“One day off, Mia. You promised.”
“I know. I know but I just want everything to be perfect.”
“It will be,” I reassured her.
“It needs to be.”
Since the sip and see and her run in with Amber, Mia had picked up the pace. Franco had taken up a permanent post outside our residence, turning up when I left for work and leaving as I arrived home. Mia made him work for his paycheck, filling her calendar with a range of appointments from Christmas shopping with Tori to brunches with Katia and Rosalie and decorating the house until it looked straight out of a Hallmark movie for any of the guests she invited over. It was almost as if Amber’s threat had brought everything into focus for her and Mia was hell bent on reaching our goal.
“Did Link go down okay?” she asked, jamming the heels of her hands into her eyes and rubbing them.
“No complaint.”
Link had been alert and attentive for most of the day. Mom had fussed over him at every chance and Dante had spoiled his Godson with a sack of gifts that Link couldn’t quite show his appreciation for. By the end of the day, he had fussed so badly that Mia looked at her wit’s end and I had taken over to give her some breathing space. Link had settled and stayed with me all the way up until I placed him in his crib.
“Thank you.” Mia looked up at me and I took her hands in mine, tugging her to her feet. “What are you doing?” She resisted and I pulled harder until she stood up and wrapped her arms around my middle. I kissed the top of her head gently and she buried her face in my chest. Mia had a lot on her plate, and I was beginning to worry just how well she was balancing it all.
“I have something for you,” I murmured against her hair.
“What is it?” Her words were muffled against my shirt.
“It’s a surprise. Come with me.” I took her hand into mine and Mia followed me, her footsteps heavy with fatigue that slowed her down. If I could have taken her away from everything, made her brain stop ticking over every single move, I would have done so in a heartbeat.
“Why are we going to the garage?” she asked, cottoning on to where we were headed.
“You’ll see.”
When we reached the garage, I flipped the light on with my free hand and Mia blinked from how harsh it was before she registered what was in front of her. Sticking out like a sore thumb amidst my bike, the Maserati and the Range Rover—all in black—stood a bright red Ferrari with a large bow on the hood.
“What is that?” Her eyes were wide as they drank in the latest addition.
“What does it look like?”
She left my side, taking tentative steps toward the car, fingers brushing over the hood before she spun around to look at me. “This looks suspiciously like a Christmas present.” Another ridiculous notion Mia had tried to impart on me was that she did not require a Christmas present, considering we’d not long moved into the house.
“I was going to hold off until tomorrow, so it didn’t count.”
She checked her watch. “It’s still Christmas day.”
“I always had trouble following the rules and you looked like you needed something to cheer you up.”
Mia bit her lip and turned around to look at the car again and I joined her, arms wrapping around her middle. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“No need to thank me, love.” I kissed her head and pulled her tight against me. “Next time you want to run you can take your own car instead of stealing mine.” That earned me an elbow to the ribs. “Still vicious.”
“Learned from the best.”
“How about we take this for a spin tomorrow morning before everything kicks off?”
She nodded her head at the suggestion before turning around in my arms and planting a kiss on my lips. I pinned her frame between the car and my body, deepening the kiss, wanting all of her again.
Mia broke away, breathing heavily. “Not now.” Her hands were splayed on my chest in a feeble attempt to hold me back.
“Why not?” My lips found the crook of her neck and nipped gently at the skin, eliciting a small gasp from her. I’d patiently waited as medical advice dictated, but having Mia home and not having her in the most primal way was beginning to push me to the edge.
“Because,” she said, nudging my head away with her own. “Your Mom and Dante are both here.”
“So?”
