Page 81 of The Billionaire's Angel

Amelia was comfortably ensconced in her bed, covers tucked to her chin. I looked at her suspiciously. She never read in bed. When the lights went out, so didAmelia.

“Which book?” Ichallenged.

“The mystery. The one about the knitting club and themurder.”

That described any number of mysteries Amelia had read lately, but I thought I knew the one she meant. Helpfully, she said, “I left it on the table closest to thefireplace.”

“You can read it in the morning,” I said, wondering what she was upto.

“I want to finish that chapter now. I won’t be able to sleep until I know whose body they found behind the yarnshop.”

I sighed. I didn’t believe her for a second. There was no chance Amelia was going to stay up late to read a book. She loved her sleep too much. But Gage was at a dinner meeting with Aiden, and I was at loose ends, not tired enough to sleep myself, so I might as well do what she asked and let her plan play itselfout.

“Okay, be rightback.”

I headed into the hall, braced for a surprise. None came. Soft lights illuminated the wood floors and cream walls, and outside in the courtyard, the fountain was still lit, the flowing water gleaming in the darkness. The house was quiet with Mrs. W at her cottage, Abel in his apartment, and both Gage and Aiden out todinner.

The house needed life. It needed children. Gage had been trying to convince me to have my birth control implant removed. He wanted a family with me. He wanted babies. As much as I loved to imagine having Gage’s children, his dark hair and serious blue eyes looking back at me from a little boy or girl, I didn’t want to take any chances. I wasn’t getting pregnant while I was still married toAnthony.

It hit me again that Anthony was dead. This time, I was really, truly a widow. Just the thought of Anthony’s dead body put a spring in my step. Maybe I was morbid, but after he’d come back from the dead once, nothing comforted me like seeing evidence that he was gone for good. I wasfree.

A light was on in the library. I’d been sure they were all turned off when we left earlier. My steps slowed as I approached the door with caution. Amelia couldn’t have planned anything elaborate. I was with her all evening. I’d know if she were up to somethingbig.

Still, I entered the library on alert, my eyes scanning the room from one corner to another, looking for anything out of place. The room was empty, the pillows fluffed, blankets folded, and Amelia’s book exactly where she’d left it, on the table by thefireplace.

As I crossed the room to retrieve the book, thinking I was too suspicious, the fireplace clicked and flickered to life, the flames filling the room with warm light. I jumped a little and spun around, but the room was still empty. Just as I was getting my bearings, the lamp on the far side of the couch turned on, the abrupt glare blinding me for asecond.

I blinked a few times, and my eyes adjusted, the lamp coming into focus. A shadow marred the white silk shade, a dark circle topped with a fat darktriangle.

Aring.

Why was there an oversize ring on the inside of thelamp?

I’d understood the bugs. Those had even scaredmea little, and I’d been the one to tape them in place. But a ring? I walked closer, curious. The ring was the diameter of a dinner plate and a littlelopsided.

I was starting to doubt Amelia was behind this. She was a stickler for perfection in her pranks, and she could cut a better circle thanthat.

Walking closer, I peered beneath the shade, reaching inside to take down the silhouette of the ring. A sparkle caught my eye, and I froze. Tied to the inside of the shade, dangling in front of the light, was a ring. A diamondring.

My hands shaking a little, I tugged on the thread securing the ring, and it tumbled into my hand, the stone catching fire in the light from the bulb. I turned it over, studying the simple gold band and the large, brilliantdiamond.

“It was my mother’s,” Gage said, from across the room. Startled, my hand closed over the ring, and I looked up to see him in the hidden doorway, watchingme.

“The ring,” he said, clarifying. “It was my mother’s. My father gave it to her a few months after they started dating. He always said he knew the moment he saw her that she was it for him. I never really knew what he meant until the night I met you. I held you in my arms, and I knew I never wanted to let yougo.”

I stared at Gage in shock, my mouth hanging open, the ring clutched tightly in my hand. The diamond cut into my palm, but I didn’tcare.

I was never letting go. Not of the ring, and not ofGage.

“I didn’t want you to,” I admitted. “I knew I should, knew I could lose my job, but I didn’t care. You were in my heart from thebeginning.”

Gage crossed the room and took my hand, gently pulling my fingers back from the ring. Taking it, he turned my hand over and said, “Sophie, will you marry me? I want to have a life with you. A family. I want to spend the rest of my life making youhappy.”

“Yes,” I whispered. “Yes, I’ll marry you.” A tear streaked down my cheek as he slid the ring on my finger, and I barely registered Gage nodding to someone at the door. Turning, I caught a flash of Amelia’s satisfied smile and Aiden’s grin before the door shut, and we werealone.

“You got Amelia to help you prank me with a ring?” I asked, looking between Gage’s face to the diamond sparkling on my hand. The ring was a simple solitaire, but it wasn’t plain. The diamond was too big, had too much fire, to ever be plain. It was perfect, mostly because it came fromGage.

“It seemed fitting,” Gage said, drawing me into hisarms.