Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 17724 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17724 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
“Good. Now, leave me to honor my mom’s memory in peace.”
I hang up, a smile touching my lips for a moment. This was Lex’s final parting gift. But I’d give anything in the world to have him with me again. To feel his warm arms around me. To feel like I mattered more than anything in the world.
A rattling sound jolts me from my thoughts.
I turn, heart skipping into my throat.
Lex has just jumped over the chain-link fence. He’s wearing stylish suit pants with a tucked-in shirt, the top button undone to show his muscular chest and tattoos. His hair is wet, like he’s showered recently. He’s got a warm smile on his face and …
A jewelry box in his hand.
“I thought you were gone,” I whisper as a sob attempts to choke me.
“I couldn’t leave you,” he says huskily. “I tried. But I couldn’t ignore what we have.” He tenderly strokes his hand over my face. “So I came back. I confronted the man who sends killers after women and children. I ended him, Rose. I ended him for you—for us … so I could do this.”
When he falls to one knee, my world tips upside down.
Love used to be a distant dream, but it’s an indisputable reality now. It shivers through me in waves like a soulful orgasm. I blink as tears roll hotly down my cheeks.
He strokes his hand over mine.
When he speaks, he’s choked up.
“I lost my parents when I was a boy. Joined the Bratva and made a name for myself. I thought that was all I’d ever be, Rose, a man with his head down. A loner with blood on his hands. I’ve still got blood on my hands. But with you … I think I can be something more, someone more. I love you.”
“I love you too,” I whisper, forcing the words past choked noises of emotion.
“I know it’s fast. I know people who don’t understand will call us crazy. But you’re mine, Rose. Mine and mine alone.”
Letting go of my hand, he opens the ring box, shows me a full glistening diamond set within a platinum band.
“Rose Hart, will you marry me?”
“Yes!” I cry, no hesitation, jumping into this sparkling new future with both feet.
He slides the ring onto my finger, stands, then pulls me in for our most passionate kiss yet.
EPILOGUE
Lex
Three Months Later
“Iknew the pool was the best thing to finish first,” I say, standing at the edge of it as Rose reclines in the water.
She smiles up at me. Downright angelic in her swimsuit. My manhood stirs as I watch the water lapping around her thick beautiful thighs. I never thought I’d be jealous of water, but here I am.
“Have you been waiting for me all evening?” I ask.
She rises from the water. Beads slide down her curvy body. As she walks toward me, I think about these past three months. The Bratva has scattered, fleeing to other cities. I’ve started working in private protection. A legitimate job because Rose convinced me I was worth more than blood and shadows.
And so much mind-blowing sex. Goddamn, I love when she calls me Daddy.
When she climbs from the pool, she shivers. The water is heated, so she didn’t feel the autumn chill until she emerged. I take off my suit jacket and drape it over her shoulders.
“Thanks,” she says, taking my hands. Looking up at me with emotion glimmering in her eyes.
“Is everything okay, beautiful?” I ask.
She looks across the giant yard. Our yard. Instead of her moving into my place or me moving into hers, we applied for a permit to make our property one property. Knocked the fence down and made it a giant yard. We’re currently in the process of joining the two houses.
Just like we joined our hearts.
“I did a test today,” she murmurs.
“A … test?”
She bites her lips. Nods. “A pregnancy test.”
Please God.
Please say it’s positive.
“We’re going to have a baby.”
I pick her up. Spin her around. Clutch her dripping wet body tightly to me and kiss her with possession and obsession thundering through me.
“I love you so much,” I groan against her lips.
“I love you too,” she replies, then kisses me again.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
Rose
Six Years Later
Tasha and Mishka wrestle in the pool. The twins always make my soul sing when I so much as think about them. After a long day at work, returning to our home—that my talented husband turned into a palatial mansion under my instruction—and being with them is the best gift a woman could have.
Lex and I have arranged our work flawlessly, so that we can both have careers while giving our children all the time they deserve.
The late afternoon sun glistens down on the water. Mishka laughs as his sister dunks him under, then emerges sputtering, a big grin on his face. He’s got my eyes, people say. But whenever I look at our kids, I always see my Lex.