Dani After we grab his bag at the hotel, Emil insists on driving because he’s a man who likes to be in control, and I let him because my emotions have fried my brain and I don’t have the energy to protest. As soon as we park in front of Bonnie’s place, he unclips my belt and drags me onto his lap. His palm spreads over my cheek and jaw, thumb tilting my lips to his. “I need to kiss you.” His voice is husky, rough. It sends heat spiraling down my spine, tightening places that haven’t felt tight since I last saw him. “Need?” I ask. “Need,” Emil confirms. “Require. Demand. Will die if I don’t taste you.” His lips take mine as I sit across his lap, my ass pressing into him and feeling just how badly he really needs this. His arousal sends another jolt of heat through me, and our kiss turns messy. Tongues, lips, teeth. It’s wet and passionate and it feels so fucking good. When his hand cups my nape as his other hand slides up under my jacket and top, I feel dizzy. “Inside,” I say against his lips. “Not yet.” He nips my bottom lip, kissing my jaw, my neck, my ear. “I need you. I’ve missed you so fucking much.” A gentle bite of my neck followed by a flick of his tongue. “Dreamed of you every night. Had your taste on my tongue, driving me crazy for weeks.” I close my eyes and enjoy his attention. When his hand slides to my stomach, a large, warm palm against my small, growing bump, I pull away. We stare in each other’s eyes as my heart gallops, my bottom lip caught between my teeth. “You’re sure, Emil?” “Yes.” No question. No hesitation. He’s sure about me, about the baby, about the future. My heart melts and I return his kiss, not stopping until my back hits the horn and makes me jump. Laughing, I let Emil help me back into my seat and I open the door to get out of the car. He’s on my side of the car by the time my foot hits the ground, offering an arm for me to lean on as I exit the vehicle. “I hope you’re not going to treat me like I’m made of glass just because I’m carrying your son.” “Me? Never.” Pure innocence. I level a stare at him. “I don’t believe you.” “It’s my responsibility to make sure you’re safe, Dani. Don’t take that away from me.” “As long as you don’t dress me in bubble wrap.” “I might.” He grins when I glare at him, then leads me to the front door. We kiss again on the porch, unable to go five minutes without our arms around each other. He rushes back to get his bag and meets me inside. I don’t even pretend I’m going anywhere but the bedroom, shedding my jacket and shoes by the front door before heading upstairs. When I reach for the hem of Emil’s sweater to pull it off over his head, he stops my hands, takes them in his and kisses my knuckles. “I have something for you.” I tilt my head, butterflies flapping in my stomach as Emil grins. He turns to his bag and unzips it, taking out a shoebox. My eyes widen. It’s not just a shoebox. It’s a shoebox with the name Manolo emblazoned on top of it.
Breath catching, I stare at the box as he extends it toward me, then stare at Emil. He’s grinning. The bastard is grinning while holding shoes I’ve never seen anywhere exc ept on Carrie Bradshaw’s feet. Emil flips the box open and I gasp. Hand to my heart, mouth dropping open, I gasp. Manolo Blahnik Hangisi shoes. In pink. My fingers drift over the satin, touching the edge of the beautiful jeweled square buckle on the toe. “Holy cannoli,” I breathe. “Put them on.” Emil kneels in front of me, tugging off my fuzzy socks and pushing up my black yoga pants to slide my foot into thousand-dollar shoes. He stares at me from his spot on the floor as I take a st ep, a lightness in his eyes I’ve never seen before. “They look good,” he says softly. “No kidding.” I walk to the floor-length mirror in my bedroom and twirl, laughing. “This is ridiculous. This is crazy. You can’t buy me shoes like this!” “I can, and I will.” Emil stands behind me, sliding his hands over my hips, pulling my back to his front. “Anything you want, Dani. I told you.” I flush bright red. I told him I wanted these shoes as a joke. A challenge. I wanted him to admit he’d bought those clothes because he was an arrogant, controlling billionaire and he liked me, but this... My heart squeezes so hard I can barely breathe. I spin in his arms and tug his face to mine. Then, finally, I succeed in removing his shirt. He does the same to me. Our clothes disappear into thin air as I lie back on the bed, heart thumping, but Emil picks my new Hangisi shoes off the floor and slides them back on my feet. “As soon as I bought them I wanted to see you naked but for these shoes,” he says on a growl. He holds my legs up in the air, designer shoes on, every other inch of skin on display. Oh my goodness. This man. And I thought I could resist him? I thought I could push him away? I thought I could live a full life without him in it? Ha! I must be certifiable. Emil’s eyes darken as he bends my knees and spreads them wide, then drops his head between them. I gasp, arching, closing my eyes as the man of my dreams devours me. It doesn’t take long for me to come apart with his tongue and his lips and his hands working magic between my legs. When he lifts his head, lips glistening from my arousal, the look on his face is positively wicked. “You ready for me, Dani?” “Always.” Kneeling between my legs, Emil props my calves on his shoulders, gorgeous shoes bracketing his face. He runs his broad hands down my legs and over my stomach, face gentling as he touches my bump. My eyes drift down his face to his muscled chest, his stomach, and finally to the impressive length of his cock. I missed it. I missed feeling him inside me, knowing he was claiming me. When Emil wraps his fingers around the base of it and flicks his eyes up to mine, there’s a question in his gaze. “Do you want to use a condom, Dani?” His voice is raspy, his cock pulsing in his hand. “Not much point, is there?” I grin, flippant, but my heart flutters. I never realized how much I wanted to feel him skin to skin until right now. I’ve never minded condoms, but this... this feels special.
