Top Dog

“I know. But that’s why you have me. I’ll never let anything happen to you, or Matteo, or our incoming little one.”

I dropped my hand from her chin and quickly cupped her stomach.

“Nothing will ever happen to you guys. I swear it,” I said.

“I can’t believe we did it,” she said. “I can’t believe we saved our family names.”

“I knew we could,” I said. “We make a good team.”

“Mr. Russo did call, though. Earlier today. That fundraiser we held for your new charity? The first round of donations amounted to almost fifteen million.”

“We made fifteen million in that one night?” I asked.

“Charity balls are the way to draw out people with pocketbooks. I told you that, remember?”

“I forget who the mastermind is behind all these parties,” I said with a grin.

Her eyes sparkled, and I bent forward to kiss the tip of her nose.

“I know you’re worried about our past. About what people still might think of us. But life is strange sometimes. It isn’t always about the past. Sometimes, it’s only about our actions. The people around us? They trust us because of our actions. Because of our intentions from the beginning. That’s what makes all of this succeed. That’s what made us successful in what we wanted to do.”

“Do you think we’ll have a girl this time?” she asked.

I placed a kiss on her forehead as my arms wrapped around her back.

“I think we’ve got guests outside wondering where we went. I placed Frank in control of the grill.”

“So you’re telling me we should order pizza?”

“Frank’s not that bad,” I said with a grin.

“He burned all the hot dogs last time.”

“But not the steaks. That man’s a steak connoisseur.”

“Well, if you left him in charge of those—”

Julia lifted her lips to mine, and I melted into her embrace.

“Mmm, as much as I would love to, the last thing we need is one of those kids coming and looking for us. I don’t think their parents would approve if they found us like this,” I said.

“Probably not,” Julia said.

“But hold that thought for tonight,” I said before I kissed her cheek. “Because I’m not done showing you how excited I am for the rest of our future together.”

Her cheeks flushed, and I slid my thumb across her delicate skin. I kissed her one last time, drawing her lips to mine before I stepped away from her. I had to put distance between us. If I didn’t, I’d never relinquish her back to the guests. I pulled my pants up as she cleaned herself up in the bathroom connected to my office. And when she emerged, I held out my hand for her.

“Ready to go eat some food?” I asked.

“I might as well take it in while I can. Who knows when nausea will hit me,” she said.

“Well, however this pregnancy affects you, know I’ll be there every step of the way. No matter where life takes us and no matter what happens, I’ll always be here.”

“I’m the luckiest woman in the world,” she said.

I tugged her to me and crashed our lips together again.

“And I hope to keep up that reputation for the rest of our lives,” I said.