Page 83

And finally—after a moment that stretches forever—Ivy whispers, “Yes.”
The room erupts in cheers.
I rise to my feet, wrap her in my arms, and kiss her like I’ve been dying to do all night.
“I love you, Mrs. Volcor-to-be. May the storm never break us.”
She smiles through tears.
“May the storm never break us,” she replies.
Vanessa leaves with her date, beaming, and Ivy leaves with me—her hand tucked in mine, her “yes” still echoing in my chest like a vow.
Back at my penthouse, I lead her inside where candlelight dances against the walls and soft music hums in the background. A bed of red roses waits upstairs. I didn’t know if she’d say yes, but I knew she loved me. A love like ours… it could never be one-sided.
As soon as we walk through the door, I scoop her into my arms.
She laughs, a sound that hits me harder than anything ever has.
I carry her up the stairs, our future tucked between every heartbeat, and lay her gently down on the bed of roses. Her smile falters just slightly, giving way to something deeper. Something real.
I undress her slowly, layer by layer, letting my fingers learn her all over again. She squirms beneath my touch, breath catching, hips rising.
And when I drop to my knees between her thighs, I worship my future wife the only way I know how.
With everything I have.
With everything I am.
THE END
Epilogue
Six months later – Maui, Hawaii
The waves kiss the shoreline with a gentle hush, the breeze teasing loose strands of my hair as I rock slowly in a hammock, our son sleeping against my chest.
He has Carter’s mouth. My nose. And a grip like he’s already trying to take on the world.
“Ivy!” a little voice squeals from behind me. “Daddy says it’s time for dinner but I told him you’re doing important baby things!”
I look up to see Laura, barefoot and sun-kissed, her curls bouncing as she runs across the patio in a sundress covered in pineapples.
“Very important baby things,” I say, smiling.
She giggles, then climbs into the hammock beside me without asking. She’s made herself at home in my life just as easily as she did in my heart.
Carter steps out a moment later, barefoot too, holding a tray of grilled fish, coconut rice, and some mocktail he insists on calling a “Sunset Spritz.”
He walks over, sets the tray down, and kisses me on the forehead like he always does now.
“You two plotting against me again?” he asks with mock suspicion.
“Absolutely,” I say.
“Definitely,” Laura adds.
He chuckles and sits beside us, his hand resting on my thigh. I glance at him, and for a second, I swear we’re back in that storm—trapped, scared, unsure.