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“You cannot be serious?”

“Baby, you need to get used, to it,” Lorenzo says, before holding my chin. Ever so softly, he kisses my cheek, and he whispers close. “I refuse to live without you!”

I watch him closely, and he looks completely serious.

“I’ve never had this, just so you know. A real relationship. That means everything to me. Everything in the world. I’ll never love another, Storm. This is it, for me! I will be yours forever.”

I am still processing it, when he drops this on me. “There is no one else like you, and there never will be anyone else like you. You’re perfect, you’re one in a billion.”

My stomach flips and I don’t know what to say.

“I will love you, protect you, and worship you, for the rest of your life.”

My mouth is open, but no words are coming out. As I wipe a tear with the back of his hand, Lorenzo kisses my knuckles.

Before I can think straight, this comes out. “What about the bird?”

“It comes with us.”

“What?”

“It won’t leave, babe. And I’m guessing, it wants to be part of the family. Whether we like it or not, the Peregrine is now with us.”

I shake my head, at the madness. Yesterday, I was single, and now this…

Lorenzo walks to the bathroom sink, and he returns with hot water on a towel. As the last of the rays stream in the window, he wipes me down with perfect care, and attention. His eyes sweep over every inch of me, and he does it like I’m the last person on earth.

“And we’ll need kids.”

“What?”

“One day, we will need children.”

“Are… Are you crazy?” I say, suddenly unsure.

Lorenzo lifts my chin, and he is gentle, and perfect. “Sweetheart, I never had a family. I need one, and I need you. I want to build a family with you. I love you, and I always will.”

I wipe another tear from my face, and I pull him in close. “I love you too,” I say, finally caving.

We kiss, and hold each other close, as if we’ll never ever let go. That’s because we won’t.

Not now.

47

LORENZO

We fly home to NYC, and we take our time as we head north. It gives us time to catch up, and after landing on our helipad, we settle in. I was right, and the Peregrine looks like it wants to stick around. When not flying about NYC, it perches on top of one of the old eagle statues.

While watching over Manhattan, I figure, like us, it enjoys the city buzz, between weekends up the coast.

Storm and I build a custom sleeping hutch for it, where it can roost, and sleep.

The rooftop hutch fits in with the rest of the furniture, and penthouse, and it feels right.

Storm gets more design work, after she quit her library job. She is now completely free, to do what she wants, and when she wants.

I help her convert a large room in the oversized penthouse into a design studio, and she digs in fast.