Page 175 of Money Reigns
“Not a paperweight,” I murmur, finishing an email. “A prize.”
She snorts. “Even worse.”
My eyes cut to hers, sharp enough to make her spine straighten.
“Careful,Olivia.” My voice drops, stern, the kind of warning that settles in her bones. “You’re not here to mock me.”
Her lips part. A flush rises in her cheeks, quick and guilty, but her eyes still spark with defiance.
I let the moment stretch, my gaze steady until I see the shiver run through her, the awareness clicking back into place.
Fuck, I love that fire.
The way she pushes just enough tomakeme remind her who she belongs to.
The way she blushes when I do.
I ease back into my chair, deliberately calm.
“Give me a minute.”
I hit send, then turn to my secondary screen. The one I never use for business. Only her.
Three images are pulled up. High-res mockups from the jeweler I had on retainer.
She watches me, confused, until I pivot the monitor toward her.
“I have three designs in progress,” I say. “I didn’t want to wait, but I also didn’t want to get it wrong. So pick. Which do you prefer?”
Her expression softens, but something flickers behind it. A pause. A hesitation.
“War…”
That single word slices through me.
Not because it’s soft. But because I know what it might mean.
She’s going to say no.
She’s going to say she’s not ready, that this is too fast, that I’m too much.
I brace myself for the rejection like I’ve braced for boardroom betrayals and family knives.
But before she can finish—before she can say anything else,I cut her off.
“I’m marrying you.” My voice is low, even. Final. “But I have to ask first. So pick a style.”
Her shoulders relax. The tension bleeds from her spine like a held breath finally exhaled.
She leans forward. Looks.
And I look at her.
Her freckles catch the light now that she isn’t hiding them behind makeup anymore. Her skin glows, clear and soft and perfect, because I made sure of it. The conditioner I bought her makes her hair shine like glass in the sun. She smells like warm vanilla and summer wind because I ordered another bottle of the perfume she loves before she even ran out.
She’s healthy now. Rested. Fed. Touched.
Loved.
