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"You're a hard man, Xavier. I can't fault you for it. I was the same at your age, but I can give you some advice that I hope you'll take—don't waste time. It goes too fast. And don't forget to be open around the right person. The one person who sees all the best parts of you, who makes you want to be a better person, will be worth everything in the world. But if she can't find a way in through that hard exterior, she might slip through your fingers."

I'm dumbfounded. "Did you already know?—"

"We can talk later, Xavier, but if the yelling I heard when you and your new wife got home is any indication, you have some amends to make. Go before she has time to realize just how difficult we Romano men can be."

He doesn't need to tell metwice.

I findMaria on the second floor of the porch, leaning against the railing in a pose so similar to the first night of our honeymoon that I have to clench my teeth to stop my cock from getting hard. Remembering the way I'd made her come all over my fingers under the open sky is too heated a thought, and I need to keep a clear head.

She doesn't notice me until I'm standing inches away, and I reach out to grip the wooden rail on either side of her.

"Wife," I say the words into her hair, inhaling the scent of vanilla and lingering notes of coconut sunscreen. "Don't run from me next time."

She stiffens. "There isn't going to be a next time, remember?"

Those words are all I need to confirm the suspicions that my father planted in my head. I've been thinking I'm a fool for feeling the way I do about Maria so quickly, and that fear of foolishness led me to hurt her without even knowing it.

I press my lips to her neck once before whispering, "Fuck that. I changed my mind."

Her eyes go wide when she pivots in my grasp to look at me. "What do you mean?"

"It means I think we're both stubborn as hell, and just this once, I'm willing to be the one to crack first. Because Maria, I love you."

She stares at me for a second, and I start to worry I've gone too far. Maybe this isn't the right time to tell her how I feel. Maybe?—

All thoughts vanish from my head as she leans forward and kisses me, smiling against my mouth. "I love you, too."

I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her to me, kissing her until she's breathless. "You're moving into my room, and you're going to be my wife. My real wife."

"Mmm. You promise?" she murmurs, eyes sparkling.

"I fucking swear," I growl, sucking at her lower lip.

"And this still counts, right? For my dad's loan, I mean."

I laugh, burying my face against her sweet-smelling throat. "Yes, as long as you don't mention either of our fathers again for the next few hours while I show you your new bed. Thoroughly."

Maria's answering laugh is soft and needy. "You've got a deal."

EPILOGUE

MARIA

One Year Later

After our balcony confession, I didn't return to the guest room for months. By the time we reentered to turn it into a nursery, I'd all but forgotten what it looked like.

The sideways vanity mirror made me blush, though. Even though I was obviously pregnant with Xavier's baby.

"Remember—" he started, and I had to clap a hand over his mouth before he said something ridiculous in front of the decorator we hired.

"Yes, I remember," I hissed before dissolving into laughter. "I remember quite well, actually."

The nursery turned out beautifully, but of course, baby Liam would be sleeping in our room for the foreseeable future.

Labor was as terrifying as I imagined it would be, but an epidural and my husband at my side made it bearable. And the reward—a red-faced, blanket-wrapped, miniature clone of Xavier—was worth every awful contraction.

After the parade of well-wishers, including Xavier's father, who was ecstatic to meet his grandson, have departed, and it's only Xavier and me once more, I feel like I can finally breathe again. I’m lying back in the hospital bed with Liam sleeping in my arms when Xavier offers to hold him.

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