“I haven’t been with anyone but you. I’m clean.” His eyes hold mine for a moment, then drift down my naked body. With one hand on his cock, he uses the other to drag his fingertips through my folds. Shivering at the touch, I close my eyes and nod. “Me too.” I got tested for STIs in my first round of appointments for the pregnancy, and I’m so glad for it right now. When his tip nudges against my folds, my breath hitches. Emil flicks those grey-blue eyes up to mine, that wicked smile tugging at his lips. He nudges the sensitive bundle of nerves between my legs with his erection, sending shivers of pleasure coursing through me. “Emil...” “Don’t rush me.” He teases me again, over and back along my clit. “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to do this.” His eyes drop low, face intent as he watches the space between my legs. I moan, reaching for his thighs, needing to feel him. Needing him inside me. Needing to be joined. “Are you ready for me, Dani?” Emil says, his voice rough. He doesn’t look at my face, his eyes too intent on what’s happening below. “Yes,” I whisper. “You want me?” “God yes.” “All of me?” “Stop stalling, Emil!” I reach down to grip his thighs with my hands, barely able to grasp the hard muscle of them. A dark grin, then Emil drives himself home all the way to the hilt. I gasp, back arching, as he bands his arms over my legs and pistons into me. Hard. My hands twist into the sheets as a cry es capes my lips, pleasure already cresting inside me. Emil urges me on with dark, dirty words, spreading my legs wide before pushing them both to one side. I moan, riding one orgasm into the next, into the next. His hands pet me, caress me, love me while his cock owns me. When his hand palms my breast, thumb brushing my nipple, I let out another moan and run my nails down his shoulders. “I love you,” I pant, feeling my body coming apart at the seams. “I love you so much.” “Never forget it.” He thrusts into me. “You’re mine.” “Yours.” “Now and forever.” I moan in agreement. “And I belong to you, Dani. All of me.” He leans over me, catching my lips in his. The intensity, the intimacy overwhelms me. My body grips his so tight he grunts, spurting his orgasm inside me in long, hard strokes. When it’s over, we lie in a tangle of arms and legs. I gulp down breaths with a hand on my forehead, still wearing nothing but my thousand-dollar designer shoes, feeling full and sated and in love. Emil kisses my shoulder, then rolls off the bed to go to the bathroom. When he emerges, instead of lying back down, he heads to his suitcase and pulls out a large gift bag. He turns back to me, a gentle smile on his lips. “You didn’t specify which ones you wanted, so I had to take a chance.” A Cartier jewelry box appears in his hand. I scrabble up the bed and stare, mouth opening and closing. “No,” I say. “It’s too much.” “Nothing is too much.” He reaches in and pulls a purse out of the gift bag. “For this, at least, you gave me specific instructions.” I can’t breathe. I’m wearing Manolo pumps and nothing else. There’s a Cartier box beside me on the bed, and Emil Van der Berg, the father of my unborn child, the one great love of my life, is putting a large Dior Lady bag on my lap, the soft dove-grey color of it blurring as tears fill my eyes.
