He waggled his brows at her, showing a playful side he had just started letting come out. “Come down here and I will tell you.”
“You have that look on your face.”
“What look is that?” he teased.
Oh, he knew. “Like you’re about to make love to me.”
“How astute you are.”
“Not in my dad’s house!” She laughed, though, really pleased that he wanted to, that nothing got in the way of Maxwell’s desire to be as near her as he could get.
And most times that meant ultimately joining their bodies.
“Not his house,” Max said with a secretive smile. “Not anymore.”
“What?” Her dad had sold the house? “Whose house is it?”
“Ours.”
“Are you serious?”
“Have I ever lied to you?” he asked, all humor gone.
“No.” Not once. She loved this man so much.
He grinned up at her, the playful Maxika back. “Now, are you coming down here or am I coming up there?”
“You’d better come up here. There’s more furniture.” Specifically the bed in her former bedroom.
He took the stairs two at a time and swept her into a truly stellar kiss.
She reveled in his affection, but broke the kiss to ask. “So, you bought me my childhood home?”
Maxwell nodded. “Your dad needs a change.”
“Yes.”
“So, this is a good house to raise a family.”
“I always thought so.” Oh, gosh…she was ready to just melt. “Is there anything not perfect about you?”
“How long it has taken to admit I love you?”
“You love me?” She’d hoped, thought…but she couldn’t be sure.
“With my soul and the heart I was so sure was dormant.”
“You say the cheesiest things.”
“But I am sincere.”
“And that makes them poetic.”
“I should have realized I loved you when I was plotting your downfall and that included you becoming my wife.”
“You’re used to seeing everything like a business to take over.”
“I was scared of what you made me feel, so I hid behind a blackmail attempt. I can’t believe you agreed.”
“How could I say no? I loved you, too. I love you. So much, Max.”
“Yes, well, you are married to a man who is perhaps not as smart as he always assumed.”
“Why is that?”
“I wanted a church wedding. That prenup was more a set of strings than arrangements for me to get out of our marriage when I was ready to move on. As if that could ever happen.”
“I noticed that.” She could be forgiven for a moment of smug reflection.
This man had been worth every risk and she just loved him so much sometimes it hurt how much.
“And the church wedding?” he asked.
She agreed. “A definite sign.”
“Did you know?”
“I suspected in Haiti.” But she couldn’t be sure. Not without the words.
“Because I built you a home to give away.”
“Exactly. You’re an incredible man, Maxwell Black. My man. My superhero.”
“Your tsar maybe.”
“Did the tsars love passionately and forever?”
“Some of them.”
“Then you are my tsar.”
“And you are my wife, the love of my life.”
“With no expiration date.”
“No.”
The kiss that sealed their vows was filled with their love and sparked their passion, exactly how they lived their lives together.
EPILOGUE
MAXWELL HELD TIGHTLY to Romi’s hand as he followed his mother into the hotel’s restaurant.
Inside, waiting to meet him was a group of his family.
Viktor’s was there, too.
Like so many things Romi and Madison did, they’d planned this reunion for their husbands with their Russian families.
Two men raised in a new country with a different life here to meet and connect with a heritage they’d never left completely behind.
His mom had been talking to her family for months. All Romi’s doing. They were thick as thieves now.
Which was a good thing.
He loved his mother, but he adored his wife.
Her father was with them as well. As moral support, he’d called it.
Harry Grayson had remained sober and started dating his housekeeper two months after getting out of rehab. They were engaged to be married in the fall.
His family still wasn’t speaking to him, but they’d made overtures to Romi.
She’d shown something of a ruthless streak herself in refusing anything to do with the rich and powerful Graysons because of the way they treated her father.
Maxwell looked over at where Viktor was hugging a distant cousin, his expression pained, and smiled.
Neither man had gotten any more adept at physical expressions of affection with anyone but their wives. That would change, too, soon.