Undoubtedly because Nathan knew he was, and always would be, my last love.
In addition to the new identity Dom had procured for me, he’d offered me a chance to buy into his and his brothers’ business. I’d been hesitant at first, but once I’d met all four Barretti brothers, along with their partners, I’d realized they were all gladly willing to sell equal shares of the business to me. They’d taken it a step further and welcomed me and Nathan into their lives, too. We spent nearly every Sunday at Dom’s house on San Juan Island as part of their family dinner celebration that had gotten so big, they needed an entire day to enjoy it. Our plan was to drive or fly out to Dare to spend the weekend with his brother and the extended family out there at least once a month. Brody, Quinn, and Beck similarly traveled to Seattle nearly as often for the family get-together as well.
Everett continued to struggle with Reese, who hadn’t warmed up to the idea of letting his father back into his life, but Gage had been trying to smooth Reese’s rough edges. And while I suspected part of that had to do with being Reese’s friend, I had to wonder if the man didn’t have an ulterior motive, since he seemed to have an awfully hard time taking his eyes off a certain former Commander-in-Chief whenever they were in the same room together.
Which seemed to irritate Agent Jon Nash to no end.
It was a dynamic that I still hadn’t made sense of, and I wasn’t sure Everett had even noticed, since he’d long ago dismissed the idea that anyone could take Pierce’s place in his heart. I hadn’t bothered to try to explain to him that it wasn’t about replacing one love with another. Not when there were men out there who were strong enough to love you and that piece of your heart that would always belong to another.
Men like my Nate.
“How about we finish this another time, Vincent Dorfmeyer?” Nathan said as he rubbed up against me.
“Fuck, I hate when you call me that,” I said.
I still wanted to kick Dom’s ass for the ridiculous last name he and Ronan had come up with for my new identity, but, of course, each man had pointed to the other when I’d asked about it.
“I had some thoughts about that, too,” Nathan murmured as he placed soft kisses all around my mouth, but never landed on it.
I snagged the back of his head and held him in place so I could take what he was teasing me with.
“You were saying?” I asked when I pulled back. The cocky grin faded and Nathan’s hungry eyes met mine.
He toyed with my hair. “Although Dorfmeyer has a certain ring to it,” – he yelped when I pinched his ass – “okay, okay.” He wriggled his ass against my palm when I went to rub the sore spot.
“Nate?”
“What?” he asked as his breath got heavy and he began to grind his cock against mine.
“You going to finish your thought?”
“What? Oh, right.” He began chewing on his lip, a sure sign he was nervous. “I was thinking…Wilder might be a better fit.”
I stilled at that.
“Vincent Wilder,” Nathan said softly. “What do you think?”
Was he…fuck, was he actually asking me to…
“Don’t fuck with me,” I said. “That better not be a hypothetical-”
“It’s not,” Nathan cut in. He kissed me hard. “It’s me asking you to marry me.”
“This is me saying yes,” I snarled as I slammed my mouth down on his and lifted him up. “Yes,” I repeated as I swept the blueprints that were spread out on the table to the floor.
“What are you doing?” Nathan asked with a laugh as I lowered him onto his back on the table.
“Christening our new table, what does it look like?” I asked as I skimmed my lips over his pulse point. He moaned and pushed up against me.
“The furniture’s rented, remember?” he said hoarsely.
“Not anymore, baby. Any piece I make love to you on goes in our new place.”
Nathan smiled and kissed me. “Well then, you better get busy. We’ve got a big house to furnish.”
I chuckled. “On it.”
“Love you, Vincent,” Nathan whispered.
“Love you too,” I said as I sank my fingers into his beautiful hair. “My Nate,” I said firmly.
His gorgeous eyes held mine. “Always,” he said simply.
And it was true. Whether he was my husband, my lover, my boyfriend…didn’t matter. He was and always would be, first and foremost, My Nate.
The End