Page 51 of Burning Rivalry

“I’ll be damned if I know.” I held my head in my hands like that would do anything to keep my skull from splitting open as I fought to express everything. “I swear, I will do everything in my power, every day for the rest of my life, to make it up to you. I only need you to give me the chance.”

“What about work? You realize the Michelin Star doesn’t mean as much to me as it used to, or you would if you had given me the chance to tell you,” she added.

“I don’t want you to give up on that dream or on any dream that fulfills you. Whatever you want, I want. If it makes you happy, it makes me happy.” She scoffed, turning away, shaking her head. “Claudia, the night of the fire, when I thought I lost you, everything became crystal clear. None of this matters without you. I don’t want any of it if I can’t have you beside me… every day, working together toward our vision. Yours and mine. That’s all I want, but I need you.”

The profound truth behind those words hit me like a truck. I couldn’t believe this was happening, that I was sinking to my knees like some lovesick asshole. “I need you,” I whispered, my entire heart in the words. “I need you like I need air. These days without you… nothing makes sense. Nothing matters. You brought the missing ingredient to my life, and I can’t go without it now.”

She ran a hand over her eyes, sniffling. “Missing ingredient? Come on. That’s a little corny, don’t you think?” There was laughter in her words, gentleness. The sharp edges were smoothed out.

“Since when does that matter when you’re in love? What, you think I hop on a private jet every other day and fly across the country for fun? Do you think I get on my knees for anyone but you?”

She was crumbling. I felt it. I saw it. Still, she held herself back. “How do I know it won’t happen again?”

“You know it won’t happen again because I don’t make the same mistakes twice. That much I can promise you with all my heart. I know now the misery of being without you, and I will not go back to that. You can’t make me,” I insisted.

“So you swear to me.” She took one step closer, then another. “You will not do this again.”

My heart lodged itself in my throat. “I swear on everything I have. Everything I am or will ever be, I will not do that again. I will always listen to you.”

She chewed her lip, then released a shaky breath while I held mine. “You drive a hard bargain, Sebastian. But I guess I don’t want to live without you, either.”

Then she chuckled, shrugging. “I’m not as eloquent as you, I guess.”

Who needed eloquence when I had her? When I could stand and gather her in my arms, holding her close to me, shaking with relief. She was mine. She would always be mine. “I love you,” I whispered, kissing her forehead, nose, and cheeks before landing on her upturned mouth.

Yes, this was what I needed.

This was what I had missed so badly.

Sharing breath with her, feeling her heartbeat against mine, holding the entire world in my arms. This was all that mattered. Everything else would sort itself out as long as I had this to come back to.

“I love you,” she whispered once I let her up for air. Tears shone in her eyes, but she smiled brilliantly. “You’re an idiot, and you drive me crazy, but I fucking love you.”

Running my thumbs over her cheeks to catch her tears, I asked, “Who says you’re not eloquent?”

20

CLAUDIA

Four Months Later

“This is it.” My nerves were shredded, my heart pounding like I was about to go up to the top of The Strat and dangle off the edge. “Are you ready?”

All it took was the touch of Sebastian’s hand against my back to spread calm through me. Slowly, a bit at a time, but eventually, I began to relax and loosen up. There wasn’t a weight crushing my chest anymore. “I’m ready,” he whispered, kissing my head. “There is nothing to be nervous about. Everything is perfect.”

He was right. Everything was perfect. Even though things hadn’t gone the way we originally planned, somehow, the outcome had turned out better than we could’ve imagined. Once Sebastian decided not to rebuild what had burned, his investors decided to pack their bags and head for greener pastures.

Yet his friends had stepped up, picked up the slack, and made it possible to do what he realized he should have done in the first place—expand the current location, blend both concepts into one that would balance both the traditions and comforts of home and the freshness and simplicity of authentic Italian cuisine, which could be at times quite different from what people imagined the cuisine to be. In other words, there wasn’t a ton of garlic being thrown around all the time.

The changes extended beyond the menu. After some deliberating, Sebastian had decided to expand the dining room and install folding glass doors that opened up onto the outdoor dining area modeled almost exactly off of what had burned in the fire. Now, two long tables set with candles and flowers were surrounded by the people we loved most in the world. His entire family had come in for the exclusive reopening of Home, including cousins from out of town who now laughed it up, telling stories and teasing as only family could do. With them were Sebastian’s friends and new investors. Even Hadley was there, sitting beside Vaughn’s wife, Nova, the two of them deep in girl talk while the guys drank their scotch and busted each other’s balls.

The other table was reserved for the staff. Once the dishes were presented, they would feast with us. The additional space meant more help in the kitchen, and we were able to blend the new staff in with the seasoned vets. Lucas was putting the finishing touches on the platters of meat, fish, pasta, and fresh vegetables.

“Everything look okay?” he asked, his gaze moving between Sebastian and me. “You think we’re ready to officially open this place?”

Sebastian’s hand found mine the way it always tended to do, and the reassuring pressure broke through my inexplicable jitters. It was the first night of something new, the beginning of the future of Home. Our future.

“It looks perfect to me,” I decided, and Sebastian agreed with a nod.