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Holding the box in both hands, I offered it to her.
She blinked with excited surprise and did her best to dust off her croissant crumbs. “Should I open it?”
Her naivete and innocence still fucking killed me. So goddamned cute it made my heart hurt.
“That’s the idea. But let me ask you first. Your family, your royal family, did any of them wear a crown?”
She shook her head, looking exasperated. “I’ve only seen paintings. I’ve never met the rest of my father’s family, not since he scandalized them by marrying my mother.” She glanced off to the side, narrowing her eyes slightly as she looked back in her memories. “Of course, there was a crown on my paternal grandmother’s side as well, that’s the side that insisted we keep out titles, otherwise my grandfather would have disowned us completely. But my grandmother had her own wealth when he married her, her own lands. She’s dead now, of course, there was a day of mourning for her, but what did my father say? A small kingdom that doesn’t even exist anymore. Rich, but completely absorbed into Praque when they married. That crown was platinum, with rose gold filigree. And diamonds, all these millions of tiny round diamonds. There’s a painting still hanging in my father’s house, of a woman who’s supposedly my great-great-great grandmother or something. Apparently nobody has any idea what happened to the crown in the picture. The painting is completely worthless, otherwise it probably would have been used to pay off gambling debts.” Valeria rolled her eyes. “But apparently he can see his mother in that woman. And she’s so beautiful. Honestly, you’ve never seen anything as beautiful.”
Fuck yes, I had. There was no jewel on the planet that could compete with her beauty, but now wasn’t the time to fight about that.
Without another word, I flipped open the box. Inside sat that very same platinum gold crown with rose gold details, encrusted in thousands of pinhead-sized diamonds.
Her expression was absolute, utter surprise. “Vasile, how did you….”
Placing the box on the bed, I lifted the crown out of it. “Turns out your family and mine have been playing poker for a long time. Your great-grandfather lost it to my great-great uncle in a poker game. My mother told me about it on the eve of our wedding. A gift. Sealing our families together. For good this time. Since the minute I met you, I knew this was destined to be yours. I’m just fucking grateful to be the one that gets to return it to you.”
Valeria stood before me, misty-eyed, blinking back tears as she smiled up at me. Carefully, tenderly, I placed the crown on her head and then knelt at her feet.
I took her hand in mine and kissed it. “You might be a princess, but you are my Queen. I promise to spend my life honoring you and protecting you. And loving you. Forever.”
Valeria let out an embarrassed, tearful gasp, and gripped my arms to pull me up to standing. Then she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me, with her tears between our lips. And my tears, too.
CHAPTER 37
Valeria
18 Months Later
Vasile lay in bed naked beside me, resting his ear to my round belly, listening to the baby. I gently ran my fingers through his hair, noticing for the first time a few silver hairs in his sideburns.
I wasn’t sure how it was possible, but every single day he seemed to be even sexier than the last. And every single day I grew to love him more than I ever thought possible.
The baby kicked. I watched Vasile’s face light up and he whispered, “Holy shit. He’s strong,” glancing at me with the most contented, delighted twinkle in his eye.
I nodded at him, biting my tongue, waiting for the little one to do it again. The baby knew when Vasile was nearby, I was sure of it, and I could almost imagine chubby baby thighs kicking with joy when she felt him listening for her.
“You know it’ll be a girl, don’t you?” I whispered.
He narrowed his eyes, pretending to be all stern and angry. “It’ll be a boy. I keep telling you. The first one will be a boy.”
I shook my head, snuggling into the pillows that surrounded me and propped me up.
“Nope. Girl. I can see her in my dreams already.”
Vasile wasn’t buying it. He replied with a scowl, a flutter of his jaw muscles, and a low, growly, “Wanna bet?”
“Don’t you dare,” I said, teasing him, pretending to be angry and disapproving. All that was just for show. I knew he wouldn’t, never again. He’d given me his word and had stood by it. Just as he had stood by me and always would.
Vasile laughed a little and calmed me down with a wink. He placed his big hands on either side of my belly, gently stroking my skin, looking as blissful as I had ever seen him.
