LILITH

I was exhausted, mentally and physically so it took me a moment to realise what he said. "What?" I stared at him in shock. I shook my head in disbelief. "No."

He slowly removed his hands from my face and refused to look me in the eyes. "It's for the best."

"Best? Are you fucking serious? You are leaving me?"

His jaw clenched and he kept staring at the bed. "We have too many enemies. Surely what happened today was your father's personal grudge but other than that, I am afraid I might fail in keeping you safe again."

"Silvio...no." I murmured as he stood up, facing the door as if ready to leave.

He said with his back towards me, "I'll get you a house somewhere safe, a job and everything else that you will need and--"

I stood up too. "And the baby?" I snapped. "Our baby? The one you wanted so desperately. You don't want the baby anymore?"

He whirled around and I was caught off guard by all the emotions written on his face. Anguish. Desperation. Need.

And the tears in his eyes.

He took a step closer to me and went down on his knees and wrapping his arms around my waist, pressed a lingering kiss on my belly. "God, no." He choked out. "I want it. I want everything with you. Lilith, I...I told you, you are everything I ever needed."

A sob left my mouth too. "Then why, Silvio? You are stupid to think I will be better without you. Without you, I will go insane. That one year without you was torture enough. Don't do this. Please."

He buried his face into my belly and I continued, "I know I shouldn't be so dependent on you but you keep me safe, Silvio. This home is the safest place that I could be in. If you were not there then I don't know if I would have been okay today or not. Don't be so scared about my safety. You can even teach me self defence so that I can protect myself a little."

I felt wetness seeping into my clothes where his face was pressed against my belly. He was crying. I never saw him cry.

I ran my fingers through his hair. "You promised, Silvio. You promised not to leave me ever. Are you going to break your promise? Break my heart? What do you want me to do after you leave me? Find some other man to marry?"

His arms tightened around me at the last sentence.

A couple of seconds passed by in silence and I said softly, "Talk to me."

He finally lifted his head, his cheeks streaked with tears, eyes rimmed red and he stared at me, looking broken. "I don't deserve you."

I shook my head instantly. "I don't deserve you either, Silvio." I framed his face in my palms. "But I want you. I need you regardless of all that. I am selfish when it comes to you and I need you to be selfish too right now."

"I need you. And only you." I stated firmly. "Let go of your fears for me. Choose me, please. Choose me over your fears. Choose our family. This baby. Me. Our happiness."

I dropped down to my knees too so that I was level with him and rested my forehead on his.

He was breathing heavily and I wiped away the lingering tears from his face like he always wiped mine.

He leaned closer until our breaths mingled together. "Mia luna..." He whispered ever so softly as his lips brushed mine.

It could hardly be called a kiss as his lips grazed mine over and over again in a feathery touch as if he was afraid to hurt me.

He leaned back slowly and grabbing me by my waist, got up and placed me on the bed.

He lifted my dress up to my breasts and buried his face against my bare belly.

He pressed an open-mouthed kiss there that made my eyes flutter close. "I love you. I love you both. So much."

I looked down at him. "Does that mean...that you are not leaving me?"

There was a long pause and then I heard his sigh softly. "Never. I am sorry for hurting you, baby. I will never leave you."

A relieved sob left my mouth. "Thank you."

His fingers dig into my waist and he gritted out. "But don't fucking talk about finding any other men."

"Only you," I assured him, nodding my head.

"Good girl." He pressed his palm over my belly, caressing it and gazed at it intensely. "When did you find out?"

"This morning. I wanted to surprise you. I thought it will make you happy--"

"I am so fucking happy, mia luna, you have no idea." A small smile touched his lips. "You make me so happy."

"Kiss me. Please." I murmured desperately.

He climbed up and captured my lips in a kiss so passionate that it blew my mind.

His tongue stroked mine eliciting a soft moan from me which got lost in his mouth.

As we parted for a second for some air, I whispered, "I just...want you to hold me tonight..."

He stared at me softly. "I would love that, Lili. Whatever you want."

So he did exactly that but only after he had bathed me, washing away the day's exhaustion with his love.

Once we both were clean and dressed (by dressed I mean he was shirtless), he pulled me into his arms and I rested my head on his chest, breathing in his comforting scent.

"What happened to...my father?" I asked.

The question remained suspended in the air for quite some time, his fingers stroked my hair. "You don't have to worry about him anymore."

I knew what he meant by that. My father was dead. Silvio killed him. But that information only made me a little relieved.

I didn't judge him cause I have already accepted him as he was.

I only snuggled closer to him and he dropped a kiss on my head.

The last thing I heard him speak before I drifted off to sleep was, "We are getting married day after tomorrow."

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"There is no need for that," Silvio grumbled.

"Yes, it is." I planted my hands on my hips. "You know it too. Go and say sorry to her." I nudged him in the direction of Orla who was sitting on the couch, listening to music.

