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“Let me feel you, Larissa,” he commanded, his voice strained with the effort of holding back.

The combination of his voice, his touch, and the relentless pressure of him inside me was too much. I came with a cry that he muffled with his mouth, swallowing the sound as my body clenched around him. My release triggered his own, and he buried himself deep inside me with a groan, his body shuddering against mine.

For a moment, we lay tangled together, catching our breath. His weight was carefully distributed to the side, one hand still protectively curved over my stomach. I felt the baby flutter beneath his palm, as if acknowledging his presence.

“I felt that,” he whispered, wonder in his voice.

“She knows her father,” I said, placing my hand over his.

“She?” His eyebrow arched. “You sound certain.”

I shrugged. “Just a feeling.”

He pressed his lips to my temple, then my cheek, and finally to my mouth. “Boy or girl, it doesn't matter. This child is a miracle. You've made me the happiest man in the world, Larissa Ajello.”

“Soon to be Lebedev,” I reminded him, nodding toward the engagement ring on my finger.

His smile was slow, satisfied. “The best decision I ever made was bringing you here.”

“Kidnapping me, you mean.”

“Semantics.” He laughed against my skin. “The result is the same. You're mine, and I'm yours, and not even your stubborn brother can change that.”

I curled into him, listening to the distant sounds of our families downstairs. Maybe Gastone would never accept us, but we had built something worth fighting for.

“We should go back down before they send a search party,” I said reluctantly.

“Five more minutes,” Gio murmured, tightening his arms around me. “The world can wait.”

*****

THE END