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T he second Richard was seated on the bench in the bathroom to do his hair and makeup, Luke snuck out of their suite. As Luke stepped into the hallway, he noted that the scent of fresh paint no longer clung to the air. Rosalind had worked quickly to get a contractor into the house to build a closet for Luke, but things were moving slower in the new office area being set up near the bedrooms.

Plans for furniture, curtains, and all kinds of things Luke had no clue about had been talked about at dinners for many nights. While he had no interest in being part of the project, he loved how enthused the Marwoods were about the venture.

Almost all the Marwoods.

Gabriel and Eric kept as silent as Luke, and they had mild panic in their eyes. Luke understood. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to ask his opinion on any of their choices. He’d already decided that if he was asked, he’d pick something at random.

Shaking off his fear of being included in something so far out of his element, Luke trudged down the stairs and headed for the kitchen. To his delight, it was full of Marwoods chatting.

“I need some help,” Luke announced.

Clark’s black brows shot up. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, do you remember that thing I bought for Richard? I want to give it to him today.”

Rosalind beamed at him. “Wonderful, how can we help?”

“Okay, um, I was thinking…Maribeth, do you have plans for today? If not, could you take Richard out for a while? Maybe some shopping or something.”

Propping a hand on her hip, Maribeth narrowed her brown eyes. “What did you buy Richard?”

“Oh, show her, Lucas, she’ll love it,” Rosalind insisted.

“I need Clark’s help with that,” Luke said. “Where is it?”

“Gabriel, it’s in the safe inside the vault, would you mind grabbing it?” Clark asked.

“Sure, I’ll go get it.”

Eric crossed his arms. “Don’t ask me to go, I don’t trust anyone in this house. You could be tricking me to lock me in the vault.”

“If I thought you needed to be in the vault, there wouldn’t be a discussion or an argument,” Gabriel stated as he headed out of the great room.

“He’s right, Eric. You going into the vault when necessary isn’t optional,” Clark stated.

“Wait,” Luke said, wondering what was going on. “You guys lock Eric up?”

“In a vault ,” Eric replied, emphasizing each word.

“I’m the one who’s confused,” Maribeth said. “Richard didn’t explain the vault to you?”

“I didn’t know there was one in the house,” Luke remarked.

“Bu-wh-excuse me?” Maribeth demanded.

Clark chuckled at her baffled expression. “Lucas, it’s imperative to us that our family is safe. So, whenever Gabriel deems it too dangerous for us to be in the house, we retreat to the vault. It’s for Eric’s protection, and he can stay in there for over a month with food, water, and every other essential.”

“Except, like, the sun,” Eric argued.

“You don’t need the sun, we put Vitamin D3 supplements in there in case you suddenly become less of a necromancer and need human nutrients,” Clark drawled. “And we only did that because of your whining.”

“I hate the vault,” Eric said.

“Too bad. We’d hate if anything happened to you,” Rosalind retorted. “We’ll make sure you know where the vault is and how to access it, Lucas.”

Gabriel returned and handed Luke the jewelry box with Richard’s engagement ring in it. “I guessed that you didn’t need the rest of what was in the bag.”

“No, not today.”

Maribeth sucked in a breath and pointed at the jewelry box. “Is that an engagement

ring ?”

“Wait until you see it, Mari,” Eric said.

“Open it already, Lucas,” Maribeth demanded.

Happy to oblige, Luke grinned as he flipped the lid up. “What do you think?”

Her mouth dropped open. She shut it with a snap. “He’s going to fucking love this! Oh, you and Gabriel have set such a high bar for rings. Once my soulmate shows up, she better have her shit together and buy me one that’s as perfect for me. She’s gonna have to do it. I thought it’d be me, but now I’m too scared. I can’t pick out jewelry this nice.”

“Yes, you can,” Rosalind assured her as she wrapped an arm around Maribeth’s shoulders. “You’ll know exactly what suits her and will pick out what’s right. I believe in you.”

Maribeth held Rosalind close by resting a hand on her waist. “Oh, Lucas, Richard will lose his mind when you give him this. He’ll be showing it off to every person he passes.”

“I just hope he says yes,” Luke said.

“ Please ,” Maribeth replied with a roll of her eyes. “He adores you. And honestly, even if he hated you, he might marry you to get his hands on this ring.”

Clark laughed. “I don’t know if that’s true, but you’re right about Lucas not having anything to worry about.”

“Okay, so I’m taking him shopping. How long do you want us gone? Like, are grabbing lunch? Should we be getting our nails done? He’s nosy as fuck, so I need to have plans on how to keep him distracted.”

“At first I thought of a romantic meal, but I may throw up,” Luke said. “Mostly because you’re right. Richard will know I have something on my mind, and he’ll ask me so many questions that I’ll get queasy.”

