Page 45 of Back to Claim His Italian Heir

Emma laughed and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, as well. ‘She just wants her nap. I’ll put her down now before I finish this.’

‘You look like you’re in the middle of something,’ he remarked, glancing around at the pots and pans bubbling away on the stovetop.

‘Nothing that can’t wait.’ Three months ago Emma had, with capital from Nico’s new business, started her own private catering company. Based in the country house they’d bought in Tuscany, she provided meals for dinner parties and private occasions. She’d only had a few bookings so far, which was fine, since Thea was so young, but the business looked set to grow, just as Nico’s did.

The last year had been one of beginnings—learning to be husband and wife, and then to be parents. Learning to let go of the family they’d lost—Antonio was in prison, and Nico was no longer in contact with his father—and finding their new support system. Maria and Stefano had moved from the island to Tuscany with them, and served as honorary grandparents, emergency babysitters, and much-valued friends.

All in all, it was a life Emma never would have dared dream for herself—a life of love, of happiness, of warmth and sharing and joy. Not that it had all been easy; the old insecurities sometimes rose to the fore for both of them, and it took patience and honesty and that difficult willingness to be vulnerable to work through it. But they had and they continued to do so, and for that Emma was very grateful.

‘After you put Thea down...’ Nico suggested hopefully, wiggling his eyebrows with playful suggestiveness ‘...maybe you want to have a nap yourself...?’

Emma glanced around at the pots and pans, pursing her lips. Yes, in this instance, it certainly could all wait.

‘I might,’ she agreed thoughtfully. ‘Iamrather tired...’

Nico’s face fell just a little and she laughed, a sound of complete joy, before she ran up the stairs with her daughter giggling all the way, Nico fast behind her.

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