Page 52 of Silent Cravings

I followed her, letting the rush overtake me, the tingle at the base of my spine exploding and rippling through my limbs. Complete release. It had only ever been this intense and all-consuming with her.

Once she caught her breath, Valentina pushed away from the wall with a soft laugh. “So much for a quick shower together.”

“It always turns out that way, doesn’t it?” Not that either of us was complaining. Lazy Sunday mornings were something I had grown to love over the past three months of being together, living in my apartment. Sundays used to be devoted to sleeping off the damage I’d done on Saturday night.

Now, the time I spent in bed was spent with her. Drinking coffee, eating breakfast, catching up on the news or whatever show she had roped me into watching with her. We were learning together how to slow down. Not every moment of every day had to be spent at work.

We also enjoyed lazy brunches with her family and our friends. The first time we showed up holding hands, their jaws hit the floor. Colton and Noah couldn’t believe it while the girls squealed like we were a shiny new toy. All except Aria. She was cautious and rightly so. But now she saw how far I’d go to realign the stars for her sister and had come around.

We washed up quickly, turning off the shower and stepping out of the stall. I draped a fluffy robe over her shoulders while she toweled her hair, watching her reflection in the mirror. There was no way I could have expected the sort of satisfaction that warmed my chest insimple moments like this when our eyes met, and she smiled.

“How about going out for something to eat?” I rubbed a towel over my hair before wrapping it around my waist and heading back to the bedroom.

It wasn’t until I reached the bed that I noticed she lingered in the doorway. “What’s up? Not in the mood for overpriced brunch?” I joked. “You don’t like watered-down mimosas all of a sudden?”

The briefest smile touched her lips. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.” She toyed with the robe’s belt, cinched tight around her waist. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

“Why don’t I like the way this is going?” I asked, suspicious. “What is it?”

She took a deep breath and gulped hard before the words tumbled out. “I’m pregnant.”

Everything stopped. My heart, my breathing, the world.Pregnant.The past and the present overlapped in the most uncanny way. This time, we were different people.

Something in my face must have freaked the hell out of her since the color drained from her cheeks. “Say something,” she whispered, wincing.

It was her wide eyes that snapped me back into reality after getting the surprise of my life. “You are?” I crossed the room again, taking her face in my hands, searching for confirmation. “You’re sure?”

“I went to the doctor this time to be extra sure,” she told me, covering my hands with hers. “Is that okay? I mean, are you happy?”

“No, I’m not happy. I’m elated!” She barely had the time to take a breath before I threw my arms around her, lifting her off her feet and turning her in a circle. “A baby!Ourbaby!” It was the greatest gift she could give me. It was everything. A real, true second chance.

“Thank God.” She was laughing and crying as her arms wrapped around my neck. “I was so worried you wouldn’t be happy.”

“Let me tell you something.” I set her on her feet, serious now, looking her straight in the eye so she’d know I meant it. “Here’s something I want you to know, now and always. I love you. I want you forever. And I want a family. I want to fill a house with our kids someday.”

“Hang on!” She shook her head firmly, laughing through her tears. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. One thing at a time.”

But that was the thing. We had forever. There was nothing in front of us but the rest of our lives, and I planned on spending mine building the sort of future I’d never imagined.

Until now. Until her.

“I love you. God, I fucking love you.” It was all I knew as I kissed her again and again, pulling her across the room with me until we ended up back in bed. Her helpless laugh filled the room as I pressed her back against the mattress, devouring her neck, feasting on her sweet skin.

“We just showered,” she reminded me as I tugged her robe’s belt while she ran her fingers through my wet hair.

“We can shower again,” I reminded her while peeling the robe back like I was unwrapping the ultimate gift that was her. A gift to me.

Now, she was working on another gift. This time, I wouldn’t take it for granted. Not for a single minute.

EPILOGUE

LUCIAN

“Are you ready?” My father eyed me from the other side of his desk as he stood and buttoned his suit jacket. Most men his age, sitting at the head of a media empire, might consider backing off a little, enjoying life in his mid-sixties, spending some of the wealth he’d amassed, not that he could hope to spend it all.

Instead, he was as active and involved in Diamond Media as he’d ever been, leaving me wondering if he ever planned to retire. Not that I was chomping at the bit to take his place. It would’ve been nice to have a little warning, was all, considering I was the reluctant heir apparent.

This was hardly the first buyout Dad had masterminded over the decades after he’d taken my grandfather’s place. It was, however, the first I’d taken part in as the corporation’s new Vice President of Digital Media. We’d recently completed the purchase of a dying brand, a dinosaur helmed by stubborn old men who refused to keep up with the times. It would be my task to fold their employees in with our own.

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