"Patience, Erica."
I take my seat again, where some of the foods she couldn't eat earlier are placed in front of me again. I don't intend to waste such good food just to prove a point.
Once we're settled, I give David a nod. "David, you may reveal the final course," I say.
He lifts the silver dome, and Erica gasps.
On the platter is a feast fit for a queen. Or a pregnant woman, rather.
Chicken wings, fries, onion rings, and a milkshake.
Her face lights up, and she laughs, a real, genuine laugh that makes my chest feel warm.
"You're impossible," she says, her eyes shining.
"I'm a man in love," I say. "Now eat."
She takes a chicken wing and takes a big bite, her eyes closing in pleasure.
"Oh my God," she moans. "This is so good."
"Good," I say, my voice husky with desire. "Eat as much as you want."
"I'm not going to be able to stop," she warns.
"I wouldn't dream of it."
She eats and eats, and I watch her, my heart swelling with love. She's so beautiful, her hair tumbling down her back, her face flushed with pleasure.
I think back to how all this started.
I can still see her standing on the raised platform in front of the crowd of hounds bidding on her. Spend the night with a virgin. That's why most of them had been there.
But I won. I was determined to win. To protect her. To protect my family's reputation.
I was supposed to put her in a car and send her home.
In the end, I took her home with me, and I intend to keep her here.
Forever.
Epilogue
Erica
The lace is tight enough around my still-flat waist.
It’s not dramatic, but enough that my dress has a flare.
My hair is done. My makeup is done. My veil is pinned.
My hands are steady, which is funny, because I’ve been through things that should have made me shake like a leaf.
But this?
This is the moment I’ve been thinking about since Nico’s diabolical dinner.
Since Nico watched me try to find a dry lettuce in a Caesar salad, then looked at me with that expression that always makes my brain short-circuit.
