Page 133 of Duplicity

Still, I’m the one bankrolling it, and I know that makes Marlowe nervous. Her old place might have been a shithole, but she paid the rent. She called the shots. Now she’s taking a huge chance by putting her and Tabby’s eggs in my basket, and I know, much as she trusts me, that it leaves her feeling vulnerable.

Marlowe has been on the receiving end of far too much shitty circumstance over the past decade, whether that’s come in the form of dickhead exes or Tabby’s heart condition or the endless flaws in our healthcare system that make those dependent on it feel so vulnerable, and it ends here.

This is where I tie everything up with a great, big legal bow so that she and Tabby are protected for evermore in an ironclad way.

Only my plan is to cloak it in more romantic terms than that.

And I’ll probably wait until I’ve given her at least one orgasm before I come clean about the enormous trust fund I’ve set up for Tabby.

It’s only prudent. Athena would try to give the whole lot away otherwise.

I put the fancy carrier bag on the table, and Marlowe arches an elegant eyebrow at the Cartierlogo. God, I wasn’t expecting to feel this nervous, but I guess splaying your heart wide open and slapping it onto the table in front of the two people whose love and acceptance you want most in the world is always going to feel raw.

‘Like I said, we’re a family.’ I reach into the bag with a shaky hand and extract one small box and then a slightly larger one.‘But I’d like us to make it official, so that everyone understands that we belong to each other.’

It’s still a weird-as-fuck concept in the best possible way:we belong to each other.These two have accepted me to be their person. My shakiness worsens as I open the smaller box and hold it out to Marlowe.

‘Which is why I’m asking you to marry me,’ I say, meeting her stunned gaze. In this light, her brown eyes are endless dark pools in which I’d happily drown. ‘I want to be with you until the day I die, love. I don’t ever, ever want to be apart from you.’

Tabby squeals, and Marlowe and I both laugh, as if we can use the tension-breaker. Marlowe opens her mouth but I hold up my free hand to cut her off. ‘Hang on. Not quite done yet. You ladies need to confer before you give me your answers.’

I put the jewellery box down on the table in front of her so she can ogle the enormous fucking diamond Athena helped me choose on Bond Street before Christmas. To say the woman extorted me that day is an understatement, but I’m hoping it’ll help me close the deal. Besides, I’m the one who’ll get to enjoy the sight of my diamond sparkling on Marlowe’s long, slender finger for the rest of my life.

‘I think he’s got one for you, too,’ Marlowe tells Tabs, giving her a gentle nudge.

‘I do.’ I open the larger box and hold it out to Tabs. In it is nestled a gold charm bracelet that I hope she will take as a sign of my commitment to her. ‘Tabitha Lily Winters, will you do me the honour of becoming my child in the eyes of the law?’ At her blank look, I add, ‘Will you let me adopt you, sunshine, so that I can be your legal dad?’

Marlowe, whose eyes did nothing more than grow moist during her own proposal, promptly bursts into tears. As usual, she’s happier for her daughter than she is for herself, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I may have been bowled over byher looks initially, but it’s her huge, selfless heart I’ve fallen in love with.

And honestly? I’m kind of relieved she’s happy. Asking a kid to let you adopt them without consulting their actual parent first could easily take a bloke from Grand Gesture territory straight into Dick Move terrain.

Tabs clamps her hand over her mouth, her eyes enormous, as she looks from me to her bracelet and back to me again.

‘Mummy, can we?’ she whispers through her fingers. The innocent readiness of her answer fucking crucifies me, and I tear up like a great big idiot.

Marlowe gathers her up in a huge side hug while she hooks her free hand around my neck, tugging me towards her. The sea may be pink and sparkling and wondrous, but it has nothing on the sparkle in those brown eyes of hers.

‘Is that a yes?’ I whisper against her mouth before she kisses me hard.

She pulls away. ‘Yes. Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes.’

I nod, screwing up my face against the godawful stinging in my sinuses. ‘Good, love. That’s very, very good.’ I want to kiss her again, want to dive in and never come up for air. But I have one more answer to collect before I do.

‘What about you, sunshine? Will you let me adopt you, too?’

‘Yes please,’ she whispers with a toothy grin before her face falls in confusion. ‘But shouldn’tweadoptyou? ‘Cause there’s two of us and only one of you.’

‘Get over here,’ I growl, and she springs up from her seat to come around the table to my lap. She’s light as a feather. I sit her across my legs and kiss her on the temple before tugging Marlowe more tightly into my side.

‘That’s a fair point, actually,’ Marlowe says, attempting to wipe her cheeks with the back of her hand.

‘He could be Daddy Winters,’ Tabby suggests.

Marlowe instantly starts coughing. ‘Oh my God, Tabs.’

‘I don’t know,’ I say, leaning into her so I can brush my lips over her hair. ‘Daddy Winters. It has a nice ring to it.’ I lower my mouth to her ear. ‘Especially in the bedroom.’

She swats my thigh.‘Stop it.’

‘Let’s get this jewellery on you ladies before a seagull comes and spirits it away,’ I suggest.

‘Good idea.’ Marlowe reaches over and pulls both boxes towards us. ‘Anyway, Tabs, Bren can’t be a Winters. He literally has a whole company named after him.’

‘I’m not so sure,’ I say as I slide the symbol of my lifelong commitment onto my fiancée’s finger. ‘It could be a good call, actually. Maybe people will finally forget I’m a nepo baby.’

THE END

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