Page 136 of Effortless

“Surprise,” he murmured once more.

“Last night when we Skyped, did I tell you how much I loved you?”

“A little.”

Camilla turned, and found Tommaso still watching her and grinning in that way of his. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him in for a hard, fast kiss. Too soon, she was pulling away because of their audience of one. They didn’t need to be giving August a show.

“Love you,” Camilla said.

Tommaso stroked the pad of his thumb across her whispering lips. “Say it again, Cam.”

She did.

Only for him.

Two months later …

“Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you.”

Camilla stayed hidden in the shadows of the hallway as her mother and father danced together in the living room. A sweet slow dance that had her mother wrapped in her father’s arms as the two swayed to the song. A song her father had been singing to her mother.

The sight was cute enough for her not to intrude. It certainly wasn’t the first time she had seen something like this between her parents. Calisto was not the kind of man who hid his affections, but especially not inside his home.

The love her parents shared was the one and only reason Camilla actually believed such a thing existed before she had experienced it herself.

That a man could love a woman so wholly, so entirely, and with everything he was that nothing could ever compare. That he could love her so much, she would become his entire world, and no one else would ever be able to ruin it.

She believed in love because of them.

Now, she knew love was real because of Tommaso.

“Want me to sing it again?” Calisto asked.

Emma’s laughter rang out light and sweet. “To what, remind me that I’m getting older by the day, Cal?”

“Never. My beautiful Emma.”

Her mother smiled softly. “Mmhmm.”

Calisto pressed a kiss to Emma’s nose. “Yes, mmhmm. Even when I didn’t know, you were still mine, amore.”

“You are something else.”

“You love it, though.”

In that moment, so much of Camilla’s own characteristics stared back at her. The playful banter. Affection, sweetness, and love.

All of it, really.

Camilla figured—as much as she didn’t want to interrupt their moment—she better make her presence known before the two went any further. While this moment was cute and sweet between her parents, she wasn’t interested in anything their tones suggested.

She loved her parents, though.

Camilla cleared her throat, and neither of her parents seemed very surprised to see her standing in the entryway. Emma shot her a smile, while Calisto continued hugging his wife.

“Happy birthday, Ma.”

Emma preened. “Thank you, baby.”