Page 184 of Angel

Mrs. Campanelli met us at the double oak doors.

She hugged us, giving me an extra-long embrace.

‘I see happiness on your face, and that gives me joy,’ she declared. ‘It all worked out well.’

‘It did, thanks to you,’ I winked, grateful for how she’d helped to push Angel and me towards each other, seeing something in us we couldn’t ourselves.

She then turned to Angel and gushed over Mila.

‘Che bella! Che angelo!’ she cried, reaching out with trembling fingers to pat the baby’s soft cheek as she lay in her father’s arms.

I huffed with a smile. ‘Not so angelic; she keeps us up half the night demanding her milk, Mrs. C.’

‘Ah, maybe I can take her during the day, and give you both a break, sì?’ Mrs. Campanelli declared as she snapped her fingers toward the hallway. ‘Carlos! Bring the luggage inside! Do not leave the baby’s things out in the baking sun!’

Angel chuckled, stepping past me to plant a kiss right on the Mrs Campanelli’s cheek.

‘Relax, Mrs C. Carlos is already on it. Just tell me you have a cold limoncello waiting inside, because the heat is already killing me.’

‘Of course, of course, everything is ready,’ she said, ushering us through the air-conditioned threshold.

An hour after our arrival, our little one lay asleep in her bassinet in our primary.

Angel gathered Carlos, our driver, and Mrs. Campanelli and me in the central courtyard near the infinity pool.

My husband, handsome in a black vest and shorts that emphasized his sinewy physique and ink, reached into his pocket.

With a grin, produced a brass key wrapped in a generous silk bow.

He placed it into my palm, his eyes dancing.

‘What’s this?’

‘It’s your key to your new house in Capri.’

I blinked. ‘Which house?’

‘The one you’re standing in. I bought Villa Isola dell’Amore, Rox, for you,’ Angel rasped, in a rough timbre that sent a shiver straight down my spine. ‘The owners finalized the deed last week. It’s yours.’

I stared at the metal in my hand, my brain stalling.

‘Are you for real right now? You bought the entire villa?’

Angel arched a brow and addressed me in his horse, gritty-sexy timbre.

‘Did I stutter? Yes, I got it for you. The last time you were here, you mentioned wanting a place like this, so I gave you your dream.’

I clapped my hands in delight because he remembered; he always remembered.

‘Angel Daniel Forrest, I adore you so much right now, thank you,’ I murmured, as I threw my arms around his neck.

We kissed for a moment before drawing back.

‘When we’re back in Leiper’s Fork, the other Six Sinners can use it. We’ll also run executive leases when it’s empty, and Mrs. Campanelli and Carlos are locked in as our permanent host team.’

‘I love you so much right now,’ I breathed, tears pricking the corners of my eyes as the scale of his thoughtfulness hit me.

He then turned to Carlos and Mrs. Campanelli and announced a 30% pay bump that had them both praising the saints.