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“The Jewel of the Sea,” Rafe finished for her. “Yes, it is. I thought long and hard about what I could possibly buy for you that would express my feelings. Diamonds are traditional, of course, but you and I have never been the traditional sorts. Starting our lives together shouldn’t be traditional either. So when I give you a gift, I need it to be something more. Something meaningful.”
“So you found my mother’s stone for me?” Diana almost couldn’t speak over the lump in her throat.
She’d long ago reconciled herself to the reality that the Jewel of the Sea was lost forever. It had been stolen, sold, and likely crossed many paths on the black market since. Something that valuable wasn’t going to be easy to find. Then she’d found peace with it. Her connection to the stone had nothing to do with its value but its legacy. Her fingers trembled as she reached out and touched the cool surface of the jewel.
This was the only thing she had left of her mother.
The authorities had seized her family estate in Austria, and they’d gotten word that it had been looted shortly after that. Probably payback from her brothers’ many enemies. It made her sad to think of her mother’s things being carted off by criminals, but again, she’d made peace with it. She’d had no plans to go back there anyway.
Her life was here now. Her life was Rafe now.
“Do I even want to know what you had to do to get this back?”
Rafe suddenly looked cautious. “Probably not. But I wanted you to have it because it was your mother’s.”
Diana would never stop marveling at his kindness. If asked to describe himself, Rafe would undoubtedly use words like stoic, determined, and relentless. But Diana saw an entirely different side to him. She saw attentiveness and a sweetness that should have been impossible in someone who’d been through the things he had. Quite simply, he’d shown her what it was like to be loved unconditionally and completely.
She pulled him in for a soft kiss before turning her attention to the stone in his hand.
“I never expected to see this again. My mother told me when I was a little girl that the Jewel of the Sea had been handed down from mother to daughter for more than ten generations. It’s supposed to carry good fortune. Not that it worked for my mother.” She smiled sadly.
“Well, you don’t need it for good fortune, but I figured this was as good an engagement gift as any.”
Her eyes shot wide open when she realized what was happening. They’d discussed marriage of course, but Rafe had always talked like it was a done deal. She hadn’t expected to get a proposal.
“I love you.”
Her eyes watered at the heartfelt declaration. “I love you too.”
“Which is still a revelation to me.” Rafe laughed. “From the moment I saw you looking all dirty and defiant, I knew that my life would never be the same. Happiness wasn’t something I thought was possible for me. But somehow that’s what you do. You make me happy. I want us to always be together, getting in and out of trouble and fighting our demons together. There’s nothing in this world that I want more. Larissa Diana Vandergraff, will you marry me?”
The words were barely out of his mouth before she was screaming, “Yes!”
Laughing, Rafe wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Thank God. This jewel really is lucky. I just got the most beautiful woman in the world to agree to be my wife. I’ll get you a real ring later, but I figured I’d better bring my A-game to this proposal.”
“You didn’t need any help. Just you.” She closed her eyes. “I’m so excited for all this. Our whole lives.”
“Me too. Because I can’t do this without you,” Rafe said.
“You’ll never have to. I’m in too deep to get out now, Rafael DeMarco.”
Which was exactly where she wanted to be.
THANK YOU for reading the DEEP duet. The next book, SIN, is about Matthias! It will release on 5/29/18. PREORDER NOW at malonesquared.com/sin
While you’re waiting, catch up on Jonas and JJ's hilarious antics in their steamy, suspenseful novel - FORCE.
* * Download FORCE now at www.malonesquared.com/force
EXCERPT of FORCE © August 2017 M. Malone and Nana Malone
Jessica Jones closed her eyes, exhausted. Day after draining day of pulling double duty while her bestie and partner in crime was on maternity leave was starting to take its to
ll. Like hell was she going to start complaining, though. If anyone deserved happiness, it was Lucia. Her best friend had been to hell and back and deserved the time off.
JJ could deal. After all Lucia would do it for her. Besides, JJ wasn’t letting a prima donna fashion designer run her into the ground and call uncle. She’d rather burn her Jimmy Choos first. She could handle anything their boss Adriana could dish out.
It felt like she’d only shut her eyes for mere seconds before she frowned in her sleep.
