45. Chapter 45

45

One month later

I laria studied her new office with satisfaction. It was the perfect blend of collaborative and private spaces and represented everything she wanted her business to be.

Emmy walked through the front door, lugging a heavy potted plant, the long stem and leaves swaying. When Noe saw her nearly drop it, he rushed over and took hold of one side of the pot.

"My God, is this thing weighed down with rocks?" he grunted. "Where's it going?"

"Right here by the front window," Emmy panted.

"Excuse us, ladies," Noe said as they carried the towering plant to where Gia and Rose stood. The women quickly moved out of the way.

Emmy and Noe heaved the pot onto the floor, and Emmy shifted it into position with her foot. "There! Perfect."

And, of course, the plant looked as if it had always belonged there.

In fact, Ilaria felt as if she had always belonged in this space. After she put her parents' mansion up for sale—which included the onsite office building and the cottage house—she immediately started looking for a new office space, one that characterized the fresh start she was making.

When she walked through the door a month ago, empty though it was, she knew it was hers. It was bright and open, a corner unit with a wall of windows, and it was an empty canvas. She brought Emmy, Noe, and Gia with her, all of whom wholeheartedly voted yes, and she signed the lease on the spot.

Then she hired Emmy to design the space, with a hard deadline of one month.

After all, she had to get it done before she left town.

Of course, Emmy pulled it off with a few days to spare. The neutral medium wood floor and wood accents added warmth, while the exposed black metal beams added drama. Open, white desks—with movable partitions and white vegan leather chairs—occupied the middle of the open space. Sprinkled throughout, sofas, chairs, and stools—in bright yellow—were grouped together for collaboration. For more privacy, small enclosed conference rooms lined the wall opposite the windows. The largest conference room—for family meetings—was glass enclosed and, along with a modern kitchenette, bordered at the back of the entire space. And a surprising number of green plants brought the outdoors in.

The neutral tones with pops of yellow and green made Ilaria feel relaxed and creative at the same time. She also hoped it would encourage her family members to want to work here more often so they could feel as if they were part of a team.

"Dibs on this desk," Peter called as he sat at the desk right next to the windows.

Gia frowned. "I wanted to sit by the windows."

He rolled his eyes. "Then take that desk." He pointed to the one facing him.

"I don't want to stare at your dumb face all day."

He shrugged. "Tough shit, then."

Emmy—who Ilaria offered a permanent space to start her design business—chose the desk at the other end of the row.

"Thanks again, sweetie, for letting me work here for the time being," she said to Ilaria. "This will save me so much money in the beginning."

"Oh, Emmy, I love that you're here," Ilaria replied. "Stay as long as you'd like. Stay forever."

"I'll stay until I have to hire my own design team and then I'll rent the place next door," Emmy promised.

"Perfect plan."

"I think I need to start a new business," Noe jumped in, "so I can work here too."

"Why don't you just work here on your remote days?" Ilaria said dryly.

His face brightened. "Brilliant idea."

The space was bigger than they currently needed, but she hoped that would soon change. She had spent the last month planning and working her tail off for today, and she really hoped it worked out as she expected.

"Ilaria." Rose finished inspecting the kitchenette. "Well, I wouldn't have chosen this myself." Behind Rose, Ilaria saw Gia roll her eyes at her mother. "But it's perfect for you and your cousins, your generation."

Ilaria smiled. She loved her aunt and didn't doubt her sincerity, but she also knew Rose was particularly happy about the new business acquisitions they had made—real estate and construction—and the fact that this month had seen their largest monthly revenue ever.

"And this plan of yours…" Rose nodded thoughtfully. "It's a good one. I really do think it will work out well for us. Your father would be proud." She paused. "And I would like to think Vincent and Silas would be, too." A brief sadness flashed into her eyes.

She had told her aunt everything. Rose was shocked and disbelieving until Ilaria showed her pictures of the warehouse. Then she grieved for the two brothers she had lost.

"Thanks, Aunt Rose," she said. "I'd like to think so too." She put an arm around her aunt. "Regardless, I think they're both at peace."

Rose blinked back tears and hugged her back.

Ilaria grabbed her suitcase and handbag. "Okay, I'm ready. You guys all have keys? Come here anytime while I'm gone."

"And I'll stock the kitchen with snacks," Gia added as they walked out the front door. "Until Peter eats everything. Then he has to restock it."

Peter scoffed. "I won't eat everything." He locked the door.

