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Antonio steps ahead of me and pulls out my chair. “Your company,” he says.
I take my seat and look up at him. “What company?”
Antonio’s mouth curves into his devilish smile. “The company belongs to you. Read the name backwards.”
I mentally turn the letters around one by one until I get it. “What the fuck, Antonio,” I whisper, leaning closer to him. “You named it stripper?”
A waitress stops beside our table with menus in hand, and I force myself to drag my attention away from him to go through it. We start with Maryland crab cakes, served with a lemon aioli and a small herb salad.
“No. I named it stripper spelled backwards,” he says after the waitress leaves. “And you’re fixating on the wrong thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Alex, the restaurants are yours. In your name. Once you’re done with your master’s, you will take over.”
For a second, I genuinely think I’ve misunderstood him. Mine? Not something he expects me to help manage, but mine. Something giddy spreads through my chest and I blink hard as I take in the room again, but It feels too big to fit inside my head.
He’s giving me a whole future.
“I don’t know what to say right now,” I say, stretching across the table to kiss him briefly.
“I love when you’re speechless,” he says. “Do you want to guess why there are only thirteen branches?”
I nod eagerly, still smiling so hard that my cheeks hurt, and my mind starts running through possibilities. “Is it because we met on the thirteenth of March?”
He chuckles loudly. “You are almost right, but we met on the tenth of March.”
“Oh my God, you’re such a sap. Thirteen because it's the tenth day of the third month.”
His body shakes as he laughs, and the sight of him looking so boyish makes something warm unfurl inside my chest all over again.
“You’re smart,” he says.
Dinner is a blast. The food is incredible, the wine is even better, and I spend most of the evening alternating between eating, drinking, and shamelessly checking out the sexy man I get to call mine.
Every few minutes, my eyes drift toward the room and I remember that all of this belongs to me, and each time it happens, another wave of disbelief rolls through me.
I have a company.
An actual company.
I can’t wait to tell Mom.
After we finish dessert, Antonio dabs at his mouth. “Ready to go home?”
“So ready,” I answer, pushing my chair back and jumping to my feet before he can ask twice.
Chapter
Thirty-Four
ALEX
When we step outside, it’s fully dark, and the late August air brushes against the back of my neck.
The sidewalks are still busy, headlights moving steadily along the street while people drift in and out of restaurants and bars around us, and as we stand near the curb waiting for Davide to bring the car around, I don’t want the night to end yet.
“Can we walk a bit?” I ask.
