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How could a moment so joyful be so heartbreaking at the same time? Victoria leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to Alexa’s lips. “I want you back, too. If you’re willing to try, then so am I. It’ll be difficult, but when did either of us do anything the easy way? We’ll handle whatever comes together.”
Alexa laughed. “Together, then.”
“Together… our story…” An idea was forming.
“Victoria? Are you okay? You suddenly look zoned out.”
“Our story…” Victoria stared at Alexa through wide eyes. “Our story! Alexa, that’s it!Ourstory! Not one of us, but both of us, together!”
“Yes, that’s what we just agreed on. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because I’ve just realized—why didn’t I think before?!”
“Realized what? You’re scaring me, Victoria. You’re shaking. Maybe you should sit down.”
Victoria was shaking with excitement, because she finally knew the solution to their unsolvable problem.
“Alexa, we need to merge our companies!”
Alexa’s jaw went slack. “Merge… our companies?”
“Of course! This is the way! Both of our careers can survive like this. I mean, it’ll be tricky, mergers always are, but we can do it. I know we can! I mean, if you want to.” A hint of doubt trickled into Victoria’s mind as she waited for Alexa to answer. Maybe Alexa wouldn’t want to merge companies with her. It wasa family company, after all. What if she would rather it shut down than become something it had never been intended to be?
“It would work,” Alexa said slowly. “We could be co-CEOs. We’d work well together, I’m sure. But there’s just one thing. See, Rossi Corporation has always been a family company. I don’t know if I’d feel right about owning it with someone not in the family.”
Victoria’s heart sank. “Then you have to take the patent, Alexa. I swear, I’ll be fine. I can—”
“Shh. That’s not what I’m saying. You’re right. Merging companies is the only solution. We need to merge companies, but I need the company to stay in the family.”
And yet another unsolvable problem. Victoria’s hope shriveled.
“There’s only one solution. You’ll have to marry me.”
Victoria’s head snapped up. “What?”
Alexa dropped to one knee. “I don’t have a ring, but I have the love in my heart that I hold for you. I want to go through life with your hand in mine, and I want to make the ultimate commitment to you. Victoria, will you marry me?”
“Alexa, you don’t have to do this just to save your business! I would never force you into something like this. Like I said, you can have the—”
“Victoria, stop. You really think I’d do this just for business? Iloveyou. Iwantto be your wife. I don’t care if both of our businesses go down tomorrow; I’d still want to be with you. Please, Victoria, will you marry me?”
Victoria’s doubt was washed away. “Yes.” She felt tears stinging her own eyes, but these were not tears of grief. “Yes, Alexa, I want to marry you. Fuck, I love you so much.”
She grabbed Alexa’s hands and pulled her to her feet. The moment their faces were level, Victoria kissed her. Alexawrapped her arms around Victoria’s waist and pulled her close as they kissed joyfully and freely.
After so many weeks of feeling hopeless and trapped, Victoria felt like she could finally breathe again.
There was a way, and they had found it.
Epilogue
Alexa- two years later
“It was a pleasure to meet you both, Mrs. Rossi and Mrs. Rossi.”
Alexa grinned. Though it had been two years, she still got a thrill out of hearing her surname—theirsurname—applied to Victoria. “It was a pleasure to meet you too, Kevin.”
For once, it truly was. Alexa didn’t like a lot of the people she and Victoria had to work with, but she had a good feeling about Kevin. They seemed to agree on a number of important issues. She hoped that working with him would be fulfilling as well as profitable.
