Royal Chase(97)

“You blackmailed someone for me?”

He pulled my hand up to his lips and kissed it. “Technically it was a bluff, because I don’t have evidence, but he doesn’t know that. And I would blackmail the whole world for you. I think now I have finally completed my last quest by saving your company, and truly proven myself worthy, don’t you?”

I did. He really was my knight in shining Armani.

He put my hand back down and looked at me intently, seriously. “I would give you the world if I could. I would do anything for you. Because you’re going to be my wife.”

“What?” I was both elated and terrified. “Let’s not put the cart before the horse. I just put my parents through all this mess. I don’t think I should be discussing marriage to anybody right now.”

“But you will marry me.” He sounded so confident and sure.

“That doesn’t sound like asking.”

“I’m not asking. Every time I ask you for anything you say no. So now I’m telling. You will marry me, you will be my princess, we will have babies, and I will have my nightclub and you will have your PR firm and we will live happily ever after in our palace.”

I should have been mad. But he was right. We totally would.

“I know it’s scary for you, but if you do me the honor of giving me all of your trust and all of your love, I promise you will never regret that choice.”

Shaking my head, I stopped him. “You don’t have to say anything else or promise me anything else. This time it’s my turn to promise you. I promise to always believe in you. To always assume the best. To always trust you. To always, always love you.”

He had that mischievous glint in his eye. “Those sound a lot like marriage vows.”

“Hush,” I told him. Then I made sure he couldn’t talk.

Snoopy pounced on us, apparently tired of being left out of the affection. We petted him, but never took our eyes off each other. “I forgot to tell you that Rafe said he apologizes for anything that he might have done to upset you, and he promises to never do anything else that will make you angry ever again. He also said that if I cared at all about my own personal safety, I should be careful to never make you mad, either. So recognizing that I’m taking my life into my own hands here, I have something for you and I’m not sure how you will react.”

He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a black velvet ring box, making my breath hitch. Giddy excitement bubbled up inside me, my pulse skyrocketing out of control. My hands trembled in anticipation. He opened it up to reveal an enormous pale yellow diamond ring in an antique silver setting. “You don’t have to say anything yet. But I got this from my mother’s vault when we were in Monterra visiting my family. It was my great-grandmother’s ring.”

“The one from the gypsy legend?”

“The very same.”

I had been right. Dante chose the absolute perfect ring for me. I had loved the magical story of how his great-grandparents found each other. I already adored this beautiful ring, but not nearly as much as I adored him.

“And guess what kind of diamond this is?” He took it out of the box. “A lemon diamond. It’s fated, don’t you think?”

I did.

I even let him put the ring on me. And, not surprisingly, it fit.

“How do you feel, Princess Lemon?”

I looked at my lemon diamond engagement ring in the moonlight, and then I looked at the handsome, wonderful, amazing man next to me who would be my husband. I put a hand on the side of his face.

“I feel happier than a tick on a fat dog.”

“And that’s a good thing?” he asked.

I laughed, and was so happy that I would spend the rest of my life loving and laughing with him.

“Yes, darlin’. That’s a very good thing.”