XOXO

Nodding her head, she leans in to kiss the corner of my mouth. “I am happy.”

Wariness is wrapped around those words, so I rest my lips against her forehead. “Tell me to slow it the fuck down if you need to.”

That lures a laugh from her. “I should have told you about my granddad.”

If guilt is causing her hesitation, that stops now.

“You would have,” I assure her because I know it’s the truth. “You made a decision to wait to tell me, and I respect that. I respect the hell out of that, Arietta.”

“You do?”

“If I’m totally honest, I don’t know what I would have done if you would have told me you were Vernon Greenwalt’s granddaughter when we hired you on.”

“You would have used that information to get me to arrange a meeting between you two.”

It’s not an accusation. It’s an observation, a correct one.

“I wanted to come to New York City and make it on my own. I wanted to learn how to handle wealth,” she explains. “In Buffalo, I was always that Greenwalt kid. My friends knew my granddad was rich, even though we didn’t live that way. He didn’t help my mom when she told him she wanted to go to law school. He cut off my Aunt Cressida when she went away to college and never came back.”

To think I looked up to him for most of my life. Vernon Greenwalt was the person I most wanted to be like.

He tried to trample the dreams of the people who loved him because the almighty dollar was the most important thing to him.

“He’s changed,” she says softly. “I don’t know what happened, but he’s different.”

I can’t take credit for that, but I know what I said to him last night resonated deeply. I helped him see that his granddaughter is unique and there isn’t a price tag on her happiness.

No one on this earth can plan Arietta’s future for her. I sure as hell want to marry her and be the father of her children, but whether or not that happens depends on her.

“Things are better between you two?”

She nods. “We’ll talk again soon. We’ll sort all the details out.”

I stare at her as she takes another glance at all the flowers. “If I move in, I want to pay rent.”

I won’t argue with her even though there’s no mortgage on this place. “You can pay me what you pay for the apartment you’re living in now.”

I’ll tuck that money away for college for the children we’ll have.

She nods. “That’s fair.”

“I’ll do the cooking.”

She smiles. “I’ll cook too.”

“We’ll make love every day,” I counter.

“And every night,” she adds. “Starting...”

“Now.” I scoop her up into my arms. “Our bed awaits.”

“Our bed,” she whispers into my ear. “Our home. Our life.”

“Our forever, Arietta. This is just the beginning.” I press a kiss to her mouth. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whispers those words to me for the very first time.

Epilogue

Three Months Later

Arietta

“Sex without a condom is next level.”

Dominick cracks open one of his eyelids to look at me. “You’re telling me. Nothing feels as good as being bare inside of you.”

It’s a decision we made together a little over a month ago.

I’ve been on birth control for a few years, and after we were both tested to make sure we were clean, we decided that it was time to make love without a condom.

We’ve been taking full advantage of that ever since, including just now.

“Tell me about your lunch with Vern today.”

I rest my head on my pillow. “We may have come to a compromise.”

He turns to me, covering his semi-erect cock with the sheet. “What compromise?”

After my granddad and I discussed my future, we came to the mutual agreement that his right hand man would carry on with the business.

I’ll go to law school, and if my granddad ever needs my services, I’ll do the work for free. It’s the least I can do since he’s releasing my trust fund in its entirety to me on my twenty-third birthday.

“One that lets me achieve my dreams without having to worry about money.”

Dominick smiles. Even though he’s offered numerous times to give me the money for school, I’ve turned him down. I also passed when he asked if I wanted to work out a loan arrangement.

Money is part of our relationship, but it’s only a fraction of it. On the day I officially moved in, we tore up the contract we signed before making love for the first time. Dominick insisted on signing a document that will protect my trust fund. I didn’t want that, but he assured me he did. He told me it’s important that I know that my money has no bearing on what he feels for me, just as his money doesn’t matter to me.