Authors: Lara Hunter,Holly Rayner
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Genre Fiction, #Holidays, #Romance, #Romantic Suspense, #Mystery & Suspense, #Suspense
“Yes, Mama,” Gaby said, ecstatic. The next day would be spent entirely with Luca, and, perhaps every day after that as well.
Gaby pulled out her phone and texted him right away. Now all she had to do was find a way to sleep until she could see him again. If only the next day wasn’t so far off!
SEVENTEEN
When Gaby woke up the next day, the snow had gone from a thin covering on the ground to a full foot deep. Rising from her bed, she made short business of changing into a cute pair of snow boots, a sweater, and a warm hat before taking the stairs two at a time. Her father was sitting at a table towards the back, munching on a piece of toast.
“Don’t you want to eat some breakfast before you go?” he asked.
“No time,” Gaby breathed, unwilling to delay her reunion with Luca any longer.
Luckily the subway was underground and unaffected by the storm. Gaby was grateful, because traffic was a complete disaster as she headed down the freshly shoveled stairs and into the subway car. The trip to Manhattan seemed to take forever as Gaby glanced at her phone over and over again with each stop.
Finally, she reached the stop closest to Luca’s hotel, and she was delighted to see him standing just inside the lobby, waiting for her. He came out to greet her as she approached and took her in his arms, sweeping her in a circle as he kissed her silly.
“Get a room,” someone mumbled as they bustled past, and Gaby laughed.
“Welcome to New York!” she said, and Luca laughed with her.
“Not exactly the city for lovers, is it?”
“Oh you might be surprised,” Gaby said, grabbing Luca’s hand and heading in the direction of Central Park.
“So what are we doing first, Signorina Tour Guide?”
“You’ll see,” Gaby said, echoing Luca’s previous secrecy herself.
They crossed a busy street to get to the park, which was scattered with children building snow forts and snowmen.
“You kept my father’s jacket,” Gaby observed, casting a glance at Luca.
He shrugged. “It’s the warmest coat I’ve ever worn. I’ll have to ask him where he got it.”
“I don’t think it’s from a store you’d ever step inside,” Gaby joked, grasping Luca’s fingers as they plowed through the deep snow.
“You’ll have to take me, then,” Luca said.
“The only place I’m taking you is down!” Gaby giggled, bending down and scooping up a fistful of snow, which she threw at Luca, hitting him square in the chest.
He laughed and darted away from her, grabbing his own snowball and throwing it back in her direction.
After a while they called a truce, and began rolling up a large ball of snow, then a medium sized one, then a small one, stacking them all and creating their own snowman.
“I shall call him Prince Charming,” Gaby said, drawing a smile and eyes on the head with her finger.
“You better watch yourself, Prince Charming. This lady is spoken for,” Luca said, just as Gaby threw her arms around the snowman.
“Wait a minute; this isn’t him,” she said, releasing the snowman and turning to Luca, whose cheeks had gone pink from the cold.
“There’s my Prince Charming,” she said, and she jumped into Luca’s arms, effectively toppling them both into the snow. They laughed as they rolled together, coming to a stop.
“Have you ever made a snow angel before?” Gaby asked, and Luca shook his head, perplexed.
“I have not. How do you do it?”
“Simple. You just wave your arms and legs, like this,” Gaby said, making the appropriate motions and laughing as Luca followed suit.
The Prince stood and held out a hand to her, and Gaby took it before resting her back into his chest as they looked down at their angels, side by side.
Gaby sighed, her breath steaming in the wintry air. “It’s the little things in life that bring the most joy, don’t you think?”
Luca rested his chin against Gaby’s shoulder, nuzzling her neck. The sensation was warm and seductive, and she tried to focus on the snow angels as his touch mesmerized her.
“I do think that,” he murmured. “Though the big things, like love, are very nice, too.”
Gaby turned in the circle of his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Yes. They certainly are.”
As the two melted into another kiss, a snowball hit Gaby square in the back. She turned to see a group of young boys sticking their tongues out.
“No kissing allowed!”
“I’ll get you for that! Come on Luca!”
Gaby reached down for a snowball and proceeded to gleefully chase the laughing boys away while Luca watched on, laughing uncontrollably. When Gaby returned, she was caked with snow.
“Children here are so outspoken,” Luca said, catching his breath, and Gaby shrugged.
“That might just be because we’re New Yorkers, but yes, we do tend to speak our minds from a very young age.”
“And I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Luca replied, wrapping his arms around her once again.
“Hey, are you hungry?” Gaby asked, then.
“Famished,” Luca said.
“Me too. Come on, I’ll show you one of my favorite places.”
They brushed snow from their clothing and headed towards a small hole-in-the-wall diner. The windows were covered with the words “Merry Christmas” and lyrics to “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”. They dusted more snow off before stepping inside and taking a seat.
“Hi Gaby,” an older waitress named Sally said as she approached the table. She stared openly at Luca. “And who’s this?”
“Oh, this is my…” Gaby hesitated, not really sure what to say. They hadn’t gone over titles, after all.
“Boyfriend. I’m her boyfriend. Luca,” he said, capturing Gaby’s gaze as he said it, the two of them making a silent agreement.
Sally actually whooped. “It’s about darn time you found a nice man, Gaby. Pardon my honesty, Luca,” Sally said, addressing the Prince, though she clearly didn’t feel bad. “What’ll you have?”
Gaby’s eyes lit up. “Give us the Christmas Special.”
“You got it, kiddo.”
