My Billionaire Ex Regrets Throwing Me to the Mafia Don novel · Chapter 28 of 32

Chapter 28: Tell Me No

I didn't answer right away.

A tug went past below us, pushing an empty barge toward the Buttermilk Channel.

Its wake slapped against the pilings.

"You're doing it again," I said.

"Doing what?"

"Standing. Waiting for me to be sure."

"I'll stand here all night if I have to."

"I know you will. That's the problem."

He looked down at me.

For the first time since the back seat of his car, he looked uncertain.

I stood up off the bollard so we were face to face.

"When I was nineteen my father told me I had until thirty," I said. "I spent ten years running from a date on a calendar."

"I know."

"You don't. Let me say it."

He closed his mouth.

"I told Brent about the rule once, and he laughed."

"I called my father that afternoon because I was angry. Not because I wanted a husband."

"I got into your car because it was that or go back upstairs."

"Everything I've done since then, I did because somebody pushed."

He was very still.

"Then tell me no," he said, quietly. "I meant it."

"I'm not finished."

A gull landed on the next bollard and looked at us.

"Nobody pushed me into the lemon grove," I said. "I pushed you against the tree."

"Nobody pushed me up the stairs last week. I turned the key."

"Nobody made me pay full rate for your berths today. I did that so no one could ever say you gave me anything."

"So here it is, with nothing pushing."

I took his face in both hands.

"If the rule ended tonight, I'd still marry you on Sunday."

"If my father said no, I'd marry you on Monday instead."

"And if you ever tell me I'm nothing without you, I'll leave you on the curb with your phone up, filming my license plate."

He laughed.

He laughed so hard the gull flew off.

Then he stopped laughing, and his eyes were wet, and he didn't hide it.

"Say it plainly," he said. "I've waited a month."

"Yes, Dario."

He kissed me on the end of the pier with the whole of Manhattan lit up behind him.

His good hand was in my hair and his bad arm was around my waist, and he didn't care about the stitches.

When we broke apart, the terminal night crew was watching from the crane cab.

← Chapter 27 · All chapters · Chapter 29 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend