Chapter 20

Twenty

Harper

T onight, I was supposed to see Leo to discuss what happened and, I suppose, what it meant for our future. I’d spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted, and I knew how I felt about him.

The only question was, did he feel the same? Was I someone he could see himself with? Did he love me the way I loved him?

I thought there was chemistry, but what if I imagined it or it was all one-sided? I was driving myself crazy. I’d offered to find a sitter for Evie, but Leo said to bring her along, that he had something to show her.

I hoped he wasn’t going to show her the completed playhouse and then say good-bye to us. That wouldn’t be fair to either of us. If he intended to break things off, why would he want Evie present?

On the drive over, my heart rate picked up, and the knot in my stomach grew. Leo was standing on the porch when we arrived and opened the door for Evie when we parked.

“Leo!” she cried as she threw herself into his arms. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too. I don’t like to be away from you.”

“Me neither. Mommy said you’ve been super-duper busy with the pizza shop.”

“That’s right. It’s tough with my parents out of town.”

“You work hard,” Evie said, and Leo winced.

If the expansion went forward as he planned, I assumed he would be even busier.

There were so many details to discuss, but first, I needed to hear how he felt. Leo leaned over and kissed my cheek. “I missed you too.”

His lips against my skin were barely more than a feather of a touch, but it left me aching for more. Leo held Evie’s hand as we headed inside.

“I have something to show you,” Leo said carefully, as his uncertain gaze met mine over her head.

“Is it a surprise?”

“I guess you could say that. I’ve been planning it for a while, but I asked my contractor to speed up the timeline.”

The entrance to the kitchen was covered with a tarp to keep the dust from settling in the rest of the house, but Leo kept walking past it and up the stairs.

He stopped in front of a closed door. “This is what I wanted to show you.”

Then he pushed open the door before I could ask what it was.

Evie gasped as she entered the room. There was a white bed with a pink canopy over it, a dresser, a bookshelf filled with books, and a desk. Evie immediately ran to a bin full of stuffed animals and toys. “This is for me?”

“It’s all for you.”

“And I can sleep here?”

Leo winked at me. “That’s what I wanted to talk to your mother about. Can you play for a few minutes while I talk to her?”

“Uh-huh,” Evie said as she sank to the floor, a stuffed animal under her arm and a puzzle in front of her.

“Hopefully, that will keep her occupied for a few minutes,” Leo said as he took my hand and drew me down the hall to his room.

“I don’t understand. Why would you renovate a room for Evie?” I was struggling to catch up.

He closed the door and gestured for me to sit on the end of the bed.

Refusing to sit, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

Leo stepped closer, his hands touching my stiff shoulders. “I should have told you this a long time ago. I lied to you when I told you I was falling for you.”

My shoulders lowered as I took in his words.

“I wasn’t falling for you.” Then he hesitated, his gaze meeting mine. “I was already there. I love you. I love your daughter. I see a future with both of you in it.”

Hope soared that he was saying all the right things, but I still felt confused.

“I told Cade to renovate that room for Evie before I said what I did in front of my parents. I need you to understand that I realized I loved you before she told Mamma and Papà about us. When I said what I did, I was trying to ease the blow to my parents. But that was stupid. We should have been honest with them. We never should have hidden who we are. We might have gotten some pushback, but I’ve been certain about you from the start. I love you, Harper.”

I dropped my arms, needing to touch him. “I love you too.”

Leo pulled me into his arms. “I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for you to say that. I wasn’t sure if you felt the same way.”

Relief swirled in my chest. “I’ve loved you for a while. I just wasn’t sure where you stood or if I could trust it. I worried that if our relationship came between you and your family, or messed with your business, you’d walk away.”

“You’re more important than any business issues. I’ll figure it out with you by my side. If my parents are upset with you, then my brothers and I will figure out a way to open a business without them. Maybe that’s a better idea.” He paused as if he’d only just thought of that. “But I don’t want to talk about that. I want to talk about us. I want to alleviate any concerns you have about how I feel and what I want.”

I smiled softly. “I think you’ve done that.”

His shoulders relaxed, and his face softened. “I’m sorry I asked you to keep us a secret. It was wrong, and it wasn’t how I felt about you. It was like as soon as I figured out that I liked you, everything fell into place. I had this strong attraction to you, and then we built this connection. It felt right.”

“I love that.” I loved that he was pouring his emotions out to me.

“Never again, Harper. It’s the three of us on the same team going forward. Whatever happens, we handle it together.”

After talking to Gia and Aria, I figured out that I held all the power in any relationship. I had the ability to walk away, to demand better for myself. If Mr. and Mrs. G. made unreasonable demands on Leo and on us, I wouldn’t stand for it. If they wanted to be in our lives, they’d need to accept us.

Leo palmed my cheek, and I leaned into the warmth of his touch. “I missed you. I missed us. I wanted to talk to you sooner, but I figured it was better to show you how I felt, and I needed a few extra days to get Evie’s room ready.”

“Do you want us to live here?” Or was the room just for us to visit?

“I wanted to ask you to move in with me, but I wasn’t sure if you’d be ready. We have this room in case Evie needed some space to herself when she visited. I figured I could ease you two into the idea.”

I smiled up at him. “So, you had this whole plan?”

“I want you two in my life, and I’ll do anything to get what I want.”

Leo wanted me. The love poured over me in waves, sending tingles through my limbs. I wrapped my hands around his neck, pressing my breasts against his hard chest. He dipped his forehead to rest on mine. “You’re mine now, Harper.”

“You’re mine too.”

His lips twitched. “And Evie’s, if she’ll have me.”

