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“I’m willing to put in the work,” Walter said with a smile before looking at Taylor. “What about you, baby girl? Do you still have space in your heart and life for me?”

“Yes, Daddy, but if you do this again—”

“I won’t. I promise,” he replied, pulling them both in for a hug.

A part of me was glad he’d come to his senses and joined us today because of what I had planned for after dinner, which we sat down for about thirty minutes later. Pops said grace andthanked the Monroe family for joining us. He also expressed his desire for this to be the first of many gatherings of both families, to which they agreed.

When dessert was served, I kept my eyes trained on Serenity next to me. While the servers gave everyone else plates with crème brûlée, hers had a twenty carat diamond pavé ring.

“Oh my fucking God,” she muttered, staring at the ring.

Pushing my chair back, I stood and kneeled. I grabbed the ring and took her left hand into mine. Licking my lips, I pulled in a deep breath.

“Among all the objections for why we shouldn’t have been together, there were more reasons why we should. I love you so much, princess, and my life has been so much better with you in it. I can’t imagine how great it will be with you as my wife, but I want to find out—soon. Serenity Renae Monroe, you have been my most valuable asset at work and now my heart. Will you do me the honor of making this permanent by becoming my wife?”

Her head nodded rapidly as she bit her bottom lip while tears poured from her eyes.

“Say something, crazy!” Taylor yelled, nudging her sister and making her laugh.

“Yes,” she almost whispered, tugging me up and into her arms. “A million times yes.”

As I slipped the ring onto her finger, our families cheered. I tried to be on my best behavior when I kissed her, but damn if I didn’t want to lay her on this table and feast onher. When we sat back down, she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before making everyone in the room laugh by asking, “Um . . . does this mean I don’t get any crème brûlée?”

The Beginning

Because true love has no end…