It was the most perfect reunion I could have imagined, and I made my mind up long before Kyle came back in. He took one look at us and smiled. “So, when am I taking you to the airport?”
Marco shook his head. “Thanks for the offer, but we’re going to stay for a while.”
I made eye contact with my brother. “No, we’re not. We’d appreciate a ride this afternoon. We need to get home. There’s a lot to get done in the next few months. We need to get started.”
Kyle lifted two fingers to his forehead and jerked them away in a salute. “You got it. As long as you promise you’ll send that jet for me to come visit once my niece or nephew is born.”
Marco raised his eyebrows at me. “We’re going back?”
“We’re going back. You and I belong together, but we also belong in Italy. I told you before that it’s my home now, too.”
A slow smile spread on his lips before he pressed them to mine. Kyle made the expected disgusted noise, but Marco just chuckled against my mouth before pulling away.
He insisted on taking us out to lunch before we left. Luckily, my bag was still in Marco’s car and I couldn’t wait to get showered and changed.
Much to my surprise, Kyle and Marco got along like a house on fire. My brother seemed to have forgotten all about his initial misgivings and was all but inducting Marco into the family.
“He reminds me of Aldo,” Marco whispered to me in the car. “It feels like I’ve known him forever.”
Watching the two of them together made me so warm inside that I was afraid I might burst into flames, but I’d have gone out happy. When we got to the airport, Kyle hugged me goodbye before turning his attention on Marco.
Marco held out a hand, but my brother frowned at it and then took it to use as leverage to catapult my boyfriend into him for a tight hug. I stood close enough to them to hear what he said when I saw his lips moving close to Marco’s ear.
“Don’t be a stranger, and take care of my sister. I love her with all my heart. Please don’t hurt her again.”
Marco nodded, tucked me under his arm, and led me to his plane. When we took off, I knew our adventure was only just beginning.
Chapter 37
Marco
The sun glowed like a ball of fire on the horizon. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky or any movement in the air.
With the heat of the day broken, Addy and I had ventured out onto the balcony. She sat on a lounger, her legs spread out in front of her and an iced tea in her hands.
As she laid her head back against the forest-green cushion and closed her eyes, a contented smile playing across her lips, my heart skipped a beat. It had never happened to me before, but it happened when she’d said she loved me too, and now it just kept happening.
I didn’t mind it, though. Every time it happened, it reminded me of the people my heart belonged to. Well, one was still a very tiny little person, but still a person who carried a part of my heart inside its minuscule chest.
“I wanted to talk to you about something.” Nerves tightened my throat, but I cleared them away.
Addy’s eyes opened, her head swinging around until she faced me. “Are you taking it back?”
“Am I taking what back?” I searched her navy-blue depths for an answer, but all I found was a slight sheen of panic.
“That you love me,” she said, sadness flickering across her brow. “Did you just say it to get me back here with you?”
“Did you really just ask me that?” I climbed off my lounger, pinning my gaze to hers as I stalked forward.
She didn’t shy away or try to make excuses. “Yes, I did. You have to admit that it came pretty out of the blue. It’s okay if you changed your mind.”
“I didn’t change my mind.” I moved toward her slowly, punctuating every word with another step closer. “I. Love. You. Adaline. Tidwell.”
“Oh yeah?”
“You infuriating woman.” I smirked as I dropped to my knees beside her, capturing her cheeks in my palms and drawing her closer to me. “I fucking love you. Would you please stop doubting me?”
She cocked her head to the side, arched a brow, and flashed me a sexy smirk of her own. “Fine. Jeez. Stop being so needy all the time. You’re exhausting.”
My lips curved into a wicked grin. I gave her no other warning before I lurched forward, tackling her gently to the lounger.
She shrieked out a laugh, looping her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist as she pulled me close. Her lips brushed against mine, and her gaze held me captive. “I love you, too.”
“I meant every word I said to you in Oregon yesterday.” I nipped at her lower lip, following it up with a soft kiss. “I love you. I want you. I want you next to me for anything and everything life throws at us.”
Laughter sparkled in her eyes. “Please tell me you’re not proposing while you’re on top of me and getting hard.”
“I’m not proposing marriage. I may be proposing other things, if you’re interested.”
“Yeah?” She ran a hand through my hair, a relaxed smile on her face. “What’s that?”
I ground my growing erection against her core, eliciting a low moan. “That, for starters.”
“And then?” Her breathing got heavier, and her nipples hardened against my bare chest. “What else?”
“Move in with me.” Our breath mingled, but her hand stilled in my hair. When her eyes flew wide open, I rushed out the rest of the words. “Just hear me out. We’re having a baby together. Living
