Page 75 of Keeping Lucy

“Me?” A spark of hope flared in my chest. I put a hand over my heart, willing the sudden rapid beating to slow down.

“Yes. Because for the first time in my life, being just like my dad meant I couldn't have this.”

Dante reached into his back pocket, pulled out a scrap of paper, unfolded it carefully, and laid it on the table between us. I was utterly speechless as I stared at the sketch I’d done weeks ago, then torn up and thrown away in despair. “Wh-where did you get this?”

“I was emptying the trash can in your office and found it. I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away, even though at the time I didn’t really understand why it made me feel the way it did. But I do now. I understand exactly what that feeling means.”

I ran my finger over the drawing, my heart squeezing so hard I could barely breathe. “What does it mean?” I whispered, raising my eyes to his.

“It means I want this.” He tapped a finger on the paper, without taking his eyes from mine. “I want this with you, Lucia. Because I love you.”

I let out a sob.

“I want to spend the rest of my life proving to you and the world I’m nothing like my father. I want to be the husband to you, and the father to this baby, that you both deserve. I want that more than anything…if you’ll let me.”

There was a note of uncertainty in those last words that tore at my heart. “Yes, god yes, I’ll let you. I couldn’t imagine anything better.” I scooted around the booth to sit next to him and threw my arms around him, burying my face in his neck. “I love you, too,” I said shakily around the tears I couldn’t hold back anymore.

His arms went around me, squeezing me so hard I almost couldn't breathe. “Thank Christ.”

We must have looked completely ridiculous to everyone in the restaurant, but I didn’t care. My whole world had just done a 180, going from utter misery to indescribable joy. I was a little boat tossed about by huge waves of emotion, and Dante was my anchor.

“I love you so much, Lucia.”

I let the words wash over me, fill me, chase away all the sadness and hopelessness I’d felt for so long. “I love you, too.” I pulled back just enough to kiss him, smiling when he dropped his forehead to mine, clearly unwilling to let me go.

With one arm still around my waist, he reached into his back pocket with his other hand. “Lucia, will you do me the honor and make me the happiest man in the world by staying married to me?”

Laughing deliriously, I held out my shaking hand, my heart bursting when he slid the rings back on my finger. I cupped his gorgeous face, pressing a fierce kiss to his lips. “Yes. I will.”

He kissed me back. It was a rather inappropriate kiss for a family restaurant, but I couldn’t have cared less. It was only when my stomach growled so loudly that I’m surprised the couple at the next table didn’t hear it, that he finally broke the kiss. “You’d better eat that risotto.”

“I guess so.” I stayed in the warm embrace of his arms, picking up my fork and taking a bite of risotto. Then another, and another, because suddenly it didn’t taste like cardboard anymore and I was starving.

Dante pulled away just enough to give me room to eat and when I was done and he’d finished his dinner too, he pulled out his phone, holding it out to take a photo of us. “I need to send this to Stef.”

“Oh, okay.” I wrapped my arms around his neck again, pressing my cheek to his and smiling widely at the camera. There was a good chance I looked like a lunatic, but I was madly in love, so I guess it made sense. “Wait. Why do you have to send it to Stef?”

I watched him type the captionShe said yesunder the photo and send it to his sister. “Because she set me straight today, and if she hadn’t, I’d be halfway back to base right now, nursing a broken heart.”

That made me want to cry again. “Tell her I said thank you,” I said thickly.

He shot Stef another quick text, then put his phone face down on the table. “Enough about her.”

“Okay,” I giggled.

“We’ve got some serious catching up to do.”

“We do.”

“I don’t mean me and you. I mean…” He pressed his hand flat against my belly, the light in his eyes setting my soul on fire.

“Dante…” There were no words to describe all the feelings coursing through my system. Well, there were. Three little ones that said everything. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Lucia. And our baby.”

Our baby.There it was.

Epilogue

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