"Yeah, you'll leave one of each snack." Gia opened her trunk and loaded Ilaria's suitcase in.

"Exactly." Peter's eyes were wide. "That's not everything."

"Semantics, my dear." His mother patted him on the arm.

Everybody burst out laughing.

"Have a great trip," Peter said to Ilaria as he gave her a quick hug.

"See you soon." Rose patted Ilaria on the cheek.

"Bye, see you soon." Ilaria climbed into the front passenger seat of Gia's SUV, while Emmy and Noe slid into the backseat.

Gia buckled her seatbelt and turned to the others. "Ready?"

"Ready," they all echoed.

During the entire twenty-minute ride to the airport, the four of them sang the top forty songs on the radio off-key and at the top of their lungs. At one point, Ilaria mused, "Are we too old for this?" to which the others yelled a definitive "No!"

At the drop-off curb, Ilaria gave firm hugs to her cousin and best friends.

"Good luck," Emmy wished her.

"It's all going to work out perfectly," Gia predicted.

"Be proud of yourself for being so brave," Noe declared.

"Love you all," she called.

The entire red-eye flight was uneventful other than a bout of turbulence midway through, but Ilaria was too nervous about what was to come to even notice the jostling. Miraculously, she managed to sleep lightly for an hour, which cleared some nerves and muddiness in her mind, just in time for arrival.

After landing at the airport, she made a pit stop in the bathroom. When she emerged, she had on a white, flowy v-neck dress with flutter sleeves that fell to her knees and silver heels.

A stop at the rental car counter got her set up with a car—a silver sedan—and she proceeded on her way. Despite her nervousness, Ilaria couldn't help but enjoy the drive. It was sunny, balmy, and the warm air flowed freely through her loose hair.

Ilaria felt free. After the tragedy of her parents' deaths, and the ever-constant anxiety and fear of trying to find the killer, the weight of all of it had fallen off her shoulders in one fell swoop. She grieved, and then she was able to move on.

The only thing that dampened her cheer over the last month was that Soren wasn't there with her. She missed him. She missed him like she would have missed a limb. She hadn't realized the strong, reassuring, steady presence he had been until he was gone.

While that forced her to rely on her own wits to move forward—something she needed to prove to herself—it didn't mean she didn't feel a hole. Sometimes subtle, when she was in the middle of a busy workday, and sometimes gaping, when she was lying awake in bed in the middle of the night.

And she frequently wondered whether Soren thought about her.

The drive was uneventful, and before Ilaria knew it, she had arrived. She pulled the car into the circular driveway and parked just off the iron front door. She took deep, long inhales, trying to calm her pounding heart.

She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text. Then she waited.

Within a minute, the front door opened, and Niema's head peeked out. Ilaria grabbed her handbag, quickly got out of the car, and went up the few steps to go inside.

Niema's face was shining. "Your timing couldn't be better." Her voice, a whisper, was filled with excitement. "I just checked. He's in his office and isn't in a meeting."

"Okay." Ilaria was sure the pounding of her heart could be heard by others. "I'm so nervous."

"Me too." Niema let out a soft squeal.

When Ilaria had conceived this plan a month ago, she asked Niema to help her with the logistics and make sure Soren was home. No one else in Scotland knew she was coming. Caelum and Arick would surely have blabbed if they had known.

"How's he been?"

"Insufferable." The younger woman rolled her eyes. "Horrid. I've been avoiding him and counting down the days until you got here."

Ilaria whooshed a breath and squeezed Niema's hand. "Here goes nothing."

Niema waved her crossed fingers as Ilaria walked down the hallway toward the office wing. Her heels clicked much too loudly against the marble tile, so she practically tiptoed all the way to the door of Soren's office.

Standing outside, she braced herself. She pulled a folder out of her handbag.

Be brave, dammit.

She lifted her hand and knocked.

From inside, Soren gave a loud sigh of irritation. "What is it?" he barked.

Ilaria didn't think her heart could beat any faster, but it jumped at his voice.

You can do it.

She turned the knob and opened the door slowly. The instant she saw him, she knew everything would be okay. He was looking down at a piece of paper, which gave her a few moments to drink in the sight of him.

"I'm busy—" Soren looked up and froze, his irritated expression turning into shock. The pen he was holding fell from his fingers. He rose from his chair but stayed standing behind his desk. His throat worked, but he said nothing.