I don’t know where to look, what to touch. Reverently, I let my hands drift over the fabric of the purse, then I turn to the red Cartier jewelry box. “You’re unbelievable,” I say, running my fingers along the gold trim. “I was kidding about all these things.” “I can take them back if you prefer.” Emil reaches for the jewelry box, laughing when I smack his hand away. “Let’s just see what you chose before we make any rash decisions, yeah?” He grins, leaning down to kiss my knee. “Open it.” I flip the red box open and let out a sigh. Simple gold hoops with intricate detailing along the front and back. The hoops look like a gold nail that’s been curved into an earring, the flat head at the front of the earlobe as if it’s been hammered into the wearer’s ear, then curved around it. It’s timeless, cool, and a little edgy. Perfect. “Everyday earrings,” Emil explains. “Of course.” I laugh. “I’ll just wear my everyday Cartier earrings while my newborn baby pukes all over me.” Emil’s face softens, his hand moving to cup my cheek. “And you’ll look beautiful in them.” Leaning into his touch, I close my eyes and shake my head. “It’s too much, Emil.” “It’s not enough. I hurt you, Dani. I was caught up in my own past and I cut you de ep. Nothing I can buy you will make up for it, but I hope you’ll forgive me.” “I already have.” I let my fingers touch the hoop earrings, and I take a de ep breath. “Emil, there is one thing I want to talk about.” He nods for me to go on. “I want to work. I’ve started doing some remote work part time for one of the clients I used to work with in Arizona. Mostly just writing r eports, processing data, that kind of thing. But even though you’re obviously a gazillionaire who can buy all these things, I don’t want to stop working.” “I’d never ask you to,” Emil says. “I’ll support you in whatever career ambitions you might have, and I’ll protect you if anyone tries to come after you about your time with Gleeson. I’ve got your back Dani, always. In everything.” And there it is. My heart finally explodes. Tears fall down my face and I reach for Emil, wrapping my arms around his neck to tug him close. Even without the shoes and the bag and the earrings, he’s earned my whole heart. All I needed to hear was that he has my back, he’s in my corner. Never again will I be alone and afraid and on the run. I have a home now. A family. A future. With Emil, his kids, and our unborn baby, I have everything I could ever hope for.
Epilogue Emil I spend three days in Vermont with Dani, reminding her how much I care about her. The kids are staying with my mother and we call them every day. Talia is over the moon when she talks to Dani, and even more excited when she hears Dani is coming back with me. When I offer to let Dani read Callie’s journal, she shakes her head and tells me it feels too much like an intrusion. I do tell her what I found out about my condoms, and how I suspect the first time we sl ept together, we were using an old condom that had been tampered with. Dani just blows out a breath and shakes her head. “They were right,” she says with a huffing laugh. “That’s unbelievable.” “Who?” “The other nannies. There were rumors about the condoms.” Frowning, I demand she explain everything to me. Shocked doesn’t begin to cover how I feel. Not only was Callie not beloved and known as the Mother Theresa of Manhattan, but lots of people saw right through the shiny veneer of our relationship. My friends, my family, my staff— all of them knew my marriage wasn’t going well. I should’ve asked for help. As I take Dani’s hand and lead her to the private plane that will take us home, I vow to never make that mistake again. I won’t shut Dani out. I won’t demand that she conform to my life without first making sure it’s what she wants, too. Paradoxically, shouldering some of the blame for the breakdown of my marriage to Callie lightens the load I was carrying. I no longer feel wronged and angry and heartbroken. Now, I know how not to make those same mistakes. I won’t let my relationship with Dani break down. Ever. She’s my queen, and I’ll never let her forget it. Once we’re settled in the penthouse again, and Talia and Francis have given Dani a sufficient amount of attention and affection, my life feels calm. Happy. It’s not until I call Viviane Howard and her team for one more dinner that nerves start twisting in my stomach. Dani gives me a brilliant smile as I reveal the loosely draped navy dress that hugs her growing stomach perfectly. Her favorite Cartier earrings dangle at her ears, a soft smile toying on her lips. She’s the sexiest pregnant woman I’ve ever seen. With her hair in waves pinned behind her ears to perfectly show off the jewelry and her makeup, I lead my woman down the elevator and into the Bentley, loving the way she’s smiling at me like I hung the stars in the sky. The weather in New York has turned cold, but I managed to talk to a friend of mine about opening up the rooftop of his restaurant. We walk up the stairs and my heart clenches when I hear Dani gasp. Heat lamps ke ep the rooftop warm, with fairy lights strung on every available surface. There’s a single table with a crisp white tablecloth, and three waiters there to attend to our every need. “Are you cold?” I ask, patting my suit jacket to make sure the velvet box is still in my breast pocket. She shakes her head. “No. I just have goosebumps because this feels like a wonderland.”
