“I know.”
“And all that time, he was just lying to my face. I thought meeting you again was the worst thing that could have happened to me, but our getting engaged ended up saving my life. I can’t bear to think how it would have played out if we didn’t meet like we had.”
“He definitely couldn’t factor that into his plan,” I agree. “We have Scott to thank for that. If he hadn’t run in front of my car, I never would have found you.”
“Is it weird to think that he knew, somehow? That you were nearby and you were safe?”
“You think I’m safe?”
“Back then, maybe not, but maybe to some degree he was always safe with you. You are his father.”
Father.Part of me is still quietly reeling from that revelation. “I don’t think it’s weird to think that. We were both living in this fucked up world being played by Antony who was cocky enough to think he had a golden ticket to power. He was just toying with us until Donald told him about the engagement.”
“I kind of wish I’d seen his face upon hearing that,” Maeve murmurs. “The two people you think would never even look at one another now, ending up engaged.” She snorts softly. “What an asshole.”
“He was good at manipulation. The fact that he was the one who kept calling CPS on you to keep that thread pulled tight, to keep you on the cusp of losing your child so he could be the savior, is enough to know how fucking psychotic he was.”
“Y’know…” Maeve tilts her head and flicks her hair over her shoulder. “For a man who claimed to be in control, he just never looked deep enough. If he had, maybe he would have seen thatyou and Naz were actually friends and none of his ploys to reignite that war would work.”
“Men like him don’t look too deep. They’re arrogant enough to think they have all the cards so nothing else matters.” Snow drifts down and lightly lands on Maeve’s eyelashes as she closes her eyes. I lean down and kiss her eyelid, lingering until the biting cold of the flake melts away to the warmth of her skin. “Which is the exact reason he interrupted our wedding.”
“So much ego,” she murmurs.
She sighs softly as I kiss her other eyelid, then down to her lips where another snowflake gets caught between our lips. It melts in half a second between our mouths and Maeve briefly tightens her grip on my arms.
“And now?” She pulls back and gazes up at me. “How do we find a normal life after all of this?”
“Easy.” I lose myself in the twinkle of her eyes reflecting the lights above us. With her ruby-red, kiss-swollen lips and snowflakes clinging to her hair, she’s utterly beautiful. “Let’s start with somethingterriblyordinary.”
“Like what?” She shivers faintly. “Finding a good New York school for Scott?”
“Even more normal than that.”
“Grocery shopping?”
I laugh softly and shake my head, kissing her again but slower. “Come here.” Taking her hand, I lead her back into the room and gently push her back down onto the bed. Her robe falls open as she rests back on her elbows and I sink to my knees, kissing her bare calf.
From there, I map a slow path up her leg with soft, sweet kisses. Under her knee, across her inner thigh, past her pelvis and up to her abdomen. Through the valley of her breasts, across her throat and right up to her lips. She’s panting by the time we’re face to face.
“Sex?” she asks breathlessly.
“No. Marry me. For real.”
Maeve’s eyes widen immediately, and she slides one hand around the back of my neck. “What?”
“A real wedding. I love you, Maeve. You love me. Let me be your husband. Let me take care of you. I’ll stand on the rooftops and yell it for the whole city to hear, but I want you to be my wife. Not for a deal, not for a plan or anything like that. I lost five years with you and Scott and I don’t want that to happen again. Marry me. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. For real.”
Her eyes dart back and forth between mine and then the brightest, warmest smile spreads across her lips as tears sparkle on her lashes.
“Yes!” She laughs softly and kisses me hard. “Yes, I’ll marry you!”
39
MAEVE
The wedding Marcella created for me was beautiful, but my real wedding takes place on Christmas Day, and it’s the most stunning day that I could have ever wished for.
Rather than getting married in a church or event hall, we get married on the roof of the penthouse under a white trellis covered in deep red roses. A red carpet warms my bare feet as I walk down the aisle toward Levi in a sheer white dress covered in pastel pink flowers. It’s not as grand as the previous dress, but Scott picked it out for me and called me a princess so it was an instant purchase.