He was beautiful. She had practiced her speech the entire flight, but all the words fell out of her head when she saw him.

"Hi." Ilaria winced a little. She sounded breathless. "I—" She cleared her throat. "Let me get to the point. I…wanted to offer you a proposal." That was better; her voice sounded a little more in control. She plowed ahead. "I've spent the last month getting the Carosi business into excellent shape, and I've also acquired some new investments we didn't previously have to round out the portfolio."

Soren's eyes were pinned to hers. He gave no indication of speaking, so she kept going.

"Here's my proposal." Another inhale. "The MacGregors will make a significant investment into the entire Carosi portfolio, and in return you get fifty-fifty ownership of the whole business. This gives the MacGregors an immediate foothold into the U.S., and with your investment, we can expand even further." She paused. "We would manage the business together."

He still said nothing, but he had slowly made his way around his desk.

"And… we would be together. As a couple."

His gaze was intense, but she couldn't read his expression.

"We would split our time between Chicago and Edinburgh."

He slowly walked toward her. Her heartbeat ratcheted up.

"I—I mean, there are still a lot of details to figure out, but I love you, and like you said, if we're both willing, we'll be able to figure it out. I mean, I'm willing, and I just want to know if you still are—"

Soren's lips crashed onto hers, and his arms folded around her, squeezing her to him. Her hands dove into his hair as she pulled his head down, and she kissed him back like she was drowning and he was air.

"I'm so sorry—" She said in between kisses. "I was an idiot—" Another kiss. "Will you forgive me—"

He silenced her with a deeper kiss, tongue delving, teeth nipping. He pulled back a little. "We're going to be partners," he said, panting.

"Yes," Ilaria answered breathlessly.

"Partners in business."

"Yes."

"Partners in marriage."

Her chest did a flip. "Yes."

"And this is the last time we'll ever be apart."

"Yes."

"Then I accept your proposal."

Soren dived in for another deep kiss and picked her up, wrapping her legs around her waist. She heard the door slam and the lock turn, and then he was walking them to the sofa. He sat down, with her straddling him.

"I wish I was enough of a gentleman to wait until we had a bed so I could make love to you," he rasped as he hiked up her dress, "but I'm not."

Ilaria unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his pants, and unzipped his fly. "Nor am I enough of a lady to ask you to wait."

She stood, shimmied off her panties, then freed his stiff cock from his boxer shorts. She straddled him again and positioned the tip of him at her center. As he pulled her head down for a kiss, he impaled her with one sharp thrust.

She gasped, and her head fell back. There was no gaping hole inside her now. She was joyously, deliriously full.

Ilaria slowly moved up and down, sliding him in and out, as they gazed at each other.

The pressure built steadily until she was desperate to dive over the edge, but Soren kept his hands under her ass, keeping the pace torturously slow.

"Baby, I need to come now ."

"Not yet, love," he gritted out. "I want to stay inside you for as long as possible."

She moaned in response.

He leaned in to kiss her neck. "I have a plane ticket." His kisses traveled to the tops of her breasts. "To fly to Chicago tomorrow."

Surprise cut through her daze.

"I bought it the day I came back. I told myself I was giving you a month to come to your senses." He pulled down the stretch material of her dress to reveal her peaked buds.

"And if you didn't, I was going to show up in Chicago and make love to you until you agreed you were mine." He took one of the peaked tips into his mouth, sucked it, then did the same with the other.

Ilaria leaned down and ran her tongue along his lower lips. She tried to move faster, but his hands squeezed her ass. She was dying. She was hanging on the precipice, and he wouldn't let her go over. "Baby, please."

"Say it."

She knew what he meant. "You are mine."

"And you are mine." He ran his tongue lazily in her mouth, tasting, as if he had all the time in the world. "I love you. Now ride."

Soren's hands gripped her butt and helped lift her as she slid up and down, harder and faster. The sensations ascended to heights she'd never been before, and she climaxed so hard she would have flown off him if he wasn't holding her down.

When her muscles clamped down on him, he stiffened, head falling back, and then he let out a roar as he came.

As Ilaria caught her breath, she gave Soren a soft smile. "And I love you."

She wrapped her arms around his neck while his arms encircled her, and they relished being with each other.

A muffled sound came from the hallway outside.

"I think your family might have heard us," Ilaria said.

Soren's eyes glowed as he looked at her. "Then I guess that saves us the trouble of having to explain."