My heart thumps as I smile, watching the way the thousands of lights play off Dani’s face, her hair, the swooping neckline of her dress. “You’re beautiful.” I’m rewarded with a smile. “Even though I’m getting bigger by the hour?” She smooths a hand over her bump, a smile tugging at her lips. “Even if you were bald, one-eyed, and you gained a hundred pounds, you’d still be my woman and you’d be beautiful.” Dani laughs, shaking her head. The waiter brings the first course and we start eating, talking, and laughing. All the while, my heart thumps so hard I wonder if Dani can hear it. Then, I nod to the waiter by the rooftop door, and he ducks away, reappearing a minute later with a string quartet. They start playing a soft waltz, and I extend my hand to Dani. Her eyes sparkle, nothing but love in her gaze. I’ll do anything to make her look at me like that. Anything. If it means reserving rooftops and hiring an army of waiters and musicians, I’ll do it. When she wraps her arms around my shoulders and rests her cheek against my chest, I tangle my fingers in Dani’s hair and let warmth settle over every part of me. We dance on the rooftop with the city sprawled around us, living in a little bubble of light and warmth and love. Then the waltz ends, and I pull away. Holding Dani’s hands, I drop down on one knee... And she bursts into tears. “Talk,” she says, waving her hand in a small circle that says, Ke ep going. “Don’t mind me. Pretend I’m not sobbing.” A waiter shoves a napkin at Dani, who acc epts it with a nod, dabbing her eyes as she cries. “Dani, I love you,” I start. She wails. Pausing, I squeeze her hands. “It’s the hormones, Emil, I can’t help it.” She blows her nose, shoulders shuddering as she bawls. “Don’t let me ruin your speech. Please, tell me.” A sob. “Tell me what you were going to say. I”—hiccup—“love you too.” “Oh, screw it.” I stand, tugging her to my chest. “Marry me, Dani. Make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife.” She nods. “Okay.” Then sobs into her napkin. Laughing, I wrap one arm around her and use the other to reach into my pocket. I flip the velvet box open and nudge Dani to look at it, smiling when her wails intensify. With a trembling hand extended, she nods at me to put the ring on. It slides on smoothly, a glittering diamond with a thousand facets, shouting to the whole world that Dani’s mine. Dani trembles against me, looking at the ring, and shakes her head. “I want to wait until after the baby comes to get married,” she says after a long sniffle. “I don’t want to look like a whale in my wedding photos.” “Whatever you want, Dani. I’d marry you tonight if you let me, but I’ll wait.” She nods, bottom lip trembling, then angles her head to me. I drop a kiss on my favorite mouth in the world, wrapping my arms around my future wife and my unborn child.
I never thought I’d get a second chance. After Callie died, I was resigned to a life of duty, a bleak existence with nothing but my kids to brighten my world. Dani blew that illusion to pieces. She pierced through my shields like a ray of sunshine, a kaleidoscope of light and laughter and love. I don’t deserve her, but I’ll hang onto her until the end of time. A month after I propose to Dani, news breaks that a whistleblower has exposed Richard Gleeson’s fraudulent business practices. Dani hears the news and looks at me with wide eyes, but I shake my head. “Wasn’t me.” We increase the volume on the television and find out he continued the same lies and fraud after Dani left, but wasn’t able to pin them on his next victim. The paper trail— and money trail—leads right back to him. His technology, apparently, is no better than current car engines, and Gleeson is completely disgraced. Thank God Dani saved me from him. I’d be caught up in this mess if she hadn’t. I grab her fingers and kiss her palm, hoping she knows just how much I appreciate her. “Good thing they prosecute financial crimes as severely as they do,” Dani says, her shoulders relaxing. “He’ll be going away for a long time.” I squeeze her knee where she sits on the sofa next to me, then clear my throat. “What about you?” Dani tilts her head. “Me?” “Are you going to ke ep doing your part-time work?” She shrugs. “For now, yeah.” “What about heading the internship program at Berg Motors?” Her whole body grows stiff, head swiveling ever so slowly toward me. “Um. What?” “You have an eye for clever tech, Dani. My company would be lucky to have you. My R&D team needs someone with fresh ideas, so I’m creating a position to liaise between the academic institutions we work with and our research d epartment. I’d like you to be in that position.” “You...” Dani gulps. “You want me to work at Berg Motors. Is that allowed?” Laughing, I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Baby, I make the rules.” “Are you just doing this so we can have kinky sex in your corner office?” “Hadn’t even crossed my mind,” I answer innocently. Dani smacks my chest, then puts both hands over her cheeks. Her eyes are wide, shining. “I’d be working with universities and your R&D team. I’d be helping to develop new technologies. Maybe even a new electric car.” “Y ep.” She turns toward me, shaking her head. “You’re not just doing this because you love me? You think I’m good enough?” “I think you’re too good, Dani. If you don’t acc ept the position, I’m about to get on my knees and beg.” A glint crosses her eyes, lips tugging at the corners. Warmth spreads down my stomach as a growl rattles my chest, and Dani throws her arms around me. I haul her into my lap and devour her lips, then carry her to the bedroom and devour her in other places.
