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I place my hand in his, my breath catching as he gently but firmly pulls me to my feet. He guides me out onto the balcony. I frown as I glimpse a covered easel tucked off to the side. It had been out of sight from where I was sitting.

“What is that?”

Michail doesn’t answer. He pulls out his phone and taps the screen. A moment later, music fills the air. Deep, seductive. He moves next to the easel.

“I remember so many things about our night together. One of them was dancing under the stars with you.”

I glance up at the sky, giving myself a much-needed break from gazing at my husband and fighting the urge to go to him. “Hard to see stars in the city.”

“It is. So I brought the stars to you.”

He pulls the sheet off. I stare at the canvas, navy blue dotted with silver. As I step closer, I see the date at the bottom.

“Is that…?”

“A map of the stars from the night we met.”

My hear twists in my chest as my pulse starts to pound. “Michail…”

He crosses to me, slowly easing one arm around my waist as he captures my hand in the other. We begin to dance, swaying, our bodies drifting closer as the music weaves a spell that brings my past and present together in a moment so emotionally powerful I want to cry.

Michail rests his cheek against my hair.

“What I should have told you that night was how much you fascinated me. How much I wanted to get to know you. Not just your body, but you, Alessandra.” He leans back so I can see his eyes, see his feelings blazing with pale blue fire. “I told myself I felt that way because I was raw from talking to Lucifer. More susceptible to emotions I didn’t normally allow myself to feel. But it wasn’t that. It was you. We should have woken up the next morning tangled up in each other so tight we’d have known right then we couldn’t let each go.”

“I wanted to stay.” I blink back hot tears. “But I didn’t want to be that woman.”

“I know. I didn’t give you a choice.” He lays his forehead against mine. “I have been hoping and praying for days that you will give me one more chance. That you’ll choose me just one more time. I will do everything in my power to be more open, to show you I trust you, I believe in you, and most importantly,” he says as he stops our dancing and lifts a hand to my face, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear, “that I love you.”

I suck in a shuddering sob.

“What?”

“I love you, Alessandra. Lexi.” His hand cradles my face. I lean into his touch. “I didn’t understand why the memory of you drove me crazy, why it hurt so much when I thought you had been working with Lucifer. But I know now that it’s because I fell in love with you that first night. I fell and I’ve kept falling the more and more I’ve gotten to know you.” He touches his forehead to mine. “Please tell me it’s not too late.”

Slowly, I reach out and grab his other hand. I place it on my stomach and lay my hand on top of his.

“I’m scared.”

“I am, too. But I’m here. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. I will be here for you, for the baby.”

“Our baby.”

He leans back, his eyes wide. “That’s the first time you referred to him as ours.”

I nod. “I thought I’d repeated my mother’s mistakes by falling in love with you.” I reach up and trace a finger over his lips. “I knew on our honeymoon. But I didn’t want to push you. When you were so angry…” I shake my head. “I was holding your reaction up to how I felt.”

“You had every right to.”

“To a point,” I agree. “But I did walk away. I nearly repeated my mother’s pattern in the worst way possible. I almost lost out on a lifetime with you because I was scared.”

He crushes me to him. “Alessandra…”

“I don’t want to get a divorce, Michail.” I reach up and place my hands on his face. “I want to be your wife. I want to raise our son together, and maybe another baby or two. I want to be by your side as you grow your business, and I want you by mine as I work toward my own goals. I want…” My voice cracks. “I just want you. Always you.”

He leans down and kisses me, a searing kiss I feel all the way to my soul. As we stand there, bodies warmed by the setting sun and each other, I know I’ve found my happily-ever-after.

EPILOGUE