Page 100 of Secret Seduction

She chokes out a laugh mixed with a sob.

“I was thinking maybe I could come home for spring break …”

I love that she called it home. I don’t know if she’s referring to Harbor Point or my condo, but either way, I love it.

“You’re always welcome here.”

She releases a sob. “Lorenzo, I don⁠—”

Before she can say something she’ll regret, I cut her off with a kiss that turns into another round of sex.

We’re just getting out of the shower when Leo wakes up and calls out for us.

“Mama! Dada!”

Vanessa looks like she’s about to cry at the name he’s dubbed her with, so I pull her into my arms and kiss her temple.

“Breathe, baby. We’re all going to be okay. Now, let’s go see if Santa came.”

Santa did, in fact, come. The look on Vanessa’s face when she glanced at all the presents under the tree was worth getting up in the middle of the night, after she was asleep, and setting them out. She’d told me that her mother never gave her a Christmas. That from an early age, she told her that Santa didn’t exist and her gift from her mom was her life.

As we help Leo open his toys, Vanessa doesn’t leave his side. She snaps picture after picture, and while she has a smile plastered on her face, I can see the underlying sadness.

Even when she opens a new bottle of her favorite perfume that I got for her and thanks me, she looks equal parts happy and sad.

“I didn’t make this,” she says, handing me a thin rectangular box. “But I personalized it.”

I rip off the wrapping paper and open the box, and nestled inside is a black tie with gold playing cards all over it.

“To match my necklace,” she says with a soft smile.

“I love it.”

I wear ties to work every day, and I have a feeling when she’s gone, I’ll be wearing this one often.

“It’s engraved,” she notes.

I flip it over and read the script—Always under the same sky.

“I came across that quote the other day, and it made me think of us,” she says, her cheeks flushing a beautiful shade of pink. “We might be thousands of miles apart, but we’re still under the same sky.”

Fuck, this woman.

Reaching around, I fist the back of her head and tug her toward me for a kiss. “Thank you,” I murmur against her lips before I pull back and grab her gift.

“For you,” I say, handing her the box. “It’s not really a gift, but …” I shrug.

She slowly opens it, and when she sees the contents, tears stream down her face. She met with my legal team and discussed her opening an LLC in her name, but she told them she’d have to wait since she didn’t have the money to move forward. So, I did it for her.

“Vanessa Baker Incorporated,” I say. “Everything is set up. I used my business address so you can file in Florida every year until you figure out where you’re going to settle down.”

“Lorenzo,” she whispers just before she throws herself into my arms, “I don’t know how to thank you. And not just for this, but for believing in me and my dreams.”

“You never have to thank me,” I tell her, inhaling her floral scent. “Just follow your dreams, baby. Watching you succeed is all I need in return.”

She pulls back and locks eyes with me. “I will,” she says with renewed strength in her tone. “I will succeed.”

“Damn right you will,” I tell her, pulling her back into my arms. “You will succeed.”