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She was quiet for a while as she watched them, her heart threatening to burst with joy and relief that they had been blessed with a healthy child for the second time.
Their firstborn son had been born exactly on his due date almost two years previously, on the day of their second wedding anniversary. Valerio had joked that he was just like his mother: shockingly efficient and punctual.
The comment had turned out to be quite accurate. Leandro was just like her and Duarte had been as children, in spirit and in looks—apart from the brilliant Marchesi blue eyes that accompanied his rather serious gaze. She thought of her twin brother, feeling an echo of that old sadness mixed with relief. Her relationship with her twin had been strained for a time once they’d found him and discovered the depths of his ordeal and the web of deception behind it. But now...now she could hardly believe her luck at having so much family around her.
‘I’ll have to tell Duarte he won our bet,’ Valerio murmured, looking at their daughter. ‘I thought we’d have all boys. This girl is definitely going to steal my heart.’
Dani laughed. ‘What are we going to call her?’
‘I was thinking...Lucia.’ He turned brilliant cobalt eyes on her.
Instantly Dani’s thoughts travelled back to the island where they had fallen in love, said their vows, and where they’d returned every single year since, to the villa they’d now bought together.
‘Valerio...’ She felt her throat close with emotion. ‘That’s perfect.’
‘She’s perfect. Just like her mother.’
He placed their daughter in her small crib, his movements careful and confident. She had almost forgotten how natural he was with babies. He had been the one to show her tricks to get Leandro to sleep for longer and to bring his wind up, while she had been a shivering mess of nerves for months.
She sighed and leaned back on the pillows. He moved to sit alongside her, being careful of her tender abdomen and the tubes still attached to her arms.
‘I have never been more afraid than when I walked into that room today and saw an empty bed.’ A frown marred his handsome brow as he looked down at her, stroking one hand across her cheek.
‘I was terrified too, once I realised something was wrong and they wanted to get her out so suddenly. I was so worried that you wouldn’t get here in time. But I swear I could hear my mother’s voice in my head, telling me to breathe. And I knew that we would all get through it okay.’
‘You were amazing. You are a goddess of a woman—have I told you that?’ He leaned forward, his lips brushing across hers softly, one hand cradling her neck. ‘Your strength never ceases to amaze me. How on earth did I get so lucky?’
‘I love you so much,’ she whispered against his lips. ‘But all this sweet talk isn’t going to make me want more babies.’
‘You said the same after the first one.’ He smiled, nuzzling her ear. ‘But two is perfect for me. I think your staff will kill me if I keep getting you pregnant—that company of yours is skyrocketing and they need their fearless leader.’
‘Motherhood only adds to my superpowers.’
Dani smiled, thinking of the perfect top-floor London offices of Avelar Inc.
She had done it all—her own company, her perfect home in the English countryside and her wonderful family. Valerio had promised he would give her everything and he’d stood by her every step of the way, giving her his full support as they juggled their work and home lives together as a team.
‘Lucia Marchesi...’ Dani smiled down at her sleeping daughter. ‘I don’t think the world could handle another Riviera pirate—especially if she looks anything like you.’
‘If she’s like me she’ll need to find the right person to balance out her wild spirit.’ He leaned back, draping an arm carefully over her shoulders and dropping a kiss on her collarbone.
Dani leaned back into the power of his embrace, letting out a soul-deep sigh of contentment and happiness. ‘This is quite an adventure you’ve taken me on.’
‘We’ve only just started, tesoro.’
Coming next month
AN HEIR CLAIMED BY CHRISTMAS
Clare Connelly
‘I will never understand how you could choose to keep me out of his life.’
Annie’s eyes swept shut. ‘It wasn’t an easy decision.’
‘Yet you made it, every day. Even when you were struggling, and I could have made your life so much easier.’
That drew her attention. ‘You think this is going to make my life easier?’ A furrow developed between her brows. ‘Moving to another country, marrying you?’
