Page 215 of Love Arranged

I never thought I’d see the day where Lorenzo asked Julian for his opinion on anything, but turns out the twocanget along, although I’m not sure they’d ever build another house together. Apparently Julian didn’t appreciate the way Lorenzo was always breathing down his neck, making sure everything down to the grout color matched my vision for our future home.

Now that our lives are settled, we finally sat down to plan our honeymoon.

With our schedules fully cleared for the first time since Lorenzo’s victory speech, I’m looking forward to some alone time with myhusband.

Lorenzo doesn’t so much as grumble when he lifts my massive, overweight luggage off the conveyer belt, although his arms strain when he has to roll it through the busy train station and carry it up the platform steps once we arrive at the city center.

He curses in Italian more than once while I push his cute little carry-on luggage around with a smile. Once we arrive at our hotel, he lets out a relieved sigh, only to have it cut short when I nearly get mowed down by a bicycle.

He doesn’t let go of my hand after that, and he spends the entire check-in and ride up to our hotel room quietly processing the incident.

“I’ll be more careful next time, baby,” I try to reassure him. “I didn’t realize I was standing in the middle of a bike lane.”

He locks the door behind us and triple-checks the lock before turning to face me. “This trip is going to send me straight back to therapy.”

He has no idea.

“How’s your anxiety?” I offer him a compassionate smile because yes, there is a chance he might have to discuss a few new worries with his therapist once we return home.

He shoots me a look. “Itwasbetter, but now that you almost died from a bicycle…”

I gape at him. “Died? Don’t be dramatic.”

“Did you see how fast he was pedaling? The person had to be clocking forty miles an hour.”

I laugh from the absurdity of that comment. “Uh, no. I was too busy being saved by my husband to notice.” I throw my arms around his neck and pull him in for a hug. “You’re my hero.”

His eyes soften at the corners. “I can’t be around to protect you twenty-four seven.”

“No, but for the next two weeks, you’re all mine,husband.”

His mouth finds mine as he steals a passionate kiss that ends all too soon. “Firstbaby. Nowhusband. What’s next?”

“How aboutdaddy?” I tease.

He chokes on air. “On second thought, let’s stick with those two.”

Screw it.

I had this entire plan set up with a photographer, but I don’t think I can hold the secret in any longer, especially if I randomly get nauseous during the day. So, with a shaky hand, I reach inside my purse and pull out a grainy black-and-white photo. “At least you have eight months to change your mind.”

His face goes completely blank, the span between eye-blinks being few and far between.

“Lorenzo?”

I might’ve officially broken his brain because he saysnothing.

“You good?” I ask.

With a shaky hand, he reaches for the photo. “You’re…”

“Pregnant.” I point at the little dot. “And this right here is Lorenzo Junior.” A nervous laugh bubbles out of me.

He draws a circle around our baby. “Isn’t it too soon to tell?”

I pat my stomach. “I’ve got a feeling about it.”

He stares at my belly as he slides to his knees in front of me, his eyes full of wonder. My own blur from tears as I watch Lorenzo gently brush his hand across my nonexistent bump.