*
After my show, Christian and I stayed an extra two nights in Milan before he whisked me off to Positano. I’d protested half-heartedly, saying I had too much work to go on vacation, but honestly, it didn’t take much to convince me. I fell in love with the Amalfi Coast before I ever visited it, and I fell even more in love after visiting. The scent of salt and water filled my nose as we walked along the beach. I would never get over how beautiful this place was. Not only because of how it looked, but because of what it meant to me and Christian. It wasn’t the seed of our love. That’d been planted long before we stepped foot in Italy. But it was the place where it had blossomed, unfurling beneath the Mediterranean skies like the world’s most beautiful canvas. “Penny for your thoughts.” Christian walked alongside me, his suits traded for a casual linen shirt and pants. “Just a penny? I thought you were a billionaire.” “A quarter then. Final offer,” he said with the seriousness of someone negotiating a multimillion-dollar contract. I laughed. “Fine, I’ll take it, but my thoughts might be too sappy for you.” I looked out at the ocean, my words soft with reminiscence. “I’m thinking about our first trip here and how much I love this place. We’ve visited a lot of places together, but Italy…Italy will always be special.” “I’m glad you think so.” Christian’s velvet murmur brushed my skin, along with an odd roughness I’d never heard before. “I couldn’t decide whether to do this in Hawaii or Italy, but it seems I made the right choice.” “Do what?” I turned, and the breath disappeared from my lungs. Because before me, framed by pastel-covered hills and the golden hues of sunset, was a sight I’d never anticipated. Christian Harper on one knee, velvet box open in hand to reveal a dazzling diamond ring set with emeralds. Tears blurred my vision as I pressed a hand to my mouth.
When he spoke again, the odd roughness was still there, but it was braided with so much love and hope they narrowed my world to this one moment with this one man. “Stella, will you marry me?”
EPILOGUE
STELLA
Four years later
“Take your summer Friday off,” I told my assistant. Christy and I stopped in front of my office. “I can survive an afternoon by myself.” “Are you sure? I can—” “Yes. Go.” I shooed her away.
“Enjoy the weather. It’s gorgeous outside.” “Okay,” she said reluctantly. “Text or call if you need anything. Which reminds me, I forgot one thing.” A sly smile replaced her anxiousness at leaving work early, even if it was part of the company’s vacation policy. “You have a visitor.” My brow furrowed at both the unexpected addition to my schedule and the mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “Who…” My question cut off with a sharp inhale when I opened the door and saw who was standing inside. Dark suit. Whiskey eyes. And a bouquet of the most gorgeous roses I’d ever seen. A slow, devastating smile spread across his face when he saw me. Beside me,
Christy sighed and visibly swooned. She wasn’t the only one. Even after three years of marriage, that smile never failed to make my heart flutter. “Morning, Butterfly.” The lazy timbre of his voice sent a whoosh of warmth through my stomach. “What are you doing here?” I breathed. “I thought you were on a business trip.” He’d left for London two days ago and wasn’t scheduled to return until Sunday. “Flew back early.” He gave a casual shrug. “I missed you.” It was a good thing I was still holding onto the doorknob. Otherwise, I might have melted straight to the floor. “Ahem.” Christy cleared her throat. “I’m taking that summer Friday now. Have a good weekend.” She winked at me before she left. I would’ve been mortified by the insinuation in her voice had I not been so distracted by the gorgeous male specimen standing less than five feet away. “It’s been five minutes, Mrs. Harper,” Christian drawled. “Are you going to make your husband wait even longer for a kiss?” “You,” I said. “Are unbelievable.” Then I ran and threw my arms around his neck, my heart swelling as the rumble of his laughter filled the room. I kissed him, drinking in his taste and smell like we’d been apart for months, not days. “I can’t pass up the opportunity to visit my talented wife at her office,” he said when we finally broke apart. He wrapped his arms around my waist while I buried my face in his chest and breathed in the rich, familiar scent of him. It was the scent of love and comfort and safety. My favorite smell in the entire world. “Offices in Soho. You’ve officially made it, Stella Alonso Harper.” The Stella Alonso brand had expanded rapidly over the past few years to include clothes, accessories, and fragrances. Its office had expanded accordingly. I smiled at Christian’s teasing, but a sudden pang of melancholy hit me. We’d moved to New York after we got married, and both our businesses were now headquartered in Manhattan. Jules and Ava remained in D.C., but the three of us plus Bridget saw each other in person at least twice a year: once for our annual girls’
trip and once for the holidays. My family visited a few times a year and vice versa. It was a wonderful life, but there was one person I missed greatly. “I wish Maura were here to see it,” I said softly. “She would’ve loved it.” Maura had made it to our wedding, where she’d been the most lucid I’d seen her in years. A month later, right after Christian and I returned from our honeymoon, she’d passed away in her sleep. I’d been devastated, but I knew she’d been ready to go and that she was in a happier place now. Even though she hadn’t remembered me in the last years of her life, a part of me wondered whether she’d been waiting for me to find my home before she moved on. “She knows.” Christian sounded so confident I believed him. “Since when did you become the optimist out of the two of us?” “Since I married you.” He ran a hand down my back. “I blame it on those wheatgrass smoothies you make me drink every morning. They must be laced with something.” My burst of laughter shattered my remaining melancholy.
“They’ll extend your lifespan, Mr. Harper. I want many, many years with you.” “Not years, sweetheart. Forever.” Christian tipped my chin up, and my heart tingled all over again. “But just in case, we should make the most of what we have.” A half gasp, half laugh poured from my throat when he swept the papers off my desk and set me on top of it. “Christian,” I admonished with no fire. “That was a week’s worth of work!” “I’ll clean it up later,” he said lazily. “But in the meantime, I can think of some ways to make it up to you.” Then he knelt before me and spread my legs, and suddenly, work was the last thing on my mind.
*