Page 274 of Merciless Daddy

I looked directly at her.

“And I want the woman who could leave if she stopped being happy. Because every version of you is free. Every version gets to choose.”

“Yeah,” Yelena whispered, crying now. “Yes.”

My chest broke open.

“Lena, I have not—”

“Yes.”

“I need to ask—”

“You are asking.”

“No.” I shook my head, and something close to laughter moved through my fear. “Little one. Please. Let me finish.”

She pressed her lips together. Nodded.

I drew in a breath.

“Yelena Lvovna Sokolova, will you marry me?”

“Yes, Salvatore Scordato.” Her voice shook. “I will marry you.”

For a moment, neither of us moved. Then I stood.

She threw herself into my arms before I could put the ring on her hand. I caught her. Held her. Buried my face in her hair while she cried against my neck.

“I love you,” I said.

“I love you too.”

The words were not small.

They were everything.

I took her left hand carefully.

The ring was old. Platinum, softly worn at the edges. The sapphire sat low in its setting, pale blue beneath a halo of tiny diamonds that did not compete with it.

Donatella had found it.

“It looks like her,” she had said, standing in a private jeweler’s office with the expression of someone being held hostage by sentiment. “Not like your fucking bank account.”

I had bought it before she could insult me further.

Now I slid it onto Yelena’s finger.

It fit.

Of course it fit. I had known her size from one of the rings she wore on her other hand. Still, when the metal settled against her skin, I had to swallow hard.

Yelena lifted her hand toward the terrace light.

The sapphire caught the glow.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.