Chapter 13 - THE QUESTION ON THE BLUFFS
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Luca walked across the Persian rug, shedding his heavy wool coat and tossing it onto an armchair.
He wore a black cable-knit sweater that accentuated the breadth of his shoulders, smelling of winter pine, snow, and cedar smoke.
He stopped inches away from me, his presence surrounding me like an unbreakable wall of warmth.
He reached out, his large, warm hands gently taking the hot chocolate mug from my fingers and setting it on the marble mantelpiece.
Then his fingers curled around mine, pulling me close until my chest rested against his broad, muscular frame.
“You’ve been working sixteen hours a day on the foundation, Emma,” he whispered against my hair.
“I want to make sure every child has a voice, Luca,” I replied, looking up into the dark gray eyes that had become my entire universe.
“You gave Leo his voice back.”
“I want to do that for others.”
Luca’s thumb gently traced the curve of my cheekbone, his touch sending a rush of delicious, familiar heat straight to my soul.
“I have loved you for a long time, Emma Reed,” Luca said softly, his voice trembling with an emotion so raw it made my knees weak.
“I loved you when you stood in the garage defending an old driver.”
“I loved you when you walked into that dining room carrying a cardboard box.”
“And I loved you when you held my son’s hand while my world was falling apart.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, worn black velvet box.
The room around the fireplace seemed to drop into absolute, sacred silence.
Luca Moretti—a man before whom politicians, judges, and syndicate bosses had knelt in fear—slowly lowered himself onto one knee on the Persian rug.
He pressed the small golden latch of the box, and the lid sprang open.
Resting inside on a bed of ivory silk was a breathtaking custom ring featuring a flawless five-carat emerald-cut diamond.
Flanking the center stone were two perfectly cut rubies that sparkled like drops of red wool in the firelight.
“I had this designed in Milan three weeks ago, Emma,” Luca whispered, looking up into my face with complete, unreserved surrender.
“The rubies are to remind us of the red mitten that brought my son home.”
“And the diamond is to remind you that your love is the only crown I will ever wear.”
His warm fingers gently took my left hand, his thumb stroking my trembling knuckles.
“Emma Reed, will you do me the greatest honor of my life?”
“Will you marry me, and be the lady of this house and the mother of my son forever?”
Tears of sweet, radiant joy spilled freely down my cheeks, hot and sparkling in the firelight.
There was no hesitation in my mind.
There was no shadow left between our souls.
“Yes, Luca,” I whispered, dropping to my knees on the floor beside him so our eyes were level.
“A thousand times, yes.”
Luca let out a long, ragged breath of pure triumph, his face breaking into a radiant smile that washed away thirty-six years of darkness.
He took the ring from the velvet box and slid it onto the third finger of my left hand.
The cool platinum settled against my skin with effortless, divine perfection, the diamond and rubies blazing under the firelight like a captured star.
He wrapped his powerful arms around my waist, pulling me against his broad chest, and his lips met mine in a deep, passionate kiss.
The kiss was fierce, sweet, and filled with an unbreakable promise that sealed our past, present, and future into one sacred covenant.
From the drawing room doorway, a loud, joyful cheer broke through the quiet air.
Leo came running across the rug, waving his green dinosaur, his face glowing with pure, unadulterated happiness.
“She said yes! She said yes!” Leo cheered, throwing his small arms around both of our necks as we laughed together on the floor.
Luca scooped Leo up with one arm while keeping his other arm locked securely around my waist, pulling us both into his heart.
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“We’re a family, Leo,” Luca declared proudly, kissing his son’s cheek.
“A real family, forever.”
