Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

Roman

Where the fuck is she? I know she rode here with her mom and sister. I saw her get into the car with them from the street where I parked to sleep in my car…right outside her house. So why can't I find her now? Why hasn't she come looking for me? Why is she ignoring me?!

"Hey, Pearl, have you seen Nolia anywhere around?"

She shakes her head and almost falls. I reach out to steady her, but Spade is rushing over to make sure she stays that way. "I think she might be with her sister but I'm not sure. She's kind of been fluttering around everywhere. You might actually want to tell her to slow down, she looked exhausted this morning when we all got up."

That's it. That's why she isn't coming to me. She knows I won't approve of her running herself ragged for her sister's wedding. "Nolia...where are you?!"

I bellow loud enough that I am sure the people standing outside the church heard me as I book it over to the dressing room…and catch her slipping from the room. She looks behind her guiltily as she flits down the hall. I quickly gain on her and wrap my arm around her waist, lifting her off the floor before she realizes what is happening.

"What the…? Rome?"

I walk us into an empty room with a plush couch sitting by the wall and a sturdy lock on the door. I may have studied the layout of the church before we came today. Just in case my sunshine needed me to make her feel good.

Once inside, with the door locked and me blocking it, I take her in to find out if what Pearl told me still shows. "Why didn't you come find me as soon as you got here today?"

Unbelievably her chin starts to quiver, and tears come to her eyes. "I…I…"

"What the hell, baby? Who upset you? What happened?" I scoop her up and carry her over to the couch. "Who do I have to kill?"

She didn't cry when she shot a guy, so it must be bad.

"It's not like that."

"Then tell me what it is like because I will absolutely kill for you, sunbeam. Just tell me who?"

She breaks into big tears, and I sit holding her as she cries with her face buried in my chest. When she finally calms down, I try again.

"Tell me what to do, baby? I'll do anything to make you smile again, anything."

"You can't. You can't fix this."

"Baby, I just told you I would kill someone for you. I am totally prepared to do whatever it takes."

"Really, you can snap your fingers and my happy ever after will just magically appear?"

"I kind of hope I'm your happy ever after, sundrop."

"But you don't love me."

She scrunches her face and starts crying again.

"Yes, I do." I drop kisses on her face and shoulders to emphasize my words. "I do love you, Nolia."

"No. I realize you care about me, but you don't love me like…like a forever kind of love. You don't…you just don't."

"I do, sweet girl. I do love you like that. In the forever and ever kind of way. I love everything about you and have from the moment you first jumped up out of my bed and started hurling things at my head, sunshine."

"But…but you…you didn't know me then. And you went to that dinner without me and you didn't bat an eye at me being gone last night when we haven't spent a night apart since…since…"

"Our wedding. Yeah, I know, but I didn't want you to think I was going to try to keep you away from your sister when I realize how important she is to you. I slept in my car right in front of your mom and dad's house. You could have walked right out the door, stepped over Roan, and there I would have been."

"You…you what?"

"And I had to go to that dinner because…I was trying to make sure Jeff was the right person…to sell my company to."

"What?"

"I like what I do. I like conquering the competition and figuring out problems and telling everyone what to do. I really like telling people what to do. But I hate constantly being gone, and I hate that I have to spend so much time away from you, and there isn't a chance in hell that I'm going to go halfway across the world without you. It was time to sell so, I started vetting people to take my place."

"But…"

"I'll still own shares and be on the board but it's never going to be my top priority. That position is yours and yours alone, my sweet sunbeam."

"I…I'm pregnant."

"What?" I stand and play back our conversation so I can be sure she said what I think she said and I'm not dreaming.

"I'm pregnant. I found out last night. No one else knows. Just you and me."

I have my mouth on hers in the blink of an eye. And her zipper down just as fast. "What are you doing, Roman?"

"Making love to my wife to celebrate the fact we are going to have a little baby!"

"Roman, my sister…her wedding…"

"I'll make it quick, sweet girl, but I have to be inside of you. I missed you so bad."

"I missed you too." Our lips cling as we both work our clothes off, her hands just as greedy as mine. "Rome…when did you realize I was your Happy Ever After?"

"For sure?" She nods. "When In Rome, you stood beside me with a handful of wildflowers, in a white dress and the most beautiful smile I have ever seen. As soon as I saw you, as soon as I looked into your eyes, I knew I would do anything to keep you by my side. But I fell in love with you the moment I tied you to that chair and you told me to go fuck myself."

"Rome…I think I knew then too."

We ended up being five minutes late for the wedding. Thankfully Roan had my back, and it didn't start on time…for his own reasons!