Page 148 of Wicked

Even if my own family is small, Dante’s friends feel like a strong and protective tribe.

They are a large, supportive group of people who have done extremely well in their fields. A group who live life to the fullest and who look after each other. I adore every one of them, and I feel blessed to be a part of the new tribe.

For whatever reason,I like getting spanked, and I cannot work out why. Maybe I have issues, but I give zero fucks. I guess it gets my blood moving, and it’s sexy and dangerous.

Dante is far more relaxed now, and he is less uptight. Having to run all the fashion brands must have been hell, and it’s great he gave it up forus!

He still attends board meetings and approves some fashion brand detail, but he is not running the entire show. Or as he calls it, the Circus.

When I say Dante is calmer, I mean it. He does, however, turn into some kind of wild beast when we have sex.

I love it, even if, at times, he is shocking. Dante still always makes me come first and usually brutally hard.

Often, I come violently hard, like there is no tomorrow.

At times, it’s almost too much, but I like it. Actually… I love it.

As I take a break from writing book three in Miami, Dante and I take a vacation, and we head off in his jet.

As we travel,we sightsee, and we slow down. In Savannah, Georgia, where my mother’s parents were from, we visit my mother’s grave. It’s something I’ve started to do every three months or so.

I introduced Dante to Mom when we visited the first time. Now, I just talk for a few minutes and Dante sits in silence. After, Dante tells Mom what we’re doing in life, what I am doing, and that she should be proud. Even if it’s a little kooky or cute, it’s touching, and I like it.

Losing Mom young has always been hard, but for whatever reason, what Dante and I are now doing is almost pulling her back in and keeping her close.

It’s the best we can do, and it’s all we can do.

I’m glad Dante and I have our sensitive and gentle sides. We also have our sexy dark side, but we are usually light and playful. I’ve always been that way, and Dante is now coming into the light.

We are even starting our own cute traditions. That, I truly adore, and it is sous. Kookyus.

We head south,and in Texas, we rent a country home, and we ride horses on the property. We’ve started to do it in the south, and it’s in one of our favorite corners of the world.

While watching the sunset across a spectacular vista, Dante dismounts to check his horse’s hoof for a lodged pebble. He then drops to his knee.

When Dante leans up, he has an old ring and a warm smile.

My heart jumps out of my chest, and I have trouble breathing. Full of nerves, I leap down, trembling.

I’m convinced I fell in love with Dante the day I met him, and this last year has been the best of my life. We could not be happier, closer, or have more love or understanding. We just seem to flow.

As I hold my tongue, I let my perfect man propose. I then leap on him fast.

“Of course! Of course, baby!”

I hold Dante’s face in my hands, and our eyes hold. We kiss hard, and then Dante slides the ornate antique Italian ring onto my finger. I wipe another tear away, and I gulp.

I inhale, and I change my energy.

“Baby?”

Dante’s eyes focus, and I take his hands in mine. I then gently kiss his knuckles one hand at a time. “I think we should start a family too, and… And I want to have a baby.”

Dante lifts my chin. “Nothing would make me happier, darling.”

I grin like a fool, and I could not feel any better in the world. “I want you to give me a son. A son we can call Gio, after your grandfather.”

Dante nods slowly, and I can tell he is touched. He gulps down emotion.

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