Chapter 14 - THE PROPOSAL WITHOUT A THREAT
Six months later, Vincent asked me to dinner.
Not at L'Osteria.
Not somewhere expensive.
A small Italian restaurant near the river.
I arrived wearing a simple green dress.
Vincent stood when he saw me.
“You look beautiful.”
I smiled.
“Thank you.”
We'd spent months getting to know each other.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Without secrets.
Vincent had continued changing his life.
He'd cooperated with legal authorities.
Reduced his involvement in criminal operations.
And built new boundaries with his family.
I had continued working.
Seeing friends.
Living in my own apartment.
Our relationship was different from anything I'd known.
After dinner, we walked beside the river.
The city lights shimmered on the water.
Vincent stopped.
“Nora.”
I looked at him.
“Yes?”
He took a breath.
“I have something to ask you.”
My heart raced.
He reached into his coat.
Then stopped.
I laughed.
“Vincent.”
He smiled nervously.
He took out a small velvet box.
Inside was a ring.
Simple.
Elegant.
Beautiful.
But he didn't kneel immediately.
He looked at me.
“The first time I called you my wife, I didn't ask.”
My eyes filled.
He continued.
“I lied.”
“I frightened you.”
“And I put you in danger.”
His voice trembled.
“I can't undo that.”
I nodded.
“No.”
Vincent swallowed.
“But I can ask properly.”
He knelt.
“Nora Bennett.”
His eyes filled.
“Will you marry me?”
I stared.
For a moment, I remembered the restaurant.
The cold hand.
The three men.
The fear.
Then I looked at the man kneeling before me.
He wasn't demanding.
He wasn't threatening.
He was asking.
I smiled through tears.
“Yes.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
“Yes?”
I laughed.
“Yes, Vincent.”
He stood.
I wrapped my arms around him.
And this time, when he kissed me, there was no fear.
No lie.
May you like
No audience to deceive.
Just love.