“I’m pretty sure you have her wrapped around your finger.” She and Leo always had a special bond.

Leo let out a breath. “I hope so. I love her so much. I didn’t know what I was going to do if you didn’t forgive me.”

Our foreheads touched. “We’re here now.”

“Mommy. Leo. Come play with me!” Evie yelled from her room.

“Are you ready for this?” I asked as he kissed me and then pulled back.

“You mean a full house, love and laughter, and so much joy?” Leo asked as we headed down the hall toward Evie.

“When you say it like that…” It sounded beautiful.

Leo lifted our joined hands and kissed mine. “ Bellisima . We’ll live a beautiful life.”

“I think so too,” I said softly, never thinking that this could be my life. That I could be so happy. That there was someone out there who fit me perfectly. It might have taken us a long time to realize it, and the circumstances made everything more difficult, but he was with me the whole time.

“Come on,” Evie said as we stood staring at each other in the doorway. “Play this with me.”

She’d found a new card game, and we sat on the floor with her to figure out the rules. We spent the evening exploring her new room and the completed playhouse, cooked dinner together, and watched a movie until Evie fell asleep.

When the movie ended, Leo carried her to her bed, and we tucked her in together. I loved this version of our lives. The one where we shared our joys and burdens. We celebrated the wins and figured out the issues together.

Leo turned on a night-light I hadn’t noticed earlier and grabbed my hand as we headed toward his room.

He pulled me inside and shut the door behind us. “So, what do you say? Will you officially move in with me? Do you think Evie’s ready?”

I nodded. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow and make sure she understands.”

“We can still use the old address for her school, and I can help with drop-off and pickup.”

“You’d do that?” I asked, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.

“Evie’s mine now too. If she’ll have me, of course. Even if she didn’t adjust to me being in her life, I’d go slow and hope that, over time, she’d adjust.”

“You’re perfect.”

“I think we established this week that I’m anything but. Far from it, actually. But I want to be perfect for you. I want to be the man you can count on.”

Being the man I could count on didn’t mean he was perfect. It meant he tried his best, and that’s all I could ask for. I dropped his hand and pressed my palms against his chest and then wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling us closer. “I can’t seem to get close enough to you.” I felt like crawling inside his body.

“Mmm. I know just the thing that will help you.”

“Yeah?” I asked with a raised brow as he easily lifted me and set me down on the bed. He remained standing so he could draw his T-shirt over his head, unbuckle his belt, and push his pants down until he was naked.

With one knee on the bed, he leaned over me, kissing and touching me. “You need my hands, my mouth, or my tongue?”

“All of the above,” I said, between kisses.

He pushed up my shirt, his large palm resting on my stomach. Not going high or low enough for where I wanted him but building the anticipation for what was to come.

He whispered Italian words as he kissed my exposed skin, slowly undressing me until I was naked. He seemed overcome with emotion. It was almost like he couldn’t believe that I was his.

The feeling was mutual. I pulled him to me, never wanting to stop kissing or touching him.

He paid extra attention to my breasts, sucking on my nipples, working me up until I was writhing beneath him.

When he finally moved lower, dropping kisses onto my stomach, I widened my legs to accommodate him.

“Watch me while I make love to your pussy.”

I grew wetter at his dirty words and moved until I was on my elbows, watching him. He licked and sucked, adding his fingers until it was too much, and my head fell back.

When he stopped, I groaned in protest.

“I said to watch me.”

“Or you’ll stop?” I whined.

“Yes, piccola .”

My skin flushed, and my entire body strung taut, but I complied. “Please, Leo.”

“I want to pleasure you, and I want you to watch me while I do it.”

I bit my lip at his honesty. I loved this version of ourselves. Where we were open and honest. “I’m watching.”

His eyes held a warning and a glint of a challenge. He worked me back up until my thighs were trembling with anticipation. “I can’t wait any longer. Leo—”

And then he added two fingers in a motion similar to how he’d fuck me with his cock. When he sucked my clit hard, I exploded. There were no other words for it. My body spasmed endlessly around him, and I collapsed onto the bed, overwhelmed.

He moved up my body, dropping soft kisses before his cock nudged my entrance. I wanted more. I wanted him to fill me up.

He eased a hand under my back and lifted me so that I straddled his lap, and he slowly lowered me over his cock. It filled me inch by inch, feeling so good.

He eased me up with his hands on my hips and then lowered me down again. I didn’t think it was possible to feel the start of another orgasm, but there was something about this angle that touched that spot inside me. Each movement built until I was wild with need. I whimpered in frustration, and Leo asked, “Do you need to come?”

I nodded, my muscles tense.

He shifted me forward slightly so that each time I lowered myself over his cock, his pelvis ground against my clit. The sensation grew until it burst through my body, my walls spasming around his cock.

“ Bellisima ,” Leo murmured, his mouth on my neck, kissing and licking and biting. His grip on my hips tightened as he went over the edge.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and slumped against him. I couldn’t believe I was in his house, that I’d agreed to move in with him, that this was our life and our future. It seemed so amazing and overwhelming at the same time.

“I’ve got you,” Leo said, his words tickling my skin. “And I’m never letting you go.”

“Just what a girl wants to hear,” I said as he lifted me and lowered me to the bed.

He moved so that he was next to me, and I curled into his arms. “We’re in this together.”

“Forever,” I said, no longer afraid of scaring him off or saying the wrong thing. He loved me.

“You’re everything I’ve ever wanted. You’ve given me somebody to love.”

I touched the skin of his face. “Somebody to love.” It was so much more than that. When you loved with your whole heart, everything seemed brighter and easier to handle.