An Heir For Her Enemy (Bossy Bachelors #3)

Epilogue

DELANEY

“ Seriously, you’re going to have to tell me what you have planned.” Delaney crossed his arms and raised her eyebrows at Logan in what she hoped was a stern gesture. Inside, she was bubbling with happiness. Ever since Logan had announced that he’d be taking her for a surprise weