Page 112 of Lorenzo

Lorenzo stares out at the boy for a beat, a metallic, flashing grin cutting across his handsome face.

There is only the briefest consultation in his own mind before he speaks.

“You can call me Dad,” Lorenzo shouts back over the roar of the waves. “If you want.”

Teddy’s eyes go wide. “Really?”

I turn to my husband, utterly startled, my eyes stinging with sudden, emotional tears.

“Really?” I whisper.

Lorenzo pulls me closer, his eyes locked onto mine with absolute, permanent devotion. “Really. I mean it.”

Teddy comes running up from the water, cold and shivering, his bare feet kicking up wet sand.

I am quick to rise, grabbing a heavy, sun-warmed towel from the cabana rack and wrapping it tightly around his fragile shoulders.

Lorenzo watches us both, a quiet, uncharacteristic humility softening his rugged, dangerous features.

I bet he’s wondering if he could be a good father to Teddy.

It’s a big responsibility for a man who, not too long ago, was one of Manhattan’s most notorious playboys.

Well, we’ll see how it all spins out.

CHAPTER 49

LORENZO

Later that night, Emily and I stand once again on our private terrace, looking out over the Atlantic.

Teddy is fast asleep in the resort suite behind us.

We watch the pale, brilliant moonlight settle over the dark, rolling water of the Atlantic.

“I am still thinking about what Teddy said today,” I say quietly, breaking the silence as we look out over the waves.

“About being a father, I want to do right by him, Emily,” I say.

Even as I speak the words, I know I’m thinking of my own childhood and how I was shortchanged a parent by my mother’s early death.

“And I want to do right by you.”

She smiles at me. Then she slides her warm, small hands up my chest and snuggles deeply into my arm.

When she buries her face against my neck, I enjoy the moment.

Then I turn to her.

“I’d like to adopt him. Make him formally my son. Is that okay for you?”

She turns to me. “He couldn’t ask for a better father. I love you so much.”

I tighten my grip on her waist, pulling her flush against me.

“But that doesn’t preclude me from taking you on a romantic vacation in Capri, does it? Having you all to myself for a week doesn’t make me a selfish dad, right?”

“Oh! Lorenzo!”