“I thought I could save your Walls. I didn’t. I failed you. I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am. But this room can bring you peace, I think—I hope. I bought this place a few weeks ago. I wanted to show you, but I didn’t want to overwhelm you with things. But when everything happened last night, I knew I had to do something to make you happy. To show you that it would still be okay. I think I fell in love with you during our first date. You made me just so happy and free. I’d never felt that before, and I know I fucked it up. But I bought this house for us. I just thought that it was perfect for you.”
“Enzo, you didn’t fail me. You have given me more in a few months than anyone has given me my whole life. I didn’t need a house to know that you love me.”
“Well, I promised to make you happy, and if I’m going to whisk you off to Vegas I need to plead my case. There are two more things I need you to see.”
He took her hand and led her downstairs to the kitchen. She looked up and saw one of those wrought-iron pot racks, from which hung a gleaming set of pots and pans, and her breath caught. “Oh my God!”
“I just had it installed this morning.”
“I never thought I’d have a family. Now I’m getting a family and a wrought-iron pot rack,” she squealed. “I love this house. I love the art room.”
“Your art room,” he corrected her.
“My art room. I love my art room. But this room, this one right here, is my favorite. I want to be the mother who cooks while her kids sit on the island eating cookies and telling her about their day at school.”
“You can’t cook, sweetheart.”
“I am so going to learn!” She skipped around the kitchen, opening and closing drawers happily. Then she stopped and her expression turned serious. “You make me believe I can have all the things I never thought I could have,” she told him, her chin trembling.
“You were literally skipping merrily a second ago.” He wiped a tear away.
“I know!” She sniffled. “Stupid twin hormones.”
He pulled her toward his chest and held her tight. “Anything you want, I want to be the one who gives it to you. The family, the husband, the life full of color and art—whatever you want, it’s yours.”
“I want that too.”
“So, you’ll marry me voluntarily?”
With a weak laugh, she said, “Yeah, I’ll marry you voluntarily.”
“Thank God, because I wasn’t sure how I was going to haul you onto that plane kicking and screaming.”
She pulled away and her eyebrows furrowed. “I thought you were broke. Unemployed.”
He laughed. “I am.”
“Sugar, people who are unemployed don’t buy houses like this.”
“I can afford it. Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay, I’m starting to think your definition of broke and unemployed and my definition of broke and unemployed are different.”
He snorted out a laugh. “I don’t have a five-hundred-million-dollar portfolio anymore, and I don’t have the steady income that came with having a job with my father.”
“But…?”
“But I had savings and I had my own connections. I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. Maybe we can’t go jet-setting on a private plane around the world for a month this year.”
She laughed. “Not this year? But what about next year?”
“If things go the way I plan them to go, then, yeah, next year I’d say we can go pretty much wherever we want.”
“That’s great, Enzo. I’m happy for you.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Can you still do MMA?”
“I can. But I decided that I’m done with that. I’ll still train and go to the Academy, but I don’t need to compete. It’s not what I want anymore. I don’t need to be a top professional. That’s not my life. I love it, but I love other things just as much, and I don’t want to take time away from being with you so that I can do that. Having it as a hobby is more than enough.”
“We can do both. While I paint you can train. Neither of us has to make it our whole life. Just hobbies.”
“Speaking of which, there’s one more thing I want to show you. Hold on to your panties, lady, you’re going to love this one.”
She giggled at his horrible attempt at a southern accent.