Page 52 of Secret Baby for my Off-Limits Fiancé

Layla glances over her shoulder, amusement dancing in her eyes. "You coming?"

"No," Luciana cuts in before I can answer. "He’s been replaced. It’s a sister-in-law bonding moment now."

Sister-in-law? What the fuck?

The phrase shouldn’t make my stomach flutter the way it does.

Layla just laughs, giving me a little wave as Luciana drags her away, leaving me standing there, watching as the two of them disappear into the crowd like they’ve been family all along.

She doesn’t need me to hold her hand. She can handle herself just fine.

But damn, I don’t like letting her out of my sight.

I drift toward Quinn, who’s bouncing Mira in her arms.

“She’s been a little angel.” Quinn smiles. “I’m happy you made it tonight.”

“You know I wouldn’t say no to Dad.” I glance toward the crowd, spotting my father deep in conversation. Then my eyes travel to the woman who hasn’t left my thoughts.

Quinn follows my gaze. “Is that Layla?”

I smirk. “The one and only.”

“My God, Valentino.” Quinn chuckles. “Dad said you were bringing a girlfriend, but I didn’t believe him.”

“Glad to know everyone has so much faith in me.”

She grins. “You’ve never introduced anyone before. You can’t blame us for being… skeptical.”

I don’t reply.

Because truthfully? I really can’t blame them.

I watch as Quinn moves through the room with Mira snuggled into her chest, laughing softly at something my father whispers in her ear. There’s an ease to the way they fit together, the way she leans into him without hesitation, like she belongs there. And she does.

It took me a while to see it, really see it.

Quinn wasn’t the woman I expected my father to fall for. She’s younger than him, younger than my mother was when she passed. Hell, she and I are almost the same age.

And if the age gap wasn’t enough to stir up whispers, the fact that she’s the daughter of his best friend certainly was. People talked. They judged. Some still do. But none of them saw what I did.

The way my father came back to life around her, the way she pulled him from the shadow of grief he carried for so many years.

And she needed him just as much.

My father told me Quinn had been through hell. She was stuck in a marriage that drained the light from her, piece by piece. Her ex-husband never laid a hand on her, at least, not physically, but the way he spoke to her, the way he chipped away at her confidence, the way he twisted love into something cruel. It took her years to realize she deserved better. To finally walk away.

And my father was there when the time came.

Looking at them now, I get it. She makes him happy in a way I never thought he could be again. And maybe that’s the thing about love, you don’t plan for it. You don’t control who walks into your life, or when. It just happens, and when it does, you either fight it, or you take the chance.

He took the chance.

And I, for once, think he got it exactly right.

When Layla returns to my side, Luciana is already obsessed with her.

The two of them are laughing like old friends, and I don’t miss the way Layla’s eyes shine with the confidence of someone who belongs.

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