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“How’s your nose?” My voice was muffled against his shirt.

“Healing,” he replied. “It’s no big deal.”

“It was for me,” I said. “You saved my life. Again. Thanks.”

He lifted his head. “Oh, yeah. Speaking of which.” His voice was disapproving. “Why the hell are you here alone? It’s not safe. I just came here from your sister’s house. Nell and Vivi told me you’d come here.”

“Don’t start with me,” I said. “I’ve been very good, for the most part. I just needed to be alone tonight. I was in a mood.”

He looked dubious. “What mood is that?”

“That question is off limits,” I said crisply.

He was silent, pondering that. “Okay. So how did it all go, anyhow?”

“How did what go?”

“The gig. Peter and Enid. The Jericho. Are they mega superstars now?”

“Not one bit of sarcasm out of you, Knightly.”

He lifted his hands in quick surrender. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound sarcastic.”

“It went well,” I said coolly. “Huge boost for both their careers. Yay, them.”

“Ah. Well, good. I’m happy for them. And you.”

I smiled at his careful, kid-gloves tone. “That’s very big of you, Liam.”

“I hope they appreciate you now.”

“Hmm,” I said. “About that. The truth is, we’ve parted ways. I no longer manage Peter and Enid.”

His stunned silence filled the room. “You did what? ”

I shrugged, sighing out excess tension. “I had a sort of epiphany,” I admitted. “I realized that they didn’t deserve the energy I gave them. So I withdrew it.”

“Right when they hit the big time,” he said, in a wondering voice.

“Yep.” My voice was hollow. “Shame about the timing, but hey. There’s never a good time. Like a guy I know once told me. Sometimes you just have to put your foot down.”

“Funny you should say that,” he said. “Myself, I’ve been working on the concept of compromise.”

“Really?” My heart thudded. “And how do you feel about it these days?”

“It’s not quite as horrible as I thought,” he said. “It hasn’t killed me yet. To my continuing surprise.”

“Good to know,” I said. “I’m really happy for you.”

A couple of silent, charged minutes went by, and I gently brushed my fingertips against the bruises under his eyes. He seized my hand, kissed it again.

“So, I called my father,” he offered.

That was entirely unexpected. “Did you, now. Why on earth? What came over you?”

I felt him shrug in the darkness. “You know. It was part of the whole compromise thing. I was thinking over the entire arc of my life. If you look at things long enough, you start to see them in a different light.”

“I guess that’s true,” I said. “So? How did your talk with your dad go?”

“It was weird,” he admitted. “Stiff. Awkward. Cringey. But we got through it.”

“What did you talk about? What did he say?”

He kissed her hand again, and a rush of pleasure rippled through me. “It was a short conversation,” he said. “But I asked him if I should send him an invitation to my wedding.”

My jaw dropped. I went stiff. “What?”

“Shit,” Liam muttered. “Sorry. That came out all wrong. I know it’s just a hypothetical thing. Or more like a hopeful, aspirational thing.”

“Hy-hypothetical?”

“Yeah. I told him I’d invite him. If I got lucky.”

I sat there, dumbfounded. He waited patiently, kissing every knuckle of my hand.

Slow, hot, gentle kisses. “Damn it,” he murmured.

“I did this all backwards, with my usual grace. I meant to tell you first that I’ll respect your work and your career, always.

That I admire your drive, and dedication, and I won’t get in your way, that I’m incredibly proud of your achievements. I should have led with that.”

I just shook my head, still speechless.

“I’ll spend my life trying not to fuck this up. Trying to be worthy of you. I love you, Nancy.”

“I love you, too,” I said. “But wait just a goddamn minute.”

“For what?” he said. “You’re my queen. My goddess. Let me love you forever.”

“Liam. One little detail here. You’re still bruised from the first time you had to defend me from Snake Eyes, let alone the second time!”

“So Snake Eyes is his name now?”

“As good a name as any. He’s out there, and he wants something. I can’t give it to him. He’ll never stop coming after us. This is mine and my sisters’ problem, not yours. Backing away from me is the smart thing to do, Liam. Much better for your health. Being with me puts you in danger.”

“I don’t care,” he said. “That day in the parking lot, I got a good, long look at what life would be like for me if Snake Eyes got you. I couldn’t take it. I will not let that happen.”

“But he got my necklace,” I said, my voice bleak. “It was our only clue. Without it, we’ll never solve this puzzle. We’ll always be tense, on edge, waiting for the hammer to come down.”

“I don’t care. I want you. Your problems are now my problems. End of story.”

I sniffed back tears. “That’s extremely romantic, but it doesn’t say much for your judgment, dude.”

“Probably not, but is that a yes? Will you marry me?”

“It means that I love you, certainly. But I just don’t know if I could handle being engaged again.”

“So let’s skip the engaged part, and go straight to the married part,” he suggested. “Let’s run off to Vegas. Tonight. We’ll take a red-eye flight. Go to the courthouse to get the paperwork done tomorrow morning, as soon as we get there.”

I was laughing, tears filling my nose. “For real?”

“For real. We can get married by an Elvis impersonator. Spend three days on a vibrating bed. Play some blackjack. Drink champagne in a hot tub.”

It sounded surreally wonderful. “But what about that invitation to your dad?”

“We’ll do another wedding for your sisters and our friends and my dad,” he said. “This one is just for us. Our hot, sexy, secret elopement. Makes me hard just thinking about it.” He hesitated. “Your schedule permitting, of course,” he added. “It can wait. If you’ve got work commitments.”

“Wow, Liam,” I said demurely. “That speech sounds extremely rehearsed.”

“Is it so obvious? Come on. Give me credit for trying.”

“You can have all the credit you want.” I slid my arms around his waist. “You’re so thin. Have you been eating?”

“Hey. That’s my line.”

“I have to feed you up. There’s this great little Vietnamese place down the block. Great barbecued beef skewers. Killer noodles.”

“Do you have noodles here? Spaghetti, linguini? Some tomato sauce, some garlic?”

“Are you kidding? With a name like D’Onofrio?”

“If we make our noodles here, we can get naked while the water boils,” he said.

She laughed at him. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

“That’s awesome. I’m thrilled. But you still haven’t answered my proposal.”

I threw up my hands. “Liam, I love you. You love me. Isn’t that miracle enough for now? Can’t we just be grateful? Let’s not push our luck!”

He looked mutinous. “I want you to be my wife. I want it all signed and sealed.”

“Hmm,” she murmured. “I thought you were working on the concept of compromise.”

“Sure, but let’s not overdo it.” He touched my face, as carefully as if I were one of Lucia’s orchids.

“I almost lost you. It would have ripped my heart out. I’ll never stop loving you, Nancy.

We can push our luck all we want. For the rest of our lives.

It’s endless. Deeper than the ocean. Wider than the sky. You get me?”

The sweet, hot glow in my chest swelled into something huge, until my heart was about to burst. There was no more room for fear.

“Yes,” I said, reaching for him.

If you want more of the saga of the D’Onofrio stories, don’t miss Edge of Secrets , Book 2 of The Edge Trilogy!

Read on for a tantalizing excerpt...