Page 91 of Last Comes Fate

I sighed. “What does that even mean in this situation?”

“It means…” He shook a hand through the air like he was testing for some sort of vagrant spirit. “It means that love is a choice, right? Not just a feeling.” He glanced toward the door, like he was looking for someone to come in and help him. “You make that choice every day with Sof. I see you love her, even when she makes you want to scream. You two taught me that, babe.”

Something deep inside me began to warm. “All right, but—”

“It means that I know I’m going to drive you bonkers sometimes too,” Xavier continued. “And you’re going to make me run a mile now and then. It means that there will probably be days where we both want to leave, but we won’t, because we will choose each other every single one of them.” He shook his head. “I made the mistake of not choosing you once, Ces. I won’t ever do that again.”

I was quiet for a long time. In his peculiar way, he’d struck right at the heart of the issue, hadn’t he? How did I really know he wouldn’t do that again?

“I could buy you things,” Xavier said. “Shower you with extravagant gifts and jewelry and what, to try to make up for it. But I know you, Ces. That’s not going to work.”

I curled my legs tighter. “And you know what will?”

How could he answer that question when even I couldn’t?

Xavier’s shoulders rose and fell. “I’m learning. I’m learning what you need, Francesca, is not always what you want. So it won’t be gifts…but I’m staking my fortune on choosing you. I’d stake my life if I could.”

I looked down at my ring while his words settled in. The gravity of his promise. How much he was truly willing to give up if he ever betrayed me again.

And I was willing to let him. I found that when I searched deep inside…I believed I was worth it, after all.

“Okay,” I said softly. “We choose each other.”

“Every day.”

I smiled, then leaned over to deliver a quick kiss—one that could have easily turned into more but didn’t because there were still those “questions” to answer.

“Back to the matter at hand,” I said with a grin at his disappointment. “Xavi, where will we live? London or New York?”

I hated that I even had to ask. But it felt like a test of sorts. Now that I had a ring on my finger, would we revert back to a time when his schedule, his life, determined everything?

I needn’t have worried.

“We’ll live here,” he said almost immediately. “I assumed. You said that’s what you wanted, right?”

I shrugged. “I did. I do. But…” I sighed. Compromise did have to go both ways. “Look, I definitely don’t want to live in Kendal, but I could probably deal with London so long as I could come home regularly. Or Oxford or Cambridge, if you were willing to commute. Maybe there’s a school in London I could apply to. Maybe we could get a house, I guess, instead of the big fancy flat, that way Sofia can have a little yard, and—”

“Ces.”

I looked up. “What?”

Xavier’s black brows were furrowed, a sure sign that he was thinking very hard. “It should be here.”

Now I was the one who was confused. “Why? All your friends are in London. Your business is there. It’s not really fair of me to insist on New York when you’ve got so much there.”

Bu Xavier just continued to shake his head. “I’ve got Jagger and Elsie, but that’s about it for friends, babe. My life never left much room to make others, and after Luce died, I didn’t want any either. As for family, you know about those treasures…”

I snorted. I couldn’t help it. But I was curious about the looks on their faces when they realized their errant duke was going to marry his American baby mama.

“You have real family here,” Xavier continued. “It’s messy too, but you and your sisters, your brother, your gran. It’s special, what you have. I don’t want Sofia and this one to miss out on that kind of family. I know exactly what happens to a kid when they don’t have that. It’s worth more than any restaurant I could open or any title they could have.” He nodded, like he had just convinced himself too. “I can fly back to London whenever I need. New York is home for us. As long as it doesn’t have to involve this rubbish bed, though, babe. My back hurts, and my feet stick off the bottom when we’re sleeping.”

I stared at him for a long time. Then, finally, I matched his own sly smile with a grin of my own.

“You are in so much trouble,” I informed him. “Nonna’s going to have an entire litter of kittens. And my sisters won’t know whether to throw us a party or come after you with pitchforks.”

“I’ll take care of them,” Xavier said confidently. “Just like I took care of you.”

“They’ll want to set a date almost immediately. Oh, God, you’re going to have to convert, you know. Nonna will never forgive me if I don’t get married at Our Redeemer.”

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