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“Sorry.” I laugh, forcing the tears back.
“It wasn’t something we said that upset you, was it?” Francesca asks.
“No.” I shake my head as Lucia dabs something under my eyes. “Your son is just very kind.”
“He is,” she agrees with a proud but demure smile.
“Done,” Sofia says less than three minutes later after applying something on my lips that I rub in as I turn to look in the mirror.
I look like myself again and doubt it would be obvious to anyone but me that I was crying. I can only tell because my lips and under my eyes are still slightly puffy, but there is no helping that.
“You two are miracle workers.”
“No, we’re just girls who cry a lot,” Sofia corrects.
“Speak for yourself,” Lucia mutters, and I laugh.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Sofia grins.
“I’ll see you at the table.” Lucia picks up her purse and walks through the door, and I bite back another laugh. Obviously, Roman isn’t the only King who can’t handle gratitude.
“Ready?” Francesca asks, looking back at me while following her daughters.
“Yeah.” I drag in a breath, then let it out slowly before I leave the bathroom a few steps behind them. When I reach the table, Roman stands to hold my chair, and I glance Ricardo’s way as I take my seat. I don’t know what I expect the look on his face to be, and never in a million years would I have thought I’d see respect in his gaze, but there it is. I don’t know what it means or if I will ever really like him, but if he can respect me, then I can return that gesture.
“Better?” Roman whispers against my ear after taking his seat once more.
“Yes.”
“Good.” He presses his lips to the side of my head, then threads his fingers through mine.
Thankfully, the rest of the dinner is uneventful. There are no tears, no family drama. It’s just a delicious meal with small talk that feels a little uncomfortable, like it doesn’t happen often enough.
By the time Roman and I make it home, it’s almost ten, so I wander right to the bedroom and strip out of my dress so I can put on his T-shirt, which has become one of my favorite parts of the day, every day.
“Did you have—” My words end on a gasp as I’m tackled to the bed by a solid body. Shoving my hair out of my face, I look up at the man hovering over me with an elbow on the bed and half his body pressing mine into the mattress.
“Are you still mad at me?”
“No.” I smooth my fingers down his jaw as I look into his eyes. “And I’ll find some way to pay you back.”
“Marry me, give me babies, and make us a home. That’s all the payback I need.”
“How many babies?” I ask, moving my fingers into his hair.
“I don’t know. It’s not something I ever thought about before you.”
“At least two.”
“At least two,” he agrees, leaning down to kiss me, and I kiss him back, pouring everything I feel for him into it. Maybe it was just chance that he and I met, but it feels like something bigger was at work, something that the human mind is too small to even comprehend.
23
ROMAN
43.0760° N, 107.2903° W
