Page 45 of His Unexpected Heir

“I want you naked,” he replied, his eyes moving over her soft sweater. “And then I want you in front of a minister with my ring on your finger.”

“Do I get to put a ring on your finger too?” she asked, breathlessly.

“Absolutely!” he replied. Then a startled look came into his eyes. “When…” he paused, clearing his throat, and started again. “When is our baby due?”

She grinned and told him the expected date. “I arranged to see an obstetrician in Madrid while I’m here.”

He lifted her into his arms, then turned so that he was sitting on the stone “bench” while she straddled his hips.

“And may I come with you to these doctors’ appointments?”

“Do you want to?”

“Hell yes!” he replied, his hands smoothing down over her bottom, cupping and pulling her against his growing erection. “I want to be by your side every step of the way. And I want you to be my wife.”

Astra liked the sound of that. “I think I could arrange a small wedding for us pretty quickly.”

He smiled, then kissed her sweetly. She offered him another bite of chocolate, which he took, nibbling her fingers again.

Things were just starting to heat up when they heard voices echoing down the hallway. Antonio sighed heavily and Astra couldn’t stop her giggle. She buried her face against his neck as Matteo arrived, keys in hand.

He chuckled when he caught sight of their position. “Should I come back later?” he teased.

Antonio growled and stood up with Astra in his arms. “Get us out of here.”

She laughed again as she unwrapped her legs from around his waist. She had to stand in front of him because his body revealed his reaction to their time alone. Antonio wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her bottom against his thighs.

“Edward is alerting the authorities,” Matteo explained, pausing when the lock screeched as the key opened the cell door. He then stood back to let them out.

“Hold on,” Astra called out and stepped away. “I want this hidden,” she explained and put the satellite phone back in the bin, then started shoving the bin back into the shadows.

“Let me do that,” Antonio ordered, then easily lifted the bin and set it as far back in the shadows as possible. “Now, let’s get out of here and figure out who the hell has been helping Maria.”

Epilogue

Their wedding wasn’t as small as they’d wanted. The entire village wanted to attend. So instead of just a little wedding in the castle garden, their wedding took place in the village church.

“You look amazing!” Bailey whispered, stepping back to take in Astra’s wedding dress. “You look just like a medieval princess!”

Astra adjusted the long, pointed sleeves of her wedding gown, then touched the tiara on top of her head. “I feel like one,” she replied. “ I didn’t know that there were so many jewels hidden in the castle.”

Macie laughed, then hugged Astra. “I hope there are tons of jewels! And we’re taking pictures of the whole process and sending them to one of the prison guards,” she explained, then lifted her camera to snap another one. “Apparently, Ricardo was livid that he wasn’t released last month,” she explained. And the guards who had been protecting him aren’t getting their bribery money any longer. The man is now in solitary confinement for his temper.” She snapped another one of Bailey, who was one of the bridesmaids. Macie and Bailey both looked like princesses as well, but in soft yellow and peach. “Did you hear that Jeb and Manuel were arrested yesterday too? They were charged with attempted murder.”

“What about Edlora?” Astra asked, adjusting the bow over the top of her belly. “She was in on the plot as well.”

Macie shook her head. “No one has seen Eldora in a long time. She’s just…disappeared.”

Astra sighed. “I almost feel sorry for Eldora. She was trapped and angry.’

Bailey snorted and handed Astra her bouquet of flowers. “Being angry doesn’t justify trying to poison someone.”

Astra took the bouquet and sniffed, smiling at the fragrant orange blossoms. “Yeah, but Eldora and the rest of the staff were most likely abused by Ricardo for years, decades even.”

“True, and I appreciate that you have so much sympathy for the woman, but she still tried to kill you.” Bailey gave her future sister-in-law a stern look.

Astra made a non-committal sound.

“Are you ready?” Macie asked, beaming as if she were the one getting married today.

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