Page 100 of Tragic Empire

He stiffens ever-so slightly. “You wouldn’t want a biological child?”

“Absolutely not,” I reply, my eyes snapping up to meet his. “I’m not putting you through that, Cassio. As it is, I’ve never had the dream of carrying my own baby. I’ve always sort of assumed I would adopt one day.”

“I could handle it,” he tells me, the words barely a whisper. “If you wanted to get pregnant, I could give you that.”

“Just because you’re capable of enduring it, doesn’t mean I would want you to. The stress alone would be unbearable. I don’t want you to hurt any more than you want me to hurt. You’re… you’re a wonderful husband, Cassio. I want us to be happy together. I can be happy with or without children, I just wanted to know if adoption was something you can see for us—whether it’s months or years from now.”

“You mean it?”

I really,reallydo.

“My mother adopted me when I was three,” I reveal, fighting a watery smile. “From the same orphanage she grew up in, in Birmingham.”

“I didn’t know you were adopted,” Cassio says quietly.

“Nobody really does,” I explain slowly. “My mom was never adopted, she lived in that place for fourteen years. From age four to eighteen, she watched adoption after adoption and it was never her. She was quite literally a starving artist until she turned twenty-two. This socialite in New York saw one of her paintings while visiting London and her career shot off from there.”

“People have a tendency to fall in love with her work, don’t they?” my husband muses, making my lips tip into a wistful grin.

Nodding softly, I continue. “She told me the first thing she wanted to do when she got her first big check was to go back to the orphanage and take a little girl just like her home. She said when she saw me, three years old with the same dark hair and sad eyes she used to have, she couldn’t let me stay there a second longer. When she found out I was abandoned with no details just like her, it felt like fate.”

“It sounds like fate,” Cassio agrees, squeezing my hand in his.

“She had just moved into her new house,” I keep going, sniffing back the impending emotions. “She didn’t even have a couch yet but I thought it was the most magical place in the world—half-empty or not. She had a huge pink bedroom made for me the very next day.”

Cassio’s thumb traces a small pattern into the back of my hand. “That’s why the orphanage is your passion.”

“And exactly why I don’t need a baby with our DNA to know we could be loving parents one day. We can keep using condoms until you decide you want to do something more permanent to prevent it, but just know, I’m one hundred percent content with this, Cassio. All I need is you.”

“You’re incredible,” he declares, lifting my chin to lock our lips.

The feeling is so mutual.

ChapterThirty-Two

Ana

Unbridled excitement is bubbling up inside of me as I step inside the brickstone building, hearing the familiar sounds of children laughing and playing. Pulling Cassio behind me by the hand, I eagerly approach the front desk of St. Mary’s, smiling as I lock eyes with a friendly face.

“Ana!” Heather squeaks happily, her kind brown eyes lighting up. “I can’t believe you’re here, I just heard about your donation.” Rounding the counter, the petite woman wraps me in a friendly embrace. “It’s so good to see you, you look amazing.”

“It’s good to see you too.” I smile, as our hug ends. “How are you and Elliot?”

“Same old, same old. He’s growing too fast and I’m trying to keep up.” She rocks on her heels happily, taking note of the man next to me, her brows lift. “And who might this be?”

“Cassio Moretti,” he introduces himself before I can, holding out his hand for a shake. “Ana is my wife.”

Heather’s eyes go round, dropping his hand mid-shake. “Wife?” Blinking at me she stammers, “You got married? To a… to aMoretti?”

I giggle at the way she whispers the name, as if Cassio isn’t right next to me to hear it. “I sure did,” I tell her proudly. “You really need to get on social media, love. You miss everything.”

“I guess so!” She laughs. “Congratulations. You look stunning together. Does he know that he’s absolutely blessed to be with a woman such as yourself?”

“He’s well aware,” Cassio drawls, tucking me into his side.

Both Heather and I chuckle at his possessive move.

“So, tell me, what’s new here? I’ve missed it so much.”