A Treacherous King- Dark Mafia Romance

epilogue

Caine

One month later

I survey the row of dazzling diamonds in the glass display case as the sales assistant lays different boxes on the counter before me. They're all beautiful, each one lavish and uniquely crafted but none remind me of Maeve.

This was the third jewelry store I'd stopped at. All the stores held rings that any woman would be keen to wear but Maeve was different. She wasn't the type of woman who wished to carry a diamond the size of a rock around on her finger, no she would enjoy a simpler style, one that didn't weigh her down. I am about to call it quits for the day and try other stores tomorrow, when a particular cut ring winks up at me.

"Can I see that one?" The salesman doesn't look too pleased with my choice as all the other rings he'd shown me were huge and flashy. He hands the ring to me and I take my time turning it in my fingers. It's a perfect amount of uniqueness with a white gold side stone setting, and pear shaped diamond. The image of the ring on Maeve's lithe finger nearly sends my heart in a frenzy.

It was perfect.

***
I hired a designer to set up the garden in an intimate setting. Her and her team had made quick work and turned my backyard into something of a fairytale. A table setting is set up by the rose bushes, the same ones I'd held a knife to her throat in front of and the ones that I had gifted her the necklace before the gala. I only saw it fitting that I get down on one knee before her in the copse of my mother's beloved roses.

She would have loved Maeve. Loved how down to earth she was but how she was also a force to be reckoned with. I know my mother would be proud of me. For choosing to love rather than become the man my father had destined me to be.

I trail my finger over the lace tablecloth that adorns the table and survey the bottle of champagne that chills in a bucket of ice in the center. In little over an hour, I will have Maeve here and ask her to be become mine permanently.

I can't say I had ever been so nervous before in my life. She told me she loved me and accepted the harsh life of the mafia, but what if she had changed her mind? What if she thinks it's too soon and decides I'm moving into things too fast?

I try to brush my negative thoughts aside and focus on the last preparations. If everything goes as planned, I will be engaged to the woman I love.

***
Maeve

My leg shakes uncontrollably as I watch the seconds tick down on the timer I'd set on my phone. The pregnancy test lays face up on the bathroom counter and I can't quit biting my nails in anticipation.

I'd suspected I was pregnant at the beginning of this week. My period was six weeks late and I had had horrible morning sickness everyday so far.

Caine and I had been practicing safe sex for a while now, but there were the few times we hadn't and I hadn't taken anything to prevent it. Now I was a nervous ball of energy waiting to see if my intuition was correct.

The timer goes off and I immediately lurch from the toilet seat and go over to the test. My heart is pounding so fiercely I think I might faint from the sheer force of it but I brace through it and reach for the test with shaky hands.

Pregnant.

My hand flies to my mouth. Oh my God. I'm pregnant.

I slide to the floor and try to calm my nerves. I don't know how to react. A part of me is terrified of telling Caine and terrified of becoming a mother. The thought of bringing a child into the world, into this world. A world where spilled blood and gunshot wounds were a common occurrence. How could I bring a child into a world like that?