Page 33 of The Heiress

“As long as you two don’t give me a reason to regret this, I’ll give you my blessing.” He looked between us. “No wedding until you’re both finished with schooling.”

Daisy’s eyebrows go up. “Both of us?”

“I’m, uh, kinda getting an MBA at Harvard.”

“What!”

“How lovely!” Mrs. DeMonte cries. “This is wonderful! Look how happy she is, Marcello.”

“Yes.” Finally, a real smile. “It’s good to see you so happy, Principessa.”

“That’s because I’ve found my princess.” Daisy wraps her arms around me and brings me down for a kiss. No tongue in front of the parents, of course. Yet I hope they can feel our passion all the same. This is real. “The best one there is,” she mumbles on my lips. I take her left hand and slip the dainty ring onto her daintier finger. Wow. This is happening.

Marcello’s chuckles quickly turn antagonistic.

“No sex before marriage,” he growls into the space between us. “I don’t care what gender you are, Ms. Sheen. We still havesomedecorum in this family.”

Yeah. We’ll see about that.

Mrs. DeMonte suggests we all have a big dinner together, but Daisy smartly says that would be better planned for tomorrow. Tonight, she and I should go out and celebrate our engagement. Alone.

Marcello still growls in my direction.

“Your daughter and her dignity are safe with me, sir,” I reassure him. Until we get back to my place, anyway. Then all bets are off. “Come on.” I take Daisy’s right hand. “Let’s go tell the world.”

“I’ve got some calls to make myself,” Marcello says with a sigh. “You two have fun, but nottoomuch fun. Be back here by tomorrow night for dinner. There are people you need to meet.”

Wow.Wow.

Daisy leads me out of the office and down the empty hallway toward the front door of the grand DeMonte mansion. Her mirth is palpable, and I drench myself in it. Even when she turnsaround, making sure the coast is clear before she whispers into my ear, I’m losing it in serendipity.

“You’re taking me back to my place and fucking me until I can’t scream anymore.”

Um. Okay!

“Capiche?” She tugs on my hand. As we emerge from the front door and head toward the Alfa Romero, we come upon quite the… scene.

Paps. Six of them, leaping over the fence and making a mad dash while security chases after them. Petulant bugs, aren’t they? Daisy and I hurry to the car so we can make a break for it. Already the paps are firing shots at us in front of her family’s house.

Daisy hesitates outside the passenger side door. Before I know it, she’s flipping off the paps with a giant smile on her face. “Eat your hearts out, bastards!” she cries.

That’s when I realize it’s not her middle finger in the air. It’s her engagement ring she’s showing off. Guess she likes it, huh?

Chapter 17

Daisy

This is the highest I’ve ever been in life. This morning, I woke up a confused, nearly broken woman who had no idea what to do with her life. Now, I’m not only engaged… but with the woman I’ve always wanted to be with.

Yes, even when I hated Lorde’s guts, I wanted to be with her. I’m such a cliché. We’re such a cliché. I can’t give a rat’s ass. The top is down on this classic car and I’m finally alive!

“I love you!” I scream at the top of my lungs as Lorde guns the gas back into downtown.

“I’m quite fond of you as well, Ms. DeMonte!”

I laugh. My reflection in the mirror is one of a happy woman in love. I’m going to remember this day for the rest of my life, aren’t I?

God willing. There’s still a lot more to come.

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