Turn Towards the Sun Book Two: After the Rain (2 page)

Enzo reaches up and gently wipes away the tear that falls from my eye, before continuing, “I settled on telling you this – I began living the day you sat next to me on that airplane. I had no idea that I was lonely. I didn’t know what being loved could feel like, and I certainly didn’t know what loving someone with every ounce of my being was like. The day you sat next to me, my heart started beating. I give you my all, Ava – everything I have, everything I am, and everything I will be. It’s all for you. To say I love you isn’t enough, but they are the best words I could find.”

Before I can say anything, Enzo starts to speak to me softly in Italian. The guests fall silent, listening to his every word. My brain focuses on them, trying to decipher the ones I know the meaning of. I hear amore, cuore, felice, tanto – love, heart, happy, so much.

I wipe another tear from my eye. Enzo is so beautiful, so full of love and emotion for me, that I feel overwhelmed. He lifts my hands to his mouth and gently kisses each one. Taking a deep breath, a magnificent smile spreads across Enzo’s face, and then he turns to the priest and nods his head.

“Ava, your vows for Enzo?” requests the priest.

I fear my voice has left me, taken by the sweet, romantic man in front of me. I clear my throat softly, searching for the words I chose a few days ago.

“Enzo, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I lost track of the moments when I stared into your face and realized you were real, and that you were mine. My life went in a direction I could never have imagined on the day I met you. Because of you, I have the most amazing life. Because of you, I found my confidence again. Because of you, my life is full of riches that money could never buy. Because of you, I don’t need to dream anymore. You are everything, Enzo, and I will spend my life trying to make you as happy as you make me.”

Hearing the sound of women gently sobbing behind me, I smile, happy that I maintained my composure during my vows. The priest takes over again, and goes through the traditional part of the ceremony until we finally get to the best part…

“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Enzo, you may kiss your bride.”

He grins. “Did you hear that, Ava? I can kiss my bride.”

Enzo leans in and pulls me tight, dipping me low as his lips meet mine. The room erupts in applause.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Enzo Milano.”

The orchestra begins to play Beethoven’s
Ode to Joy
as Enzo lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses it.

Breathless, we hurry to the back room, where the photographers from the national wedding magazine are waiting to take pictures. We agree to one hour of posed photos while our guests head to the second ballroom to start the cocktail hour.

“I can’t believe it. We’re married,” Enzo says, swinging me around in his arms and kissing my neck. “You look so beautiful. Did I tell you how amazing you look?”

I grin back at him. “I’m sure you did.” He always does.

“I can’t wait to get to the party. I want to hold you in my arms and dance all night.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Enzo rubs his hand across my cheek. “How do you feel? Are you happy?”

“I’m beyond happy. We’re going to have a great time tonight.”

He kisses me and holds me in his arms. “I promise to protect you. I’ll never take a chance that someone could take you away from me ever again.”

I say nothing and just let him hold me.

After an hour of pictures, we are ready to make our entrance and start the reception. We’ve selected a beautiful first song to dance to, and I’m looking forward to getting to that part. The DJ announces our entrance by playing loud, bumping music. Our guests jump to their feet and clap as we dance our way into the room.

Enzo holds my arm high in the air and twirls me around as we move through the crowd. Twirling me once more, Enzo pulls me into his arms. The lights in the room dim and the guests quiet down. My eyes well up with tears as I stare at this larger-than-life man in front of me. Brian McKnight’s
Back At One
begins to play, and I’m suddenly lost in the deep blue of my husband’s eyes.

Enzo mouths the words of the song to me as we dance, the lyrics perfectly reflecting our love, his eyes focused only on me. If I stop to think about everything that has happened, not just today, but in the previous four months, I wouldn’t believe it was possible. We sway to the music, locked in each other’s arms. I know everyone is standing around us, but all I see is him. In spite of the earlier events of the day, I couldn’t possibly be any happier than I am in this moment.

****

After five hours of pictures, dancing, toasts and food, I’m exhausted. My feelings are a mixture of drained, emotional and elated. Not surprising, considering how the afternoon started. For now, I’m enjoying another slice of Paolo’s masterful cake – the chocolate hazelnut one.

Enzo kisses the back of my hand as we watch our guests dance and mingle. “It’s almost time to go, amore,” he says.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“It’s a surprise.”

I sigh. “Baby, I don’t want any more surprises for a while.”

All I want to do now is go home.

“This is a good surprise,” he assures me. “I’m taking you to a fine hotel tonight that you’ve never been to before.”

“Can’t we just go home?”

“Is that what you want on your honeymoon night?”

“Yes, it’s perfect,” I reply. “Starting our married life in our home is exactly what I want to do tonight. Besides, we leave tomorrow for Italy, and that is exciting enough.”

He kisses my cheek. “As you wish, amore.”

I look up to see Genevieve approaching our table with a distraught look on her face. “Mr. Milano, I have some news for you.”

Enzo’s graceful smile disappears into a frown. “What is it now?”

“The paparazzi are outside the hotel, waiting for you and Mrs. Milano. We’ve tried all evening to shake them off, but they are quite persistent.”

“More paparazzi? Great.” he replies, looking at me. “Why are we so interesting to these people? Why can’t they just leave us alone, for God’s sake? It’s not like we’re famous.”

I shrug. Enzo rubs my hand and directs his attention back to Genevieve. “Do they know what happened here earlier?” he asks.

“I can’t tell. This is most unusual. I normally don’t have any problems in keeping the photographers away.” Genevieve frowns. “I have a plan though,” she adds. “I’m going to get all the wedding guests to go outside and surround your car. At least we can block their view of you.”

