The Broken One (Corisi Billionaires, #1)(68)

Erica hugged me. “I don’t think you’ll be moving farther than that house you run off to with him at lunch. Didn’t you say it’s massive?”

“It is.”

“And halfway between here and his family.”

“That’s true.”

“And you love it there.”

I blushed. “I do. Although some of the rooms would need a lock.”

She cocked her head to the side. I hadn’t shared everything with her. “It’s not all child appropriate.”

Her eyes rounded. “Girl, have you been holding out on me? Oh, we’ll be talking more about this house tomorrow. But for right now, stand up. Let me see what you’re wearing.”

I did. Although I had a dress in my hands, I was wearing nice slacks and a silk shirt. “I get the feeling his family is on the traditional side, so maybe I should wear the dress.”

“Which one are you more comfortable in?”

“I wear skirts all week. I prefer slacks on the weekend.”

She pulled the dress out of my hands with a smile and tossed it in the air behind her. “Decision made.”

And just like that I was smiling too.

“Mommy, Sebastian is here,” Ava called up the stairs. “He brought flowers.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Erica chided. “Get down there.”

I rushed halfway down the stairs but came to a stop when I saw him standing just inside the door. He was giving Ava and Charlotte flowers from my bouquet as they laughed and danced around him. When he looked up, the love in his eyes washed over me, and I felt like the bride he was about to ask me to be.

One lost stuffed animal.

One knock on the door.

That was all it had taken to change the course of my life.

Brenda, maybe, just maybe, I’m beginning to believe in fate too.

“Ready?” he asked.

“I am,” I said, and suddenly I was. “Erica’s here.”

“Hey, Erica,” Sebastian said. “How’s Bob’s arm?”

“Better every day. He said he’d love for us to all go somewhere together. Mini golf?”

“I’m in,” Sebastian said and actually sounded like it might be something he’d do.

“Me too,” Ava said. “Can we go now?”

“Not today,” he answered. “We’re going to see my family, remember?”

“Oh yes. Do they play mini golf?” Ava circled back to the important part of the conversation.

“Not recently, but I bet they would if you asked them to.”

Erica came to stand beside me. Her expression said, “See.”

I did. She was right; there was no way that day would end without me dropping by her house to show off my ring.



I expected the Romano family home to be ostentatious, a sprawling estate with stone walls and a gate like the home Sebastian and I had made into our romantic getaway spot. Yet though it was a beautiful home set in the middle of a well-maintained acre or so of a yard, it could have belonged to any middle-class family.

We were the only car in the driveway when we pulled in. Clutched in my hands was the bottle of Italian wine I’d brought for his parents.

Sebastian put a hand on my arm. “There’s nothing to worry about. They are going to love you because I do.”

Ava chimed in between the seats. “You love my mom, Sebastian?”

He chuckled. “I do, peanut.”

“I love her too,” Ava said cheerfully.

“She’s pretty great,” Sebastian said, then opened his car door. “Ava, you might not want to bring your stuffed animals in. My mother told me they have something in the house that might chew them up.”

“Like a lion?” Ava asked.

He walked around to open my door and Ava’s. “Smaller. I told my mother I missed Digger, and she took that to mean it was time for our family to get another dog. I believe they got a golden retriever.”

“For themselves?” I asked as we walked up the driveway to the steps.

Sebastian held out his hands as if at a loss. “Hard to say. I told them we don’t have room for a puppy right now.”

“It’s a puppy?” Ava squealed. “A real puppy? For me?”

“Oh, hon, I don’t think it’s for us. But I’m sure they’ll let you play with it,” I said.

The door opened, and a tall woman with dark hair waved us in. Sebastian’s father smiled at us over her shoulder. His hair was brown rather than black, and I had expected him to also have Sebastian’s dark-gray eyes, but he didn’t. He looked a good ten years older than his wife but still healthy and active.

“Mom. Dad. This is Heather and her daughter, Ava. Heather, this is my mother, Camilla, and my father, Basil.”

My heart warmed when Sebastian ducked down for his mother to give him a kiss on the forehead. His father hugged him as well. It was the kind of welcome I’d always imagined other families had.

I was taken by surprise by the hug his mother pulled me in for. It wasn’t unpleasant, just unexpected. She released me before I had time to regain my balance. Sebastian took the bottle of wine from me, which was a good thing because I’d forgotten I was holding it.

His father took my hand between both of his and simply held it for a moment. “We are so happy to meet you, Heather.”