Page 65 of Under His Embrace

I frowned. Watching my reaction, she went still.

“Wait. Never mind.”

She gaped at me. “What?”

“Before you officially accept, I need to ask Caleb for his permission to marry you.”

She swooned, actually cooing anawwthat made me smile.

I didn’t miss how protective he was of her. First when he asked if I’d keep her safe. Then further back, when he said he didn’t care if Wes was bothering him because it meant that Chloe was spared.

I didn’t want to barge into their family unit. All his life, that boy knew her as his mother in real time and only my name and likeness in a photo.

I wanted to do this right, and asking Caleb for his permission would go a long way toward understanding where our priorities should be.

“I love you, Franco.”

I kissed her. “I love you too.”

Finally, after years of trying to get over her and failing, I knew why.

It was impossible. We belonged together. As we lay together and closed our eyes, we fell asleep with the idea that tomorrow would bring us one day closer to the happy ending we should’ve had years ago.

28

CHLOE

Something I considered a mom clock ticked on. I woke up well before Franco did, attuned to the intrinsic need to make breakfast for my boy.

I didn’t know how I did it. It just worked. My body was programmed to always take care of him, and somehow, I woke up when I knew he’d be ready to rise. Maybe it was a biological phenomenon. Maybe it was crap and I was imagining things, but I liked to think that I was simply attuned to where my son was and what he might need.

In the kitchen, I joined Dante and Eva as they argued over the best way to make eggs.

“For fuck’s sake, Uncle Dante,” Eva declared. “The baby isn’t going to know the difference between Nina eating fried eggs or scrambled eggs!”

I bit my lip to stifle a laugh.

“Am I right?” Eva held out the spatula at me.

Dante narrowed his eyes at me, and I was surprised by how domestic it was. Never mind the fact that these people afforded a hefty household staff. They were in here like ordinary people, preparing food themselves.

“Uh…” I shrugged. “Eggs are eggs.”

Dante rolled his eyes. “Well, Nina hardly touched breakfast all week when I made them scrambled. I think she might prefer fried.”

“And I think you, my dear uncle, are so thoroughly pussy-wh?—”

I lunged forward to cover her mouth with my hand. “Good morning!” I said cheerily to Caleb as he entered the room.

He eyed us carefully, then shook his head. “If you’re worried about me hearing a bad word, Nicky said I’d learn them all in a day.”

Dante shrugged. “We try.”

I let Eva go. “Ha!” She barked out one wry laugh. “We barely try. Liv’s in her parrot phase and repeating everything that resembles a naughty word.”

“Dante,” I said. “If Nina is picky about her breakfasts, it might be because she can’t eat as much.”

He frowned, and it endeared him to me that much more. This Mafia Boss, so worried about his pregnant wife’s appetite. It was oddly sweet from someone who should be so gruff.

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