Rosalind clasped her hands together. “I think Richard would appreciate having his family there.”

“More like Mom doesn’t want to miss it,” Eric muttered.

“You had everyone when I asked you,” Gabriel replied.

Maribeth walked over and smacked Gabriel’s arm. “No, he didn’t, Gabriel. I was sleeping. I missed the whole fucking thing. Richard had to give me an entire play-by-play that night because you and Eric were otherwise occupied.”

Gabriel’s shoulders sagged. “Sorry, Maribeth, I didn’t mean to exclude you.”

“I forgive you,” Maribeth commented and pulled Gabriel into a big hug. A second later, she whipped to face Luke. “However, I won’t be so kind to the next person in this family who gets engaged without me.”

“You’ll be there,” Luke promised. “I guess everyone can be there. It needs to be romantic too. Richard deserves romance.”

“We’ll get some flowers,” Gabriel said.

“We could get dressed up,” Eric suggested. “I could play the piano.”

“Excellent idea. We’ll fill the room with candlelight,” Rosalind added.

“Champagne would be a nice touch,” David added.

“Absolutely. We could call the pastry shop at the resort and order some delicious things. Nothing too grand, we don’t want anyone to have to scramble.”

Clark pulled out his phone. “Rosalind, what do you want to order? I’ll take care of it.”

“We all love sweets, let them pick whatever they think is best. One of us can pick it up. What else do we need?”

“We’ll figure it out,” Maribeth said as she rushed out of the great room. “Let me go make sure Richard wears waterproof mascara so he doesn’t bitch later.”

“Thanks, Maribeth,” Luke called after her.

“My pleasure, I can’t wait to see his face when he sees that ring.”

“If she keeps yelling like that, she’s going to ruin the surprise,” Eric muttered.

“You go tell her that. If I complain, she’ll give me an entire dissertation on why I couldn’t possibly be right,” Clark complained with a grin that refuted his words.

“Yes, you have such a tough life,” Rosalind drawled. “Anyway, let’s get this evening planned. Lucas wants Richard to have a special moment to cherish forever.”

Luke was delighted and overwhelmed by the fabulous family he had stumbled into thanks to destiny’s choice to give him Richard. He hoped no one would mind if he shed a few tears throughout the day as he prepared to take this enormous, wonderful step toward a future as Richard’s husband.

???

Something was going on. Maribeth wasn’t fooling Richard. He’d been rushed out of the house to spend his entire day shopping, eating, and being pampered. While Richard enjoyed those things, the sheer number of hours they’d spent away from the house raised his suspicions. Lucas reported in his texts that nothing unusual was happening at the house, so what was going on?

Had Maribeth changed her mind about staying in Vegas? Was she buttering him up to give him that terrible news? Or did she have something equally awful to announce? Richard couldn’t come up with anything worse than having Maribeth move away again, but his head was also spinning.

His thoughts weren’t at their best. But Richard said nothing as he was dragged from shop to restaurant, from lunch to dinner. He had been waxed, manicured, and pedicured. His hair was even trimmed. There were bags of shoes, makeup, clothes, jewelry, and a few home décor items piling up in the limousine's trunk.

Richard couldn’t recall the last time he’d blithely spent so much money, and his father would complain roundly. The specter of a parental rant did nothing to stymie Maribeth’s day. As the sun descended behind the tall mountains of the sandy Nevada mountain ranges surrounding the Las Vegas valley, they finally headed home.

Eager to get to the house, Richard’s priority was to apologize to Lucas for his impromptu disappearance that had turned into a day-long adventure. Hopefully, Lucas had eaten dinner and was ready to spend what was left of the evening in their suite so they could enjoy it together. The second the car pulled to a stop, Richard hopped out and rushed to the trunk to gather his purchases.

“Clark is going to bitch,” Maribeth muttered.

“I told you that about twelve times today.”

“Yeah, I got kinda lost in my plans and didn’t realize how much shit we threw in here.”

Richard bumped her shoulder with his. “At least we picked out some fabulous stuff.”

“We did, didn’t we?”

With a grin, Richard shoved some of the smaller bags into a large one. “I only want to make a single trip into the house.”

Although their inspirit driver tried to help, they shooed him away and grabbed their purchases. They wished him a good night, and Richard would’ve waved at him as he left, but his hands were too full. Instead, he followed Maribeth into the foyer.

The lovely sound of the piano greeted Richard, and he wondered if it was his mother or Eric playing.

“Let’s leave everything here for a minute,” Maribeth suggested, dumping the bags on the floor.

“Are you nuts? If we sneak it upstairs, we can avoid Dad’s wrath.”

“Like he’s not going to demand receipts, get real, Richard.”

