Chapter 23 - 22

Then came the garter removing ceremony.

All the boys screamed and cheered for Ermanno.

Ermanno smirked at Rose and went down her dress. He bit her thigh and Rose hissed in pain a little but composed herself.

Ermanno removed the garter and stood up and smiled at Rose and whispered in her ear "can't wait to bit you till you bleed".

Rose looked at him to see if he was serious. And could see he meant it.

Ermanno threw the garter and Vincenzo caught it and screamed: "do I get to make her wear it back?".

"No, you jerk. And she is your sister-in-law, so behave" said Julius.

"Oh come on you all are taking away the good once" whined Vincenzo and everyone laughed at him.

The last event for the day was throwing the bouquet.

Rose stood in the centre with her back at the girls.

Rose then asked "ready?"

All the girls screamed yes.

Then when all the girls were ready Rose turned around to face them with a huge smile.

And then all the girls took a few steps away except Julia.

Rose threw the bouquet to Julia and she caught it.

Julia was confused about what was happening.

Rose then signalled her to turn and when Julia turned around she gasped aloud and held the boutique close to her heart.

Thomas was kneeling on his one knee in front of her with a ring in his hand and said "I could have done this in many ways but I know how important your family is for you so here I am asking you to marry me in front of your family and mine and don't worry I asked your father and all your uncle's and your grandfather for your hand. And was threatened by your Elisio uncle too."

"And I meant it" screamed Elisio.

Sabrina laughed at him and kissed his cheek.

"Julia Devonte will you marry me?" Continued Thomas and Julia looked up at Nevio.

Nevio smiled and nodded.

Julia looked back at Thomas and said "yes".

Everyone screamed in excitement and Thomas place the ring on Julia's finger and kissed her lips standing up and said "I love you, Julia.

"I love you too Thomas," said Julia.

Everyone congratulated eachother and hugged eachother.

Ermanno looked at Sabrina and went close to her and hugged her and asked: "are you happy mummy?"

Sabrina broke the hug and looked at him and said: "I am happy when you are happy."

Ermanno smiled and kissed her forehead and hugged her more.

"I am going to miss you so much," said Ermanno.

Sabrina was confused at what he said.

Ermanno looked at Elisio and said "I have an announcement. I will be staying in LA for a while"

Everyone settled down to listen to what Ermanno was saying.

"Why?" Asked Sabrina.

"Our master computer is doing good in all corporate businesses. I want to make it work in single establishments also like hotels, factories and shopping malls. So I will have to travel for a while. First I want to start off with LA. At our Devonte hotel." Said Ermanno.

"But Devonte hotels, resorts and clubs come under the businesses under the Devonte corp and their profits and losses are calculated by your computer," said Enrique.

"Yes. They are calculated together. I want to work on single establishments too. Like a computer which would work on CCTV cameras to see the efficiency of the staff and assign work for employees too. We have done that in factories but I want to try it on hotels. I want to see if the software works individually on individuals who stay in the hotels with different needs" said Ermanno.

"That sounds ambitious," said Nevio.

"It's achievable. But it will take time" said Ermanno still holding Sabrina in his embrace.

"How long?" Asked Sabrina softly.

"I don't know," said Ermanno smiling at Sabrina and continued "I need to do this mom"

Sabrina looked at Elisio and then looked back at Ermanno and whispered: "are you going away because you are angry at your dad?"

Ermanno smiled and said "I know he loves me. He just has a weird way of showing it"

"LA is good. You will have Arlo to help you there" said Elisio.

"Yes. He is the best" said Ermanno smiling at Arlo.

Arlo smiled back and Elisio rolled his eyes.

The day came to an end with bittersweet announcements. But hell broke loose when Ermanno announced his final words for the day.

"I and Rose leave tonight to LA." Said Ermanno and Sabrina couldn't stop crying.

Rose was in tears too. She hugged her parents and brother and left from the reception to the airport.

Sabrina insisted to go to the airport and throughout the journey, Sabrina was crying and telling Rose to take care of Ermanno.

"He is only grown up in height, weight, body and brain. But he is still a baby in heart. He is my baby. Please take care of him. He may have a temper sometimes, please adjust to it. He doesn't eat well so please see to it he eats well. He has OCD so keep extra maids to clean the place...." And continued the journey with even more instructions.

They reached the airport and it was time to board the plane.

Sabrina cried in Ermanno's arm but stopped when Elisio called her.

Sabrina went close to Elisio and hugged her.

Elisio looked at Ermanno and said, "don't screw up boy." And held Sabrina.

Ermanno chuckled and Sai, d, "love you too dad" and held Rose's arm and climbed the plane.

They both settled down in their seat and the plane took off.

Rose was still sniffing from the previous crying.

Rose looked beside her and saw Ermanno looking at her with a wide smile and said "I can't wait for you to see what I have planned for you in LA"