“That’ll be fine,” Enzo tells her, before letting out a deep sigh. “Alright then, we’ll just have to deal with it. Ready, amore?” he asks me.

“As much as I can be, I suppose.”

Genevieve announces that we are leaving and directs most of our guests to head outside first, which distracts the waiting photographers. Enzo and I walk through the crowd of our loved ones to our car. I hear the click of cameras, but all I can see are subtle flashes of light. Just before we reach the car door, a photographer pushes his way through and snaps a picture right in my face, blinding me.

Enzo pushes the guy with a fury that startles me. “Back off,” he tells him.

The guy steps back and rushes away.

Enzo then opens my door for me, before jumping in the driver’s side. We sit in silence for a moment while Genevieve and the security people clear a path for us. I glance over at my husband to see his handsome face marred by anger and concern.

“Don’t worry, Ava. We’ll be out of here soon,” he tells me. “Grayson went ahead and is making sure the house is secure.”

“I’m not worried, tesoro. I'm with you.”

He grabs my hand and kisses it furiously. “You are my wife, Ava. My wife. Isn’t it amazing? You really are mine.”

I smile back at him. “I always was yours. And yes, it’s amazing. I’m so happy.”

“I’m going to ravish you tonight. I promise you that.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Mr. Milano.” I dramatically bat my eyelashes and laugh.

“Mrs. Milano, don’t you know, I always keep my promises.”

Photographers stand off to one side, snapping photos of us driving away. What is so interesting about this? I hope Enzo is right and that interest in us dies down. As we speed away towards our house, I lean back in my seat, relaxing for the first time this evening.

Glancing at my husband, he still appears agitated. “What’s on your mind, Enzo?”

He flashes his amazing smile. “I was wondering how soon we can have a baby.”

“A baby?” My voice gives away my utter shock. “Babe, we’ve been married for less than six hours. Can we talk about babies a little later?”

“We are going to start soon though, no?”

I look over at him; this man I met less than six months ago. Everything with him is so intense, so overwhelming, and definitely happens fast. The hopeful expression on his face makes it clear that I need to tread carefully. I know I’m not ready for a baby.

“My love, could we talk about it later? Of course I want to have your babies. A lot has happened today, so I would love it if we could just enjoy tonight.”

Enzo rubs my hand. “I’m sorry. I’m overwhelming you. I just love you so much and cannot wait for our family. Everything that happened today just makes me want to be as close to you as I can. I just need to feel like we are good.” His eyes are a little sad.

“I am overwhelmed, but in the best way. We’ll talk about all these things soon. I’m here now and we’re together. That’s enough for now, isn’t it?”

“Yes, of course. It’s more than enough.”

We soon reach the house and Enzo pulls into the drive. He steps out of the car, walks around to my side, and escorts me out. I start to walk forward, but he stops, placing his hands on his hips.

“Do you really think I’m going to let my new wife walk in?” he asks, effortlessly scooping me into his arms. “Ava, amore, you are so beautiful. You’ve made me unbelievably happy.” He kisses me and sets me down for just a moment while he unlocks the door. Then he swoops me up again as we enter the house.

I can’t help but giggle. “You make me happy too,” I say.

Enzo carries me into the bedroom and lays me down on the bed. “I want to make love to you wearing this,” he says, stroking the material of my gown.

I want him to see the lingerie I’m wearing, but I’ve got to admit that his suggestion is sexy. “Alright,” I reply.

“I’m going to make love to you, slowly. Then I’m going to take all of this off you and make love to you again. I hope you have enough energy left for me.”

A rush of joy flows through me. Enzo slides his hands up my gown, pushing the silky material around my waist. My heels are still on and that only adds to my excitement.

Reaching the top of my thighs, he sees my garter belt and stockings. “Minchia, che bella,” he murmurs.

I know what that means and a smile spreads across my face. Mission accomplished. “You can take my panties off and leave the garters in place.”

He smiles and slides my white, lace panties down, pulling them over my heels. “Ava,” he whispers as his eyes soak me in.

I open my legs and pull Enzo towards me by his tie. Pressing against me, he kisses me, absorbing me into his energy. He is fully dressed, and I can’t think of anything hotter than this right now. When he tries to pull away, I hold him to me.

“Just undo your pants. Leave your tux on,” I tell him.

He grins and unzips his trousers. Anticipation builds in me. I already know how amazing lovemaking is with this man, but this time I’m his wife. His wife.

Enzo prepares to enter me, but stops and holds my face in his hands. “Ready, Mrs. Milano?” he asks.

I sigh. “Yes, more than ready.”

Enzo pushes into me, and I revel in the fullness spreading through my loins. He is my husband. My husband is making love to me.

He grinds into me slowly, tenderly, holding me so close I can barely breathe. The sound of my dress rustling fills my ears. I love this man so much that it almost pains me. He is silent, except for his breathing, which is the only sound he makes.

“Enzo, my love,” I whisper into his ear.

He is still silent, holding me tight and pumping into me. I pull him closer and wrap my legs around his back.

I hold my eyes to his. “Talk to me, Enzo.”

“Ava… I have so much to say.” He pushes deeper into me. “I can’t think of the words… love isn’t strong enough for what I feel. It’s more than that.” He holds my face in his hands again and stares deep into my eyes. “Do you understand me?”

“Yes, baby, I do.”

I really do. Love doesn’t seem descriptive enough for these feelings flowing through us. No matter what happens, I know I will always love this man, and he will always love me. I feel his movements quicken and know he’s about to release. I can’t think of anything else right now, but the pleasure being shared between us.

“Oh, Ava,” he breathes as his body tenses and hot liquid fills my insides. He slows and lies quietly on top of me.