TONY: Slow Burn (Raging Fire Book 1) by Kallypso Masters (the false prince TXT) 📕

“Be happy, Sis. Tony’s a good guy, and I know he’s going to take good care of you. If he doesn’t, he’s going to get his butt kicked.”

Marc turned toward Tony with a semi-glare on his face. “You do anything to make my sister regret her decision, and you’ll answer to me.”

“Marc, please,” Carm said. “Don’t go all big-brother on him.”

Tony held up his hand to halt her words, remembering how Rafe had treated Marc during their engagement and right up to the rehearsal dinner. “I would never intentionally do anything to hurt her. And I wouldn’t expect either of her big brothers to do anything short of coming after me if I ever did.”

Marc sized him up a moment longer, then held out his hand. “Congratulations. You don’t deserve her, but I guess she sees something in you that I don’t.”

Tony shook his hand. The two worked the same shift at the station and Tony didn’t want to think about how awkward it would be at the station if he and Carmella ever had any problems. Tony vowed to himself to make sure that never happened, but one thing he was learning in therapy was that you can’t control everything.

“I’ll take good care of her.”

Marc asked if Sandro knew, and Carmella told him he’d found out accidentally on Monday. “But I swore him to secrecy.”

“Well,” Marc began, “he hinted that there might be some kind of announcement at dinner today, but I just thought you were going to finally tell us that you’ve been seeing each other.”

Carm’s eyes opened wide. “You knew?”

Marc grinned. “Let’s just say I saw your car parked at Tony’s a while ago. I figured you’d tell me when you were ready.”

Damn. Tony had no idea. That he’d remained quiet about it at the station must mean he trusted Tony with her enough not to lay down the law to him.

As if she’d gleaned his train of thought, Angelina said, “Oh, he was ready to call you out, Tony,” Angelina said, “but I reminded him how our relationship began, and he didn’t have a leg to stand on.”

Everyone laughed, breaking any tension that might have arisen. Good thing he and Carm planned to move to Wolcott. No prying family eyes to worry about there.

Eight days later, Carm squeezed Tony’s hand as they walked up the stairs to Mama and Papa’s condo. Her parents had returned from Italy earlier today, but Sandro had picked them up at the airport. Carm had avoided them for several hours, afraid she’d give away the news before Tony could arrive from a scheduled dive-team training exercise this afternoon. She’d promised to come to dinner and told them she was bringing a guest. She just hadn’t said who that would be.

Standing in front of the door, she glanced at Tony who wore a suit and tie and looked uncomfortable to the extreme. “Let’s just get it over with before we sit down to dinner,” she suggested.

“Sounds good to me.” He tugged his collar away from his neck to exaggerate his lack of comfort and grinned at her just as the door opened.

“Papa! Welcome home!” She wrapped her arms around him as he greeted her with kisses on both cheeks.

“How is my Carmi?”

“Never better! I’ve missed you, Papa, and I can’t wait to hear all about your trip.”

They pulled apart and Papa noticed Tony as if for the first time. “Tony, nice to see you again.” He stepped back into the foyer. “Come in. Take your coats off and be comfortable.” She couldn’t help but notice that Papa’s Northern Italian accent was stronger than ever after spending almost two weeks in their homeland.

Tony helped her off with her coat and then removed his. Papa stretched out his hand and took them. “Mama will be out in a moment. What would you like to drink?”

“Wine would be good,” Carm answered. “Tony?”

“Wine sounds perfect.”

Papa was pouring their glasses when Mama entered the room. “Carmella! And Tony? What a nice surprise.”

Mama’s gaze went straight to Carmella’s left hand as if she already knew why Tony was here. Her lower lip trembled, and she pressed her fingers to her lips as she met Carm’s gaze.

“Is this what I think it is?”

So much for the big announcement. Carmella smiled. “Yes, it is. Tony proposed to me early into your trip, but I wanted to wait to tell you in person.”

“Oh, Papa! We’re going to have another wedding!” Mama launched herself at Carm and wrapped her in a hug that nearly squeezed the breath from her lungs. Carm laughed and took in Tony’s expression of relief. At least this part was out of the way and they could enjoy a stress-free dinner.

Papa shook Tony’s hand as Mama pulled back and brought Carm’s ring closer. “How beautiful!”

“Mama, you don’t seem at all surprised.”

“Surprised? No, of course not. I saw the way you two looked at each other at the fundraiser. It was just a matter of time before wedding bells would ring. Now, come in and sit down. We have a lot of planning to do!”

Here we go.

Mama started toward the dining room. Judging by the aroma of the food, Mama’s favorite chef from the resort had prepared their meal. He had a soft spot for Mama, who had given him a job more than a decade ago after he’d first arrived in the States.

They were into their first course when Carm decided to confront the elephant in the room. “Mama, we don’t want a big wedding.”

Mama’s spoon stopped in midair. She stared at Carm then at Tony as if the two had each grown another head. “What nonsense is this? Of course you will have a big wedding. Bigger even than Marc’s. You’re our only daughter. It is the only way.”

Carmella sighed. How could she steer the conversation away from Mama’s dream wedding?

“I think an August wedding would be lovely,” Mama decided.

August. Nine months. Carm supposed it could have been a lot worse.

“A year and a three-quarters