He nods, tears spilling over. “I know you’re not really my mama, but you could be. If you wanted to be. If Papa wanted.”
I look at Basili. He’s watching us both, his eyes suspiciously bright.
“I’d like that,” he says simply. “If Chloe wants to be.”
“I’d like to stay,” I manage. “More than anything.”
Emmanuel throws his wet arms around my neck, and I hold him tight, not caring that I’m getting soaked. After his bath, wetucked him into Basili’s enormous bed. He’s drowning in the king-size mattress.
“I’m never sleeping alone again,” he declares, his little jaw set stubbornly, an expression I’ve seen from Basili many times before. “Never ever.”
Basili and I exchange a look over his head, trying collectively not to laugh.
“Never ever?” Basili asks.
“Never. You and Chloe have to stay with me. Guard me while I sleep. That’s the rule from now on. Ok?”
“Well,” I say, smoothing his damp hair back, “we can’t break the rules, can we?”
“Nope. Rules aren’t made to be broken!”
We sit on either side of him while his eyes grow heavy, and I play with his hair, comforting him until he begins to snore softly. He’s asleep in minutes, curled up in the center of the bed, one hand clutching mine, the other holding onto Basili’s shirt.
We sat there for a long time, just watching him breathe. Proof that he’s alive, he’s home, safe and sound. Finally, Basili nods toward the balcony. “Think we can escape for five minutes?”
I carefully extract my hand from Emmanuel’s grip, and we slip outside, closing the French doors quietly behind us. The night air is cool and crisp. The gardens below are peaceful, lit by soft landscape lighting. It’s hard to believe that just hours ago, we were in the midst of a war zone.
“Chloe.” Basili turns to me, taking both my hands in his. “I need to ask you something. To say something.”
“Okay.”
“I love you.” The words are simple, direct. “I’m in love with you. I’ve been in love with you for longer than I probably should admit. And Emmanuel isn’t the only one who wants you to stay.”
My heart is hammering in my chest now. “Basili —”
“Let me finish.” He brings my hands to his lips and kisses my knuckles. “You’re fierce and brave and stubborn as hell. You saved my son. Twice. Hell, you saved me. You protected our family. You’re everything I never knew I needed and everything I never want to lose.”
Tears well up in my eyes.
“So I’m asking you, Chloe Tao —” He releases one of my hands, reaching into his pocket and pulls out a small velvet box.
Oh my God.
“— will you marry me? Will you stay and be Emmanuel’s mother, my wife, my partner in all of this?” He opens the box, revealing a stunning ring — a diamond surrounded by emeralds. “Will you choose us, the way we chose you?”
I can barely see through the tears. “Yes. Yes, of course, yes!”
He slides the ring onto my finger — it’s a perfect fit — and then he’s kissing me. Deep and thorough and full of promises. When we finally break apart, we’re both grinning like idiots.
“We should go back inside before Emmanuel wakes up and finds us gone,” I murmur.
“In a minute.” Basili pulls me close again, his forehead against mine. “I just want to enjoy this for a moment longer. Knowing your mine.”
“Basili, I’ve been yours since the day we met. It just took us a while to accept it,” I admit.
He pulls back and gazes into my eyes, stroking my hair back out of my face. “We did it, tesoro. Your father is dead. The Triad is going to have to regroup and renegotiate. Shufen is the head of the Tao house. The Russians have backed off. Everything we’ve been through, I couldn’t have done without you.”
The relief that crashes through me is overwhelming. “Wait — does that mean you found out who the mole on the inside was?”
