He cupped her face, thumbs gently smoothing under her damp eyes. “I used to think that after the childhood he’d had, he deserved the love of a good woman. It’s the only way I could justify not stealing you from him. It’s his loss that he didn’t appreciate you, Lauren. I won’t make that mistake.”
Her smile trembled and fell apart under his tender kiss. Slowly they melted into each other, for once savoring their reunion because they knew now, without doubt, that they had the rest of their lives together.
EPILOGUE
Fourteen weeks later...
LAUREN SMILED, FEELING as though she was an actor in a movie. The hee-haw of the ambulance siren was so European.
“There’s nothing funny about this, Lauren.” Paolo took the oxygen mask off his face to speak, rocking on his seat as the ambulance took a sharp corner.
“Don’t be angry at me. This is the one who didn’t want to wait for the ambulance.” She pointed at the sleeping infant swaddled beside her, his little face screwed up in a masculine frown of concentration, as though everything he did would be done intensely whether it be sleep, cry or deliver.
No mystery where he’d get a quality like that from, Lauren thought with another affectionate grin.
“He and I will have words about this, make no mistake. He almost put me into an early grave. I still feel weak,” Paolo complained, his words belied by the flush of pride that shone off him like a halo.
“Keep breathing, Papa,” the female attendant said, urging him to replace the oxygen mask over his mouth and nose. “Your wife did all the work, you know. Catching is the easy part.”
“He did very well,” Lauren defended faithfully. “But I bet you pity your parents now, don’t you?”
“Quite a bit,” Paolo acceded ruefully. “If this is any indication, karma has arrived in a one-stone package of heartstopping payback.”
“But don’t you just love him, Paolo?” Lauren pleaded. She was too new to motherhood to hear any slights against her precious son.
“I do,” Paolo said with deep emotion, leaning forward to touch his son’s ruddy cheek. “And I love you.” He met her eyes as he said it, letting her see the depth of feeling in him, filling her with his love in a single, impactful look. “Thank you for our baby.”#p#分页标题#e#
She blinked, touched to her core. “I love you, too.”
He smiled with satisfaction, glancing at their son again with conspiratorial good humor. “Looks like he travels well. Good thing, since we’ll be doing so much of it. But no more surprises,” he warned Lauren with a stern point of his finger. “The next one is planned, start to finish.”
“Agreed.”
Four months later they accidentally conceived on a flight to Hong Kong. Their daughter arrived three weeks early in a limousine under the Arc de Triomphe.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from One Night Heir by Lucy Monroe
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CHAPTER ONE
FURY RIDING HIM like an angry stallion, Crown Prince Maksim of Volyarus let loose with a punch-cross-hook kickboxing combo against his cousin and sparring partner.
Demyan blocked, and the sound of flesh hitting pads mixed with his grunt of surprise. “Something the matter, your highness?”
Maks hated when his cousin, older by four years and raised as a brother with Maks in their family’s palace, referred to him by his title.
Demyan was well aware, but the older man liked pushing buttons, especially during their workout sessions. He said it made the sparring more intense.
Today would have been sufficiently punishing without the added irritation. Not that Maks warned Demyan of that. His cousin deserved what he got.
“Nothing wiping the smug look off your face won’t take care of.” Maks danced back before driving forward with another fast-paced, grueling combo.