Chapter 11 - THE SHOES APPEARED AGAIN
Sophia noticed the bedroom door slightly open.
On the floor sat Emma’s familiar black heels.
Beside Matteo’s polished shoes.
Months earlier, Sophia would have walked inside and begun planning a wedding before breakfast.
This time she smiled.
Then gently pulled the door almost closed.
Inside, sunlight crossed the sheets.
Emma was awake.
Matteo slept beside her with one arm around her waist.
She remembered the first morning.
Panic.
Wrong key.
Wrong room.
Wrong assumption.
Now she looked at Matteo’s sleeping face.
All the hardness disappeared.
His eyes opened.
“You’re staring.”
“You’re in my bed.”
“Your bed?”
“I’ve claimed it.”
“That sounds territorial.”
“I learned from an expert.”
He pulled her closer.
Emma laughed.
Then noticed something on the bedside table.
A small black velvet box.
Her laughter stopped.
Matteo followed her gaze.
For perhaps the first time since Emma had known him, Matteo Romano looked nervous.
“You said no surprises.”
“I lied.”
“Not an encouraging beginning.”
He reached for the box.
Emma caught his wrist.
“Wait.”
He froze.
“Your mother is outside.”
Silence.
Then came a small sound from the hallway.
Someone retreating badly.
Emma burst out laughing.
Matteo closed his eyes.
“Mother.”
Sophia’s innocent voice floated through the door.
“I heard nothing.”
“You were listening.”
“I was leaving.”
“You stopped outside the door.”
“I paused while leaving.”
Emma collapsed against Matteo laughing.
Even he smiled.
Then his expression changed.
He opened the box.
Inside was a simple diamond ring.
Not enormous.
Not an heirloom.
No family politics attached.
Something chosen because it looked like Emma.
Months earlier, she had entered this room because a brass key opened the wrong door.
Now Matteo took her hand.
“Emma Collins.”
“Yes?”
“I prepared this carefully.”
“That concerns me.”
“Please stop interrupting.”
“No promises.”
He almost smiled.
Then one of Chicago’s most feared men asked the only question his money and power could never answer for him.
“Will you marry me?”
Emma looked at him.
“One condition.”
His eyes narrowed.
“One?”
“Several.”
“Of course.”
“No contract.”
“Agreed.”
“I keep my career.”
“Obviously.”
“I make my own decisions.”
“Yes.”
“And when I say no—”
Matteo went completely still.
He remembered the first morning.
The shoe thrown at his head.
Two million dollars rejected.
Her hand on the doorknob.
You should learn what no sounds like.
His expression softened.
“When you say no, I listen.”
Emma smiled.
“Yes.”
A scream of happiness exploded from the hallway.
Matteo stared at the door.
Emma laughed.
Sophia shouted:
“I’m calling your aunt!”
“Mother!”
“And the florist!”
“There is no date!”
“There will be!”
May you like
For once, Matteo Romano had absolutely no control over his household.
Emma considered it excellent practice.