She acc epts the job and starts as soon as we find a new nanny—which, incidentally, is a lot easier to do when I’m not controlling and obsessive about who we hire. Dani calms me down and levels me out, and we hire a Delmar nanny by the name of Tabitha, a young woman in her twenties who is fantastic with the kids. As I introduce Dani to the R&D team, my heavily pregnant fiancée beams. My heart constricts at the thought that I put that smile on her face, vowing to never stop trying to make her happy. My son is born on February 1 st at 5:23 a. m. after thirty- seven long hours of labor. Being in the delivery room when Dani went through that ordeal is something I don’t want to r epeat. Hearing her screams, her moans, her whimpers—it nearly kills me. Once our baby is born though, and placed on Dani’s chest for skin-to-skin contact, I drop to my knees and we ep. She laughs through her own tears, one hand on our baby and the other tangled in my hair. “I’m not doing that again, Emil. You’re getting the snip.” She lets out a trembling breath. “Never again.” I lift my head and touch my son’s thin, newborn hair, flicking my eyes to Dani. “Are you sure? You don’t want to try for a girl?” “I already have a girl,” she says, eyes gentle and full of love. “Her name is Talia.” I didn’t know it was possible to love this woman any more than I already do, but she went and did it again. Kissing her sweaty forehead after I push off the hair that had been plastered there, I watch as our baby is bundled up and taken aside for tests. Some time later, my mother brings Talia and Francis to the hospital. They knock on the door as Dani finishes up nursing our son, a smile spreading over her lips as she watches him. Then her eyes lift and she sees our two other kids, and she breaks into a full-on grin. “Come and meet your little brother,” she says, extending a hand toward the kids. Talia clasps her hands behind her back as I haul Frankie into my arms, all of us crowding around the bed. “Can I touch him?” Talia asks in a hushed voice, tears shimmering in her eyes. Dani nods, angling the baby in her arms toward my daughter. The sight nearly makes my heart burst with love. Talia, with reverence and gentleness that is completely unlike her, extends a finger and lets her little brother clasp it with his tiny hand. My daughter’s face breaks into a smile, looking at Dani with the type of affection I never thought I’d see. My mother meets my eye over the bed, inclining her head. “What are you naming him?” “Ambrose Van der Berg the second,” Dani says, a hopeful smile on her lips. My mother’s hand presses against her heart, tears shimmering in her gaze. “After your father,” she whispers to me. I nod. “It was Dani’s idea.” Mother glances at the love of my life, a tear rolling down her cheek. Wow. The last time I saw my mother cry was at my father’s funeral. She dabs her eyes. “Thank you.”
Before Dani can answer, though, the door opens behind my mother. Leif and Marcus arrive, holding balloons and flowers, followed by Bonnie, Layla, Harriet, Kathryn and her husband, Tammy, and a few other coworkers. Handshakes and kisses are exchanged, the baby is ooh-ed and ahh-ed about, and I find myself on the bed beside Dani, one arm around her shoulders, with everyone I love surrounding us. “Look at those two,” Dani says under her breath. I follow her gaze to Leif and Layla in the corner of the room. Layla is leaning against the wall as Leif has his arm propped by her head. He’s giving her his best grin, and even though Layla looks cool as anything, there’s a faint blush on her cheeks. “Okay, everyone out! Mama needs some rest.” A short, rotund nurse walks into the room and starts herding people to the door. “You’ll have lots of time with them when she’s discharged. Give us the room please, folks.” She glances at me. “Dad can stay. Everyone else, out!” Kisses, hugs, and congratulations are exchanged, and the crowd files out of the room leaving balloons and flowers and well-wishes behind. I slip into a chair and watch the nurse work with Dani, warmth spreading through my chest. She kisses Ambrose’s head and glances at me above the bundle in her arms, mouthing the words that are in my heart: I love you.