To Richard’s shock, Maribeth tugged at the bags he was holding. He tightened his grip. “Knock it off, Mari. I’m not going to leave this shit in the foyer. Are you trying to piss both our parents off? Mom will freak at the mess.”

“Richard, put it down,” Maribeth ordered, and Richard gasped as she yanked again, ripping one of the bags open and scattering lipsticks, clothes, shoe boxes, and several other items across their mother’s pristine foyer.

“Great,” Richard grumbled. “Now, help me clean this up.”

“Lucas,” Maribeth shouted. “Call your damn soulmate into the great room before I deck him.”

“Dragonfly, come in here, please,” Lucas yelled.

Maribeth grabbed the rest of the bags from Richard’s now-limp fingers and set them aside. The last thing Richard wanted to do was make a larger mess, which was why he’d stopped resisting her attempts to steal his bags. She grasped his upper arm with surprising strength.

“Come with me, please,” Maribeth said through her teeth.

Curious to know what was going on and why Lucas had bellowed, Richard went without resistance into the great room. Maribeth released him, and Richard stood, confused. The space was beautifully lit with dozens of candles. Eric’s elegant playing of Chopin added to the romantic ambiance. So did the floral bouquets, the chilling champagne bottles, and the delectable treats spread across the dining table.

Everyone except himself and Maribeth were dressed in evening attire. Lucas was divine in a black suit that he’d paired with a shirt and tie nearly the same gorgeous shade of gray as his eyes. For a moment, Richard wasn’t sure what was going on. But his hand flew to his mouth as Lucas approached him, then bent to balance himself on one knee.

Lucas’s incredible gaze was solemn and filled with so much affection that Richard couldn’t help but weep with joy that he was lucky enough to have found him.

“Dragonfly, destiny made us soulmates, but I like to think the love between us was something we built together. Your sass, confidence, beauty, and enormous heart have enriched my life beyond measure. Before we met, I didn’t know it was possible for two people to care for each other unconditionally. Although I can’t wrap my head around eternity or how lucky I am to have you, I’d like to ask you to be my husband. Will you marry me?”

Richard was so focused on the strong planes of Lucas’s handsome face, he didn’t notice Lucas was holding anything until he flipped the lid on the box. The ring was a magnificent creation that suited Richard as flawlessly as Lucas did.

Reaching out, Richard cupped Lucas’s jaw in both his hands.

“I’d love to be your husband.”

Quickly rising to his feet, Lucas hauled Richard close so that his boots dangled in the air, and their lips met in a solid kiss that told the necromancer he wasn’t imagining the past few moments. Lucas’s proposal with his entire family present was a dream come true.

“My legs are fucking shaking,” Lucas commented. “Thank you. I love you.”

“No, thank you,” Richard replied, caressing his cheek. “I love you too.”

Closing his eyes, Richard wrapped his arms securely around Lucas and held on. He’d been a fool to think it wasn’t necessary to find his soulmate. But it was easy to understand how he’d grown so deluded. Richard hadn’t imagined he’d wind up with someone as kind, gentle, loving, and remarkable as Lucas.

Eventually, he pulled away and smiled at Lucas. The inspirit grinned back. Their lips met in another kiss. This time, the caress was soft, slow, and as romantic as everything else Lucas had put together.

“Do you want to put on the ring now?” Lucas whispered.

Adoring him, Richard laughed. “Are you kidding? Did you see how fucking beautiful that thing is? Absolutely.”

Richard was gently set on the floor, and Lucas pushed the gorgeous ring onto his trembling finger. It was a perfect fit.

“Are those dragonfly wings?” Richard asked.

“They are to me.”

Richard put his arms around Lucas again. “The stone is purple like the first flowers you bought me. The rest is black and white, like our souls. Plus, there are dragonfly wings on it. You couldn’t have picked out anything better for me. This is perfect. You’re perfect.”

“Do you forgive me for having Maribeth drag you all over the city today so we could set this up?” Lucas asked with his one-dimpled smile.

“Yes, but Dad might not when he finds out how much money we spent.”

“Let’s not discuss it. I’d like to enjoy tonight without my blood pressure rising,” Clark drawled. “Have a glass of champagne. You two have earned it, and congratulations.”

Richard had to release Lucas briefly to hug his family, but he was soon at his fiancé’s side again. “Thanks, Mari, it must’ve been killing you to keep this secret to yourself all day.”

“You have no idea,” Maribeth said, then swigged half her champagne glass down in a single swallow. “I saw the ring before I left. It took every bit of self-control I possess not to brag about how beautiful it was and how great your Lucas is at picking jewelry.”

“I appreciate how much effort everyone put into today,” Richard said, happy tears falling from his eyes as he surveyed the cheerful faces of his family. As for his soulmate, Lucas’s heart was there in his gaze. “I’ll cherish you forever, Lucas.”

“I feel the same way about you, Dragonfly.”