What if she doesn’t like the brownstone as much as I thought?
What if she’s mad I made this decision without her?
What if?—
“Nico.” Puzzlement replaces suspicion as Sofia looks around at the now-empty living room. “There was furniture the last time we came here.”
“I know.” I tug her further into the room. Then I face her and take both of her hands. “But when someone sells their home, they usually take the furniture with them. And—” My heart thumps hard. “While he would have included it in the sale, I thought you’d want to pick out your own.”
Her eyes go big. “But… He changed his mind. He didn’t want to sell anymore.”
“I changed his mind back.”
That’s the thing about money. If you offer enough, it can usually change people’s minds about most things. And in this case, it was buying Sofia the home she liked best.
“Wait.” She drops my hands and spins around. “Youboughtthis place?”
“We did. It would be ours. Not mine. Unless you don’t really like it. If you’d rather, I could put it back on the market and we can keep looking.”
“You convinced him? How much?—”
“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is whether you like it. Whether this is the place you’d like to live.”
Sofia stares at me for a few seconds. Then she flings herself at me. “Yes! Of course I like it. I love it! But are you sure? It’s so expen?—”
I silence her with a kiss. When we break apart, I say, “All I care about is if you’re happy here, Soph.”
She looks around the room again, her eyes wide with wonder this time. “It’sperfect.”
Phew.
My heart begins to slow to a more normal rhythm. “Okay. In that case, the house is ours. We’ll need to add some security, buy furniture, of course, but we should be able to move in a couple of weeks.”
Releasing her hands, I go to the corner of the room, where several boxes are stacked in a pile. I pick up the pile and bring it over to Sofia. “This is the next part of the surprise. Take these into the bedroom and open them. Then meet me in the rec room downstairs.”
She looks at the boxes piled in her arms. “Okay…”
“Just go,” I urge. “You’ll understand soon.”
Once Sofia is upstairs, I rush down to the lower level and grab the garment bag I brought over earlier. I quickly changeinto my tux and check the mirror above the fireplace to fix my tie. Then I hurry around the expansive rec room, flicking on lights and lighting candles.
Just as I turn on the music—a playlist of love songs and instrumental jazz—I hear the soft click of shoes on the stairs.
Straightening, I turn towards them.
My heart leaps.
Sofia descends the stairs like a vision plucked straight from my dreams.
She’s wearing the dress I picked out for her, emerald green silk that clings to her curves and throws off glints of gold as she moves. Matching emerald earrings sparkle against her dark, glossy hair. And around her neck is the necklace I had custom made for her—a platinum S embedded with tiny emeralds and diamonds.
“Soph.” My throat goes thick. “You lookbeautiful.”
Midway down the stairs, she freezes. Her mouth falls open in a tiny O of surprise.“Nico.”
I hurry over to the stairs and help her the rest of the way down. “I wanted to do something special,” I explain. “And then I thought of this…”
Sofia bites her lip as she looks around the room. Her gaze sweeps across the candles set on the accent tables on either side of the fireplace. Then she looks up at the dozens of gold balloons covering the ceiling. From there, she turns her attention to the dining table in one corner, set with two place settings, wine glasses, and a vase of red roses at the center.
