Ramsey Security (Ramsey Security #1-3)(171)

“I’m not Italian,” she says as we wait at the airport.

“What? This is the kind of info you should have f*cking told me, woman.”

Smiling at my teasing, she crosses her arms. “I’m nervous, okay?”

“Look, Apples, I love my mom, and she’s an amazing woman, but I’m marrying you even if she thinks you’re the worst person in the world. I want what I want, and nothing is changing my mind.”

Minka’s smile grows, and I wrap my arm around her shoulders.

“Feel better?” I ask, kissing the top of her head.

“Extremely.”

My mother is one of the first people to appear past the checkpoint. I bought her a first class ticket, and I know she plays up her hip to get out of long lines. Gilda isn’t the only sneaky mother I know.

Mom’s gray and brown hair is wrapped into a stylish bun. I know she went to the salon before the flight. She’s as nervous as Minka about making a good impression.

I hug Mom tightly as soon as she’s in reach. I’m careful with her prim red dress, knowing she put a lot of thought into this get-up. I spent an hour earlier with Minka choosing clothes.

“Mom, this is Minka.”

The women smile nervously at each other.

“Hello, Missus Bellomi,” Minka says, going the formal route.

“Call me Carla.”

“Isn’t she beautiful?” I ask Mom.

“An absolute doll.”

Smiling, Minka takes a deep breath. “I learned a little Italian.”

Terror strikes me, and I pray she doesn’t do her Mario accent. Instead, she says in nearly perfect Italian that I’m the best man she’s ever met and hopes to make me as happy as my mother did my father. That’s the breaking point for Mom. She hugs Minka tightly and murmurs about how she never thought I’d meet anyone or fall in love.

By the time we’re at the baggage claim, Mom is talking grandkids. “If I ever had a girl, I wanted to name her Elisabetta. I knew a girl with the name back in Naples. She was as beautiful as a movie star, and I always loved the name. Of course, Luciano and I agreed to name the children of the same gender. With no daughters, I never had a chance to use the name.”

“Mom,” I mutter. “Let her be.”

“It’s fine,” Minka says, taking Mom’s hand. “I think the name Elisabetta is beautiful. If we have a boy, Dino’s already picked the name.”

Mom looks at me hopefully. I take her suitcases and set them on a cart.

“After Dad of course.”

“Such a good boy,” she says, taking my face and kissing my cheeks.

I ought to be embarrassed. As a teenager, I’d most definitely be horrified by her display. Not now with Minka smiling at us. Mom leaving lipstick kisses on my cheeks makes my woman smile bigger than I’ve ever seen her smile before.

I know Minka loves me. I’ve known she would all along, but I still marvel at how she went from f*cking hating me weeks ago to the ball of smiles and joy I see now.

All I needed to do was visit Honky-tonk Hell, kill a few people, eat a lot of bland spaghetti, and listen to way too much shitty music. Every single horror I suffered was worth just one smile from the sexy minx I’ve made mine.





Epilogue


Dino

Made Her Mine

I marry Minka on the beach in Galveston. As an inside joke, Minka wears a red dress. I go casual with a suit and no tie. Our friends and co-workers attend. My mom and Minka’s siblings fly in for the wedding. Gilda’s invitation gets lost in the mail. We never do see the shifty bitch again.

One of our first issues as a married couple is that I don’t like Minka’s apartment, and she doesn’t like mine. She suggests we live separately. I suggest she live at my place and learn to suck it up. Troy suggests we get a new place that’ll have things we both like.

Even if he’s right, I refuse to appreciate his help. Troy might be a decent guy and nothing more than Minka’s friend, but I will never be okay with someone who’s been inside my woman. If I had my way, I’d kill Troy. Minka insists her best buddy live, though. We compromise again. I threaten to kill Troy a lot but never will.

Saskia and her husband, Brad, live outside of Houston on a large estate. After a visit, Minka and I drive around the area looking for available land. I want my kids to grow up in a house with a yard. Minka is still talking about only one baby, maybe two if I beg. Even without a single kid, I want lots of space between the neighbors and me, just like how things were when I grew up.

“Can you imagine?” Minka says to me when we find a sweet piece of land a few miles from Saskia and Brad’s place.

“We’ll mix 1950’s Frank and Dino-style glamour with your more modern rock and roll crappy style.”

“Compromise works better without using the word ‘crappy’ in your description.”

“I says them like I sees them.”

Minka wraps her arms around me tightly, maybe a little too tightly actually.

“I’m going along with these big and fast dreams of yours, Dino. Marriage, kids, a house. I’ll trust in you even if all of your dreams scare the shit out of me.”

“Smart move, Apples.”

We buy the land and begin work on our dream house. The damn thing isn't completed for over two years. Baby Elisabetta spends her first nine months living in a rental apartment in downtown Houston. Not that she remembers anything more than her parents doting on her.