Page 27 of Sugar, Sprinkles, and Secrets
My brother wraps me up in a hug. “I love you, mia sorella. I can never thank you enough. Merry Christmas, Cara.” He emphasizes my name, and it almost makes me smile.
“Merry Christmas, little brother. I’ve got you—and I’ve got them. I love you, Luca. Be safe.”
And just as quickly as they arrived, my brother, Ace, Colt, and Liam are all gone. But for the ninety minutes that I had all the people in my life that I love together, my heart was the happiest that it has ever been.
Chapter twenty
With only the light from the Christmas tree that is now overflowing with presents for tomorrow morning, I tug Cara down to sit on my lap. We just finished the final wrapping and setting up everything for the morningmadness that I cannot wait to witness. My dad took me up on my offer to have Christmas dinner prepared by a private chef tomorrow so long as I considered it a Christmas gift, and my dad doesn’t need to know the amount of coin I dropped to make that happen. He’s going to host at the family house tomorrow now that renovations are officially complete, and it will be good to make some new memories in the place that was tarnished earlier this year.
“I have a question to ask you, baby,” I softly say into her ear before I gently bite on her earlobe.
“What’s that?” She gives me a coy look. “Because so long as it leads to more of what you’re doing with your mouth right now, the answer will be yes.”
“Good to know. That’s the answer I’m hoping for anyway.” Cara stills and looks slightly panicked. “No, baby, it’s not that question. Not yet anyway. I will be asking you to marry me some day, probably sooner than later, but I know we need things to settle a bit more.”
“Well, I agree, but for what it’s worth, my answer will be yes to that too.” Her admission feels like a gift in itself. Cara was so used to always taking care of everything and everyone on her own. Whenever she gives me the opportunity to carry a part of her load, or opens herself up tome in a new way, it feels like the greatest gift I’ve ever been given. She can be strong and take no bullshit to the rest of the world, but the fact that she is soft and vulnerable only with me is an incredible honor.
“Good to know, baby.” I kiss her forehead. “No, it’s actually about something Luca mentioned today.”
“What’s that?” We talked about a lot of things during Luca’s brief visit and then had to help process a lot of big emotions with Dante and Mila when Luca had to leave. Both kids passed out shortly after dinner with how emotionally draining today was—even the excitement of Santa coming wasn’t enough to keep their eyes open.
“About where Luca would live. I had an idea, but of course we can pivot if it’s not what you want.” She looks up to me, waiting for me to continue. “You three basically live here anyway, even if we never made it official. I thought we could build a house big enough for me, you, Dante, and Mila; then have a guest house big enough for Luca to be close but still have his own space with the kids. Dante and Mila could have two bedrooms, or if Luca only wants them to have bedrooms at his house, whatever works. You could talk to your brother about it. And when I say guest house, I basically mean just a house but behind our house.” One of the things we discussed briefly while Luca was here was his concern about security for a while after the dust settles when the trial is over. He also hinted at the kids maybe staying with Cara for a bit since they’ve gone through enough transition. This would provide a solution for him to be near, while also giving the guy a space of his own.
“Could we really do that? I don’t know if I can swing it right now. I’m pretty leveraged with the bakery, but we could explore it. I love the idea.” Cara smiles.
“When I say we, I mean we would do it together, but I’m funding all of it Cara. Trust me when I say I can afford it, and also that I want to do this for us—for our family.”
“What if I want a stupid extravagant kitchen?”
“Then you’ll get a stupid extravagant kitchen,” I deadpan. She tries to scare me with how expensive ovens can be, but she reallydoesn’t pay attention when I tell her that I’m wealthy—and I love that she really doesn’t care about my bank account.
“And how many bedrooms?” Cara asks.
“Well, the primary suite for us, rooms for Dante and Mila, and then a few guest rooms.”
She hums. “Guest rooms, huh?”
“Yep. And if you decide they should be something else, then that’s what they’ll be, there’s no pressure here, Cara. I’m happy with where we are, and I’ll be happy if we fill more rooms too.” Cara admitted the other week that she wasn’t sure if she saw herself having her own biological children in addition to Dante and Mila. I was honest with her when I admitted that I was fine either way. She’s a package deal with those kids and I love them like they were my own already.
“On one condition,” Cara says as she stands and holds out a hand to me. I take it and stand as she tugs us toward our bedroom.
“And what’s that?”
“I’ll say yes, as soon as youmake me see stars.” She wiggles her eyebrows, and I pick her up in a fireman’s hold over my shoulder as she squeals with delight.
“Don’t tempt me with a good time, baby.” I smack her ass and love the way it moves in her yoga pants.
But not as much as I love her ass out of her pants all together.
I throw her on the bed and quickly lock the door. “Lose the clothes, baby. Anything still on when I get to you is in danger of being destroyed.” I pull off my shirt and shuck my pants down, along with my boxers. “Better move faster, baby.”
Cara scrambles to lose her clothes and tips right over trying to get her bra and thong off fast. “Don’t rip this one! I like it and it was a splurge; I got on sale!”
I crawl on the bed and cover her with my body before I lower my lips, and I don’t kiss her mouth—I claim it. Pressing my forehead into hers, I tell her, “I love you so damn much, baby.”
“I love you too, Max Riley. And my answer is already yes, to all of it. Yes to the house, yes to the extravagant kitchen.” She gigglesat that. “Yes to living together, yes to making a life together,” she leans up and kisses me again, “and yes to maybe even making a new life together one day. Yes to when you ask me some day to marry you, yes to all of it. Whatever happens, it’s a yes from me. It’s all my wishes on every single star come true so long as you’re with me.”
I search her face for any inkling of doubt, but all I see is love. “It’s going to be a beautiful life, baby.”
