Page 44 of The Kiss that Captured a Billionaire
He would need to arrange a DNA test—it would just be a formality, undeniable proof for Lorenzo and Sophia’s protection—but he already knew what the results would be.
Rose was Livia’s daughter.
Which meant Lorenzo wasn’t just about to gain a granddaughter, he was going to gain a new grandson-in-law.
Theo wasn’t going to let anything—past, present, or future—stand in the way of that.
“Hey, are you okay?” Rose asked, pulling him out of his daze.
“What? Yes. I’ll be right there,” he said, closing his hand over the locket and bending to retrieve the jogging pants he had discarded minutes ago.
“Okay. I wasn’t sure if you had fallen asleep in the shower,” she teased.
His gaze softened. She looked so beautiful wearing his dress shirt from earlier and nothing else. A fierce sense of protectiveness swept through him. His beautiful Rose’s life was about to change—drastically—in a very short amount of time.
“Let’s eat, then I think we should get some sleep,” he suggested.
She laughed, turned, and gave him a sexy smile over her shoulder. “Considering it is almost three in the morning, I agree. I’m going to be part of New York’s walking dead tomorrow. But, God! What a way to go. Oh, I think I heard the microwave ping. I call dibs on the first round.”
He pulled on his jogging pants and chuckled when she twirled and disappeared. He paused again, picked up his cellphone, and shot a quick text to Nikos.
Need to see you first thing in the morning.
Yeah, same. See you early.
“Theo, dinner!” Rose called from the kitchen.
“Coming.”
“You will once you see what is for dessert,” she replied.
Theo laughed and shook his head. He replaced his phone on the nightstand and headed for the door.
“Yes, my lovely Rose. Life is about to get very interesting,” he murmured with growing excitement.
The low, insistent vibration of a phone pulled her from the edges of sleep. She reached blindly across the bed, her fingers brushing over cool sheets instead of warm skin. Her eyes blinked open to the soft gray light of dawn.
Theo’s side of the bed was empty.
Somewhere beyond the bedroom door, the shower ran in a steady, distant rhythm. She squinted at the clock on the nightstand. Six o’clock. Barely.
Groaning, she rolled over, dragging his pillow against her chest. The scent of him—clean soap, warm skin, and a faint thread of something darker and masculine—wrapped around her, and she buried her face in it.
God, she was tired.
Every inch of her felt tender, in the best possible way. Her lips still tingled from his kisses, her body thrummed with the echo of his touch. She hadn’t known it was possible to make love so many creative ways—slow and reverent, fast and desperate, playful, teasing, and everything in between. The memories sent a traitorous flicker of heat spiraling through her belly.
The bathroom door opened, releasing a wave of steam into the bedroom.
Theo stepped out, dressed in charcoal slacks and a crisp white shirt, his hair still damp. Even this early, he looked like he was about to close a million-dollar deal.
She peeked up from the pillow, a happy smile curving her lips. “Where are you going at this hour?” she asked, her voice husky with sleep.
“Nikos is on his way over,” he said, leaning down to brush his lips across her forehead. “We need to discuss a few things. It shouldn’t take long.”
She groaned and dropped back against the pillows. “It’s barely morning.”
His fingers slid through her hair, pushing it back from her face in a touch so tender it made her chest ache. “Sleep in,” he murmured.
