Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
My God, I’ve missed this.
Bianca De Kysa.
It has a nice ring to it.
I’m not a Bamcorda anymore.
This is who I am.
He breaks off the kiss to look at me with such affection my toes curl.
“My brother took his wife away from this life. But I’m asking you to join me in it. Walk into the fire with me.” He presses his forehead to mine. “What do you say, little monster, do you dare?”
EPILOGUE
Bianca
Two.
That’s the number of pink lines on the pregnancy test in my hand and the second one sitting on the basin beside me.
Two pregnancy tests, and both of them positive.
I smile at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, giddy with excitement.
I’m pregnant with Massimo’s baby.
He doesn’t have any idea. Hell, until ten minutes ago, I had no idea. I thought the occasional bout of nausea and my sudden disinterest in coffee meant I was a bit run down.
Turns out it means so much more.
Our baby.
I place my palm against my flat stomach. Just when I thought my crazy life was entering a quieter stage, it’s about to flip on its axis again.
We’ve been married for ten weeks.
Ten cozy weeks that seem to have floated by in a haze of deep kisses and post-orgasmic bliss.
Ten weeks of waking up in Massimo’s muscular arms with the heat of his warm body wrapped around me and the safety of knowing I am loved by the most powerful man in the city.
We were married in a park the week after he asked me, on a cool but sunny fall day with clear blue skies and a sharp crispness in the air.
It was low key with just Eve, Natalie, Matteo and Dante in attendance.
I wore a knee-length white dress, strapless and pinched at the waist. My hair was down, with tiny diamond flowers woven through the beachy waves, and I held a small posey of white and soft-pink roses.
Massimo looked like all my dreams rolled into one. A well-fitted button-up shirt. Black pants. Hair dark and inky. His facial hair trimmed to utter perfection.
Standing across from him, I could barely keep my hands off him. I was eager for the ceremony to finish so I could get him naked and spend the rest of the day in bed with him as husband and wife.
We honeymooned in Misty Lake Mountain and watched the first snowflakes fall as we lay in bed wrapped in one another, with a roaring fire and bottles of wine for company. It was peaceful, and blissful, and beautiful, and it was over way too quick.
But I married the boss of New York City, and if our life is one thing, it’s crazy busy, and we had to get back to it in the city.
I have school, while Massimo has De Kysa business. Since marrying, he has moved farther away from Lair and spends more time on the interests of the De Kysa. When I graduate, I will stand beside him at the helm, and together, we will rule the De Kysa empire.
The two of us.
Correction, the three of us.
I hear the front door open and close. I hear his familiar footsteps on the Italian tile floors and feel my heart skip with happiness, which it always does when my husband walks through the front door.
I quickly hide the tests, putting one behind my back and knocking the other into the basin, just as Massimo walks into the bathroom.
I swing around to face him. I don’t know how I’m going to tell him. Will he be as happy as me?
He’s so busy; will this be another thing on his plate?
“Massimo.” I breathe his name, excited and full of anticipation at the same time.
My heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest.
He walks over and kisses me and slides his hands around my waist. His kiss is warm and welcoming. When he breaks it off, he nips my lower lip. “What are you hiding behind your back?”
I try to keep my voice light. “What makes you think I’m hiding something behind my back?”
“You have the guilty look of a shoplifter.” He pulls me closer and kisses me again, this time with lots of tongue. He nuzzles my neck. He’s trying to distract me. “Do you have something to confess, little monster? You don’t have a scarf back there, do you?”
He cocks an eyebrow and I swat him with my spare hand. The one not holding the pregnancy test.
Which tells my observant husband which hand is holding the suspected contraband. He reaches around and grabs hold of my wrist and holds it up between us. He sees the pregnancy test.
“What is this?”
“It’s a pregnancy test.”
His eyes flare. “What kind of pregnancy test?”
“The positive kind.”
The smile on his face fades, and his eyes darken. “Are you sure?”
“Yep, see.” I hold the pregnancy test up to his face so he can see the two pink lines.