello, my loves, did you like this chapter? If you did, let know your thoughts. I love seeing the comments, Wattpad comments are the best. Anyways, have a lovely day or good night's rest.

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