Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
She couldn’t have been more right.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “These past few months have been crazy as all hell, to say the least. But I can still picture that fateful day when I first saw you coming out of that tattoo parlor.”
A slight blush touched her cheeks. She lowered her head down, almost as if she were embarrassed by the whole act she’d put on to capture my attention.
Surely she knew that I had forgiven all ill-intent that was wrapped around that time for us.
“Natalia. You need to know that I don’t hold any negative emotion about how things were back then,” I told her.
I knew that in certain cases, Natalia was still deeply bothered about the violent acts her family had made against my own. The deaths of many of my men prayed horribly on her mind even after the Zaytsevs and I worked out an arrangement. There were times when the matter bothered her so much that she’d clam up and try to brush me off.
I’d spent numerous nights trying to ease the guilt, wishing that I could just wash away the terrible memories from her mind completely. I blamed myself for the things I’d said back then about the situation, but I knew for a fact that Ivan added to her remorse as well.
“I know it’s been a hair-raising past few months,” I said. “But, let me just say that I wouldn’t trade any of it if it meant losing you.”
Natalia looked up from the table to find me staring heavily into her stunning eyes. Her lips parted in surprise.
“Tallon.”
I could hear the sharp tone of doubt edged in her voice. There was no chance I was going to allow this night to turn into a possible meltdown.
“You are beyond anything I have imagined in a person. You’re kind, compassionate, and openly concerned about so many people that it constantly amazes me how all that emotion fits inside of you at times.”
Her lips began to curl into a smile that made my heart skip a beat. I felt the tension in her hand ease ever so slightly.
I found my face reddening for a brief second. “I’ll admit, it was your beauty that first caught my attention. As you literally fell into my life, I couldn’t get that thought of you out of my head.”
“I wish I hadn’t played so hard to get,” she giggled. “Even though it was expected of me to act a certain way, a lot of my distancing was due to my own guilt. Tallon, I never wanted to hurt you, or anyone else.”
Her voice grew hushed, which almost made me jump from my chair to hold her in my arms. I hastily shook my head.
“I know that, Natalia. Please, you have nothing to feel sorry for. You are not your grandfather or your uncle—you’re your own person, and that’s just one of the many reasons why I love you.”
The corners of her eyes became speckled with tears as her smile remained in place on her perfect lips.
The servers went ahead and took our plates away when we finished dinner. For a short moment, Natalia got up to use the powder room. My hands rested on the table while I felt the outline of the ring box in my pocket.
By the time Natalis returned, the waiters brought out the final piece to our evening, and a Torta di Mele, a traditional Tuscan apple cake that was dusted with powdered sugar was placed in front of us.
My nerves were beginning to coil once more as I recalled the promise I made to myself earlier.
“Natalia?”
“Yes?”
My voice sounded a bit distant at first. “There’s something I need to ask you.”
She nodded her head and waited for me to speak. But I didn’t.
Instead, I got up from my seat and shortened the distance between us. I slowly lowered myself till I stood on one knee before her.
Her eyes widened in realization of what was to come. I gripped the box tightly in my hand.
“Natalia, you mean the absolute world to me. Every moment I spend with you is a gift and one that I do not wish to ever part with. I can’t imagine my life without someone as brilliant and loving as you. I love you now and always.”
The next words that I spoke came out in a hushed tone of voice.
“Will you marry me?”
*Natalia*
“Will you marry me?”
All around me was an emptying silence. I knew of course that I was sitting in the middle of a restaurant, the apple cake that the waiters had just delivered to our table sitting innocently in front of me, coerced in the powdered sugar and sweetness that a single bite could make my teeth hurt.
Wide-eyed and unblinking, I stared at the glittering ring inside of the velvet box that Tallon had presented to me, one foot and one knee firmly on the floor as he looked up at me, imploringly, nervously, hopefully.
The noises around us slowed down. The sound of the waiters hiding just behind the corner, too attentive to be natural as they kept stealing looks at the two of us–faded into the background.
I trembled as the breeze blew through the open window, brushing my loose hair from my face and across the uncovered skin of my open-back dress. The stars twinkling above us and the sight of the mountain just behind Tallon–it was a gorgeous picturesque moment where I wondered if this was truly happening.
Most women dreamed of this moment their entire lives, a handsome man on one knee, an expensive and gorgeous diamond presented to them as they stared at the one they loved like they were the only person in the whole world.
I had never had the luxury to imagine such a sweet life.
I had struggled just to survive for so long. I had soldiered my way through life trying to get through each day as they came. There was no time for childish dreaming, or imagining better lives.
Not until this moment.
Possibilities flashed across my eyes as the world seemed to burst into colors and for the first time in my dull, colorless life, I could imagine it–a gorgeous aisle decorated with flower petals, my mother next to me in tears as she watched me glide down in a white dress.
The world around us ceased as my eyes met his. Everything else faded away as I held out my hand to the man I loved with all of my heart and the words we both whispered, full of emotion and vows to the universe itself.
I do.
“Natalia?” Tallon asked, alarm and dismay flickering in his eyes as his words jolted me back to the present.
He dropped the ring, reaching for me and I let out a loud sob, unable to stop the rush of emotions that had suddenly taken over my body.
Trembling and weak, I fell to my knees in front of him, grabbing onto his shirt as I tried not to completely fall apart. He gently held my face in his hands, the concern in his eyes overpowering anything else as his eyes swept me for what could possibly have dissolved me into tears.
It was sweet and charming to see how much he loved and cared for me but I shook my head, pulling out of his embrace as I glanced at the fallen box on the floor and quickly grabbed it. I pushed it into his hands, staring into his eyes as I dropped my entire guard.
Tears rushed down my face, and as my body trembled from the powerful motions I probably looked like a mess, but whatever he saw in my eyes shocked him. Hope lit up his face as he gently plucked the ring from the box, tossing the now empty container to the ground as he tightly held onto the ring.
Swallowing, with a look of complete and utter astonishment, he gently slid the ring onto my finger–a perfect fit.
“Will you–” he repeated, just as overwhelmed as I was.
“Yes,” I choked out between sobs, nodding furiously into his chest. “Yes, of course, I will, you idiot.”
I gripped him like he was my last lifeline and I heard his laugh, the rumble of his chest everything to me as he held me tightly in my arms, as if he was afraid I would disappear.
“I love you,” he whispered in my ear, and before I could respond, he’d lifted me into his arms, holding me by the waist as he stood both of us up.
