Page 111 of By the Letter

“Roman, you’ve been loving me, and I didn’t even know it because it’s brand new to me. I did know you treated me like I was something precious, but I thought it was because of Beanie. And that was all because of the limits I’d placed on myself. It had nothing to do with how well you’ve loved me.”

I closed my eyes and inhaled, filling my lungs with her and the words she'd uttered. Releasing it with a shudder, my arms went tight around her.

“I threw that in your face, and I’m so sorry for that,” she murmured, stroking my jaw. “We had a hard beginning, but since then, you’ve been nothing but good to me. I’m going to be good to you too, Roman. To start, I’m never cooking for you again.”

A grin split my face as I let it fall against the top of her head. “We’re just going to be good to each other, and I don’t mind cooking for you and our family. Nights we’re too busy, we’ll get takeout.”

Her lips pressed against my jaw. “I like the sound of ‘our family.’”

“That’s what we’re doing here, Shira. When you fell asleep in the glider that day, I imagined getting you pregnant again and again. Part of that was because it turns me on to think about fucking you with that intention, but mostly, I think we’re making something beautiful here.”

“How many?” she asked.

“How many what?”

“Kids. How many do you want?”

“I’m open to negotiation, but I like having a lot of siblings, and I wouldn’t mind giving that to our boy.”

“So four?” She smoothed her hand over her belly. “I was an only. I know I want him to have at least one sibling. Can we see how that goes?”

Relief and something that felt a lot like optimism poured over me, warm and cozy. “Yes, baby. We can see how that goes. One, two, or seven, I’m going to fucking adore every child you give me like I adore you.”

She let out a breathy laugh. “Not seven, Rome. Get that out of your head.”

“Fine.” I nuzzled her temple, rubbing my nose back and forth. “We can pretend we’re making seven. I’ll settle for a little playtime with you.”

“We can do that.” Her arms slid around my neck. “I adore you too, Roman. You are something special I didn’t know existed. But I found you, and now that I know you’re mine and only mine, I’m going to work my butt off to keep you.”

For a man who’d been abandoned by his mother and had never done enough to hold his father’s attention, hearing those words from the woman who’d become the most important person in my life healed a rift in me. It made being disposable and unvalued by my mother and father into a scar instead of an open wound. Shira and I both had work to do; that much wasclear, but if we were in this together, trusting the solidness of our relationship, we would get where we needed to be.

“Haven’t you been paying attention? All I want is you and our family, baby. You’ve got me free and clear.”

“And you have me,” she promised.

Then we have all we need.

Chapter Thirty-nine

Shira

Ben crossed his arms.“I don’t like her.”

Nate swatted the back of his head. “No one asked your opinion.”

Adrian raised his eyes from his phone for the first time this evening. He wasn’t big into basketball, unlike the rest of his brothers, but on a rare evening he wasn’t at work, he chose to hang out after we all ate dinner anyway. I’d learned the Wells brothers simply liked to be around each other, no matter the activity.

“Her background check is pristine, and her references are glowing.”

Ben narrowed his eyes. “See? That’s suspicious. It’s probably all fake.”

Laughing, I let my head fall on Roman’s shoulder. With five of us on the couch, it was a tight fit, so Roman had snuggled me into his lap. Though, truthfully, that was where I spent most of my time these days. It was just as well since that seemed to be the only place I could get comfortable. I was a week away from my due date, the baby was measuring almost nine pounds, and my belly was large and in charge. My back ached, my ankles and feet were swollen, my face looked like the moon…and I had never been happier.

“For what it’s worth, I think she had a few parking tickets,” I said.

Roman glared at Adrian, who was no longer paying attention. “You checked our nanny’s references?”

“Naturally,” he intoned.

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