Luca wondered out loud about what the Christmas Special entailed, but Gaby refused to give the surprise away.
A few minutes later, a young woman came by with a full tray laden with cocoa, sparkling cider, and a turkey dinner with stuffing and mashed potatoes. It smelled absolutely delicious.
Luca took a sip of the hot chocolate and chuckled. “You Americans are good, but not as good as we are in the hot chocolate department.”
Gaby laughed. “Wait until you try my mother’s. Then you might change your mind.”
The day passed entirely too quickly, and the day after that, though Luca and Gaby didn’t mind so much. They had the promise of every day together for as long as he stayed in New York, and Gaby’s mother—who had enlisted Gaby’s cousin to help out in her absence—didn’t seem to feel an inclination to take her word back on that.
EIGHTEEN
Somehow, weeks managed to pass by, until Christmas Eve arrived. The day before, Gaby and Luca had been corralled into making sugar cookies for dessert, and Gaby had laughed as she and Luca got into a powdered sugar fight that ended in some very sweet kisses, followed by some very falsely stern glances from her mother.
Gina Galtieri had been unable to keep up her stern front for long with Luca. He was simply too charming, and too much the man she had wanted her daughter to find. He was kind, wealthy, and Italian. Could it get any better than that?
When the Christmas Eve dinner was nearly prepared, Gina steered Luca out of the kitchen and he spent some time at the table, chatting with Gaby’s brother and uncles, who made him laugh with their dry sense of humor.
Luca also enjoyed playing with Gaby’s nieces and nephews, and he dashed around the tables as they played a rousing game of tag together.
Gaby watched him from the kitchen, absentmindedly cleaning a bowl.
“Careful. You look like you’ve got baby fever,” Rosalie said, standing at Gaby’s side.
“Oh hush,” Gaby said, nudging her friend’s shoulder, but not denying the truth of that statement. Seeing him get along so well with her family, fitting right in, playing excitedly with her beloved nieces and nephews, Gaby knew in that moment that she could never love anyone as much as she loved Luca.
Finally, all the food was prepared, and the family assembled at the table with Gaby’s nonna at the head, as usual. Gaby was seated to her nonna’s right, with Luca on her other side, and her grandmother bestowed a warm smile on them both.
“My blessing for this meal is simple,” she began. “Thank you for the love we have, old and new, and for our health and happiness. The good Lord is a worthy friend, and a better Father. Bless us all and accept our gratitude for the many joys in our lives.”
“Amen!” the table shouted before boisterous chatter rang out across the restaurant once again. Plates were filled with meats, vegetables and pasta. Gaby’s heart had never felt so full.
Luca’s phone rang in his pocket. He glanced down at the number and then looked up, apologetically.
“I’m so sorry, but I have to take this. It’s Rinaldo, and I told him not to call unless it was an emergency.”
“Of course,” Gaby said, feeling her stomach sink. She hoped it wasn’t bad news. “I’ll keep your spot for you.”
“Be sure that you do,” he grinned, dropping a small kiss on her cheek as he rose from the table and answered his phone, walking into the kitchen.
Time seemed to crawl as Gaby considered the many reasons Rinaldo could be calling. Maybe something had happened to his parents? Or perhaps he had been away for too long, and they would demand he come home? Gaby set down her fork and stared at her plate. She saw her grandmother’s hand reach out and settle on her own.
“I’m sure everything is fine, my dear. There’s no need to look so worried.”
When Luca came back into the room, Gaby was relieved to see him smiling from ear to ear. He joined her once again, and Nonna removed her hand, staring at Luca as she waited for his explanation. He looked directly at Gaby.
“It was Rinaldo, as I thought. He had some interesting news I think you all might want to hear.”
“Pipe down, all of you!” Nonna shouted to the table at large.
As if on cue, everyone went silent, staring at their matriarch.
“Prince Luca has something he would like all of us to hear,” she said, and Gaby noticed the twinkle in her eye. Did she know something Gaby didn’t?
Gaby looked up at Luca, who addressed the table at large.
“It’s long been Galtieri family legend that you are descended from old Italian royalty,” he began.
A few of Gaby’s relatives chuckled at this, throwing knowing glances in Nonna’s direction.
“Well, according to some final research by my team of genealogists, it would seem that while your most ancient ancestor was indeed a very wealthy and influential leader, today’s Galtieri clan does not have any claim to a title or the holdings that would come with it.”
Gaby frowned, her stomach flipping. Her grandmother frowned, too, though she imagined they were upset for two very different reasons.
“You…you’ll probably want to be going then, right?” Gaby stuttered. “I mean, we only got together because you thought I was royal, but if I’m not…”
Gaby could hardly muster the words. The idea of losing Luca just because she wasn’t royalty made her hurt from her very core.
Luca took her hand. “Gabriella, I don’t care about that. Don’t you see? You have my heart, all of it, no matter what titles we may have. In fact…”
Luca pushed his chair out and knelt on one knee before her. Gaby’s eyes swam with tears as she began to realize just exactly what was happening.
“Gabriella Gianna Galtieri, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife, my princess, and someday, my queen?”
He had pulled out a little black box. When he opened it, an enormous diamond ring glimmered in the light.
“Yes!” Gaby sobbed, covering her mouth in shock and surprise as Luca pulled the ring from its box and slid it onto her finger.
The Galtieri family let out a massive cheer as Luca wiped tears of joy from his fiancée’s cheeks and kissed her, which resulted in an even louder cheer.
It turned out Gabriella Galtieri was meant to be a princess, after all.