He pressed his lips in a grim line and shot me a glare before finally walking over to her until he stood in front of her and I joined him.

She took out her Airpods when she saw us and I spoke, "Silvio here has something to say to you."

"Sorry," Silvio grunted as soon as she looked at him. It was the most non-apologetic sorry that I ever heard but it was a start.

"For how he blamed you yesterday." I clarified.

Orla smiled and shrugged. "It's okay. You were really tensed, I am just happy that she is safe now."

Silvio did a dramatic roll of his eyes and stalked away but not before he pecked my lips.

"So..." Orla was grinning as she pulled me down on the couch next to her. "...how did you manage that?"

I chuckled. "My puppy eyes are really powerful."

She chuckled along with me and I told her, "Also, I am pregnant."

That caused her eyes to widen and just to mess with her, I added, "And we are getting married tomorrow."

Her mouth fell open. "Wait a damn minute. What the hell? You are pregnant? I mean that's amazing, really amazing but you are getting married tomorrow itself? Why did I not know this before? What about my salon treatment? Oh. My. God."

I laughed softly as she got up and ran towards the direction of Marcelo's office. "There are so many things to do!"

I didn't even know about my wedding either. Silvio got to know that my wedding dress is ready so he just moved the wedding to the closest date which happens to be tomorrow.

Can't wait for it.

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I stared at my wedding dress in awe. It was simple and elegant yet so beautiful. An off-shoulder that showed a hint of my cleavage, it hugged my breasts and waist perfectly, glittering with silver sparkles and from the waist below, it flared out, a little too long at the back so that it trails behind me.

It had flowers woven into the skirt and the shade of the dress itself wasn't perfectly white instead it had a hint of the lightest shade of lavender into it so that it gave off a Tangled vibe.

And a simple veil that covered my face and a bouquet of flowers in my hands.

I missed Mom. She would have been so happy to see me getting married but I managed not to let any of the tears escape my eyes.

Alessandro fetched me when it was time. Yesterday I asked him if he would do me the honour of walking me down since he was the closest thing I had to a dad and he was more than happy to oblige.

I hooked my arm into the crook of his elbow and we stepped out into the garden.

The sun was already setting and the garden was littered with candles, some of them making a path up to where Silvio stood, looking as beautiful as the day I first saw him.

We wanted to keep the ceremony as intimate as possible which meant only the family members, no one else.

Alessandro slowly walked me towards Silvio, my locking with his. He had a solemn look on his face and his jaw clenched as he looked at me.

I think I saw his eyes glisten for a moment before he lowered his head and pretended to adjust his cuffs.

My own eyes watered when I realised he was getting emotional.

But I blinked my tears quickly as I reached him Alessandro handed my hand to Silvio and he brushed a kiss on the back of my palm before making me stand in front of him as the priest began the ceremony.

"...you may now kiss the bride."

Silvio's gaze held mine as he let out a shaky breath and slowly lifted my veil. He gently held my face in between his palms. "Sono tutto tuo, mia luna. Ufficialmente e per sempre."

Then he pressed his lips to mine tenderly as everyone cheered for us.

If it were to him, he would have kissed me deeply and for a long time but I was still a little shy about PDA, so, I pulled back quickly much to his disappointment and gave him a cheeky grin.

As soon as we turned to everyone, Marcelo, Cyrus and Ezekiel gathered around us.

"Well, we just won the bet. So, you owe us thousand dollars each." Cyrus grinned.

Ezekiel and Marcelo nodded in agreement.

There was a subtle roll of Silvio's eyes before he transferred their money to their bank accounts.

Later, I wanted to do a bouquet toss even though everyone present was already married but I wanted to do it nevertheless.

I tossed the bouquet back into the air and immediately turned around to see who caught it.

Cyrus stood there drinking champagne with Ezekiel and Marcelo and I watched as the bouquet went in his direction and even though he wasn't paying much attention to it, he caught it out of reflex action only to realise it was a bouquet.

I swear he looked so freaking confused with a bouquet in his hand that everyone burst into laughter.

Once everything was done, it was time for the one last thing.

The only reason we decided on a night wedding was because we wanted to release a few wishing lights just like in Tangled. It was actually exciting considering how much we watched that movie growing up.

'I See The Lights' played softly in the background as everyone held their own lights while Silvio and I held a single one.

His other hand was wrapped protectively around my belly as we all released those lights at the same moment.

Mesmerized, I watched them float up in the sky, lighting it up.

I glanced at Silvio who was watching them too, a wide smile on his face.

"If our story was a movie, then this is how I would like it to end. Our happy ending."

His eyes slid to mine and he stroked my lips with his thumb. "No, my dear wife. I would rather like it to end with you holding our baby."

And he shot me a wink that melted my heart into a puddle. It was fair to say I was undeniably in love with my best friend after all.

The Epilogue Will Be Uploaded Soon...