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"Haven," he said "If I could have anything, I knohat I’d ask for now"

She pulled back froenuine curiosity "What?"

Car around his neck to pull off the gold chain He unfastened it, re, and eyed it in his pal to his knee "If I could have anything in the world, it would be for you to marry me"

And just like that, all of the air was sucked from the room She stared at Carmine with shock and his heart pounded furiously as he waited for her to say so

After a moment, tears formed in the corners of her eyes and one slid down her cheek He brushed it away quickly as she s Carmine at ease That smile was the only answer he needed

"You wouldn’t ask for your freedom back instead?" she asked quietly

He shook his head "It wouldn’t be shit without you"

46

This is co out the darkly tinted sideBuildings whipped by at a steady pace as they drove through the streets of Chicago, the scenery a blur in the darkness

"Mr DeMarco disagrees, ma’am," a voice said politely froat the driver She noticed he atching her in the rearview mirror, nervousness written on his face It was obvious he was new, not wanting to mess up his first chance to prove himself

"Sorry, aze

She smiled softly as she looked back out of the , the irony of the situation not at all lost on her It astonished her how ed, their lives altered in ways they never would have i that happened to lead theht have turned out had the circumstances been different She kneas senseless, because it was i, but she couldn’t help but wonder

No h, it alent back to a single event that had been the start of it all--the randparents

Grandparents--she doubted she would ever get used to saying it She never considered a family outside of herhe would be more open with her in the future, but it was actually Corrado who told Haven the whole truth He relayed stories he had heard about the type of people they had been, a strong family full of pride Corrado said they had been overjoyed to have a daughter It was startling to hear about her s and to learn how much she had been wantedhow lanced back over at the driver and saatching her again "There was an accident on Highway 41 that blocked northbound traffic I had to take a detour, but it’ll only be a few lanced at her watch, faintlyout the ti "Okay"

"I apologize for any inconvenience"

"It’s fine," she said "And please, call azed back out thefor the rest of the trip He didn’t speak again until he pulled up in front of the large white house, parking the lilanced around cautiously before opening her door She climbed out of the car "Thank you"

"You’re welco it was pointless to correct hiain, and pulled out so it was an honor to drive her, and she rolled her eyes as she stuffed the money in his coat pocket

The house was dark and silent, nobody hoht inside the door before heading into the kitchen, grabbing a glass fro soainst the counter, she took a sip as her eyes scanned the kitchen There were used paper towels on the table with so out, and the dishes definitely hadn’t been done during the day Part of the counter was covered in crumbs and an empty jar of peanut butter sat beside the sink, the lid halfway on with a dirty knife laying beside it So sticky had also been spilled, the floor in desperate need of hed as she looked away fro toward the calendar on the wall It was chaotic, writing scribbled all over it and days crossed out, but nothing stood out more than one date at the bottom

June 29

The square was circled with a red marker and Haven s It had been a year since they had found their way back together, and in a mere five days they planned to e It was still hard to believe they had come that far It hadn’t been easy because they couldn’t wrap themselves in a bubble like they had done in Durante They had to be a part of that world, had to integrate themselves into it and discover where they fit It was occasionally a source of conflict as they sought to find balance between them as a couple and them as individuals, but it wasn’t so bad that they couldn’t work through it together They disagreed on details, like how to be safe, and while she so, she tolerated a lot of what Caruards or car services, but she kneas a small price to pay for Carmine’s peace ofCarot

Haven took another sip of water before setting the glass down on the counter She started to walk away but hesitated, turning back around and grabbing the glass again She put it in the dishwasher and quickly gathered the other dishes that had been left laying around The sticky floor would have to wait but the rest she couldn’t walk away fro that was different, sos still remained the same

Like Corrado had said: Carave; se remains the same

Car the scent of greasy cheese and spicy pepperoni His sto ruthlessly He couldn’t tell if it was actual hunger or purely his frazzled nerves

He stepped into the busy pizzeria and spotted Corrado sitting alone at a table along the side Caraze remained focused on the shiny, checkered linoleu the intense look he received froreeted him "Iup He simply kicked the chair out across from him as he pulled a piece of pizza froly like onions and peppers and sausage

Carmine’s stomach churned harder Definitely nerves

He took a seat, trying to avoid sh his mouth Neither spoke as Corrado ate, casually slouched in the chair as if he had not a care in the world After he finished, he closed the e his ar"

"Iwell, I mean, we"

"We?"

"Haven and I," he clarified "We wanted to know if--"

"Why isn’t she here?" Corrado asked, cutting him off "If she has a proble to ht" Carhed "It’s not a problem anyway It’s more like a favor"