Chapter 14 - The Mother's Gold Signet
That evening, after the last guests had departed and the restaurant was quiet, Matteo and I walked out onto the private riverfront dock behind the bistro.
The cool spring breeze off the Detroit River rustled the leaves of the willows, carrying the sweet scent of rain, fresh earth, and river water.
The city lights of Windsor glittered across the dark water like a carpet of fallen stars.
Matteo was dressed in an immaculate bespoke black suit, his dark hair neatly styled, his obsidian eyes watching me with an intensity that made my pulse flutter with intoxicating anticipation.
I had changed out of my chef’s jacket into an elegant, high-collared navy silk gown that cascaded softly around my feet.
Matteo reached into his breast pocket and produced the small velvet jeweler’s pouch that had been recovered from the greenhouse safe box.
He pulled the drawstring open.
Inside rested an antique, heavy gold signet ring featuring the Rossi family falcon encircled by a delicate wreath of wild juniper berries—the legendary matriarch ring that his mother, Donna Maria Rossi, had worn on her wedding day thirty-five years ago.
“My father gave this to Salvatore three days before he died,” Matteo whispered, holding the glowing gold artifact in his palm. “He told Salvatore: *‘When my boy finds a woman who possesses the courage of a lion and the soul of an angel, place this ring in his hand.’*”
Matteo dropped onto one knee upon the wooden planks of the dock.
The most feared don in the Midwest looked up at the former scullery maid with his heart laid completely bare.
“Chiara Bellini,” Matteo spoke, his deep voice trembling with raw, holy devotion.
“You walked into my house wearing white cotton gloves and left carrying the soul of my empire. You refused to bow to cruelty. You protected your father’s honor when the whole world told you to be silent. You saved my life, you healed my family’s past, and you showed me what true love means.”
He took my trembling left hand into his large, warm fingers.
“Will you marry me, Chiara? Will you be my wife, my partner, and the sovereign donna of Lake Shore Drive?”
Tears of boundless, radiant joy spilled down my cheeks.
I dropped to my knees on the wooden dock beside him, wrapping my arms around his broad neck, burying my face into his collar.
“Yes, Matteo!” I sobbed with all the love in my heart. “Yes! A thousand times, yes!”
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Matteo slid the magnificent gold signet onto my finger—a flawless, perfect fit—and pulled me into a breathtaking, passionate kiss beneath the canopy of stars.
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