“I’ll take care of it,” I say. “You don’t need to worry about a thing.”
She shakes her head. “No, we will take care of it. We’re partners, remember? If we are going to do this, it’s fifty-fifty. It’s not going to be just you calling the shots. I don’t want to be pampered and protected. I want to be treated as an equal. Either you agree to not treating me like a weak woman, or we call the partnership off.”
“I wouldn’t dare think you’re weak,” I say as I let go of her hand and trail my fingers along her collarbone. “But I can’t promise that when we are off duty, I won’t be pampering, protecting, and when it comes to the bedroom…” I give a wink. “I won’t just be calling the shots, I’ll be demanding them.”
Valentina’s cheeks pinken as they do whenever I talk about sex, but she doesn’t counter my words but rather she glances down, licks her lips, and then returns her heavy-lashed eyes to mine and nods. “I can agree to those terms.”
“Atlas and Valentina are going to become a dangerous team.”
She leans in and kisses me before pulling away, locking eyes with mine, and counters with, “Valentina and Atlas will make a dangerous team.”
I get up, walk to the bedside table, and pull out a pad of paper and a pen. I have a confession that needs to be put out there in the open. We need to hold nothing back if this partnership will be successful. I begin scribbling my confession down on the most dangerous note I’ve ever written and hand it to her.
I watch her eyes widen then glass over as she reads the words I wrote.
I love you. I will always love you.
~A
Without saying a word, she reaches for the pad and pen in my hand, quickly writes her own note, and hands it to me. I’m nervous to read how she responds, but my heart, my body, my entire being nearly explodes when I read:
I love you too. I always have.
~V
Epilogue
ROWAN
Christmas Eve - The Whitehall in London
“Oh my god, the driver just texted me he’s still ten minutes away from the airport. I can’t believe he’s going to be late picking up Dex and Katja.”
It’s tempting to throw my phone across the lobby just to stop the influx of stressful news.
“Will you relax?” Z cautions from nearby.
“Did you hear what I said? The driver is going to keep Katja waiting!”
“Oh no, not that! Ten whole minutes late. I’m sure she’s going to fire you when she gets here,” he teases—or at least I hope he’s teasing.
“You’re not funny,” I complain as I reach out to adjust the Christmas garland hanging slightly off center from the ornate front desk. It’s critical that every tiny detail be perfect for Katja and Dex’s arrival. With less than one week before the Grand Opening of The Whitehall we are in crunch time.
Z’s arms wrapping around my waist from behind interrupts my internal litany of open action items. When I don’t stop fussing with the garland, he yanks harder, pulling my back against his muscular chest.
His lips brush my ear as he growls. “You need to chill out. They are going to love everything.”
What a hypocrite. “Wasn’t it you who was freaking out earlier this week when the Italian marble didn’t arrive in time to complete the installation before the contractor took off for the Christmas holiday?”
“That was different,” Z answers, still snuggling in my hair.
“Oh? How so?”
“Because it’s for The Rooftop, not the public areas. I need The Rooftop perfect for Dex.”
I don’t bother to hold in my chuckle. “I see. So, it’s fine if I disappoint Katja, but you can’t let Dex down. Some teamwork there, buddy.”
“They are not going to be disappointed with anything. We’ve included them in all of the big decisions along the way and hell, we talk to them every two days. Do you really think they’re going to be surprised by anything we’ve got going on here?”
He isn’t wrong.
I spin around in his arms so I can look up into those gorgeous eyes I loved even before he’d literally saved my life just a few months ago.
“It’s different for you. Katja and Dex have loved you since you were born. I feel like I’m still proving myself with them.”
“I’d like to remind you that one year ago Katja was more like my enemy than my family. She was closer to you than Dex and me at the time.”
“Bullshit. I’ve talked to her about all that happened between you guys and yes, you three went through a couple years of a rough patch, but that’s over. All families go through shit like that.”
“Uh-ha, kicking us out of The Whitney was just a rough patch? Sorry, but it felt like a bit more than a bump in the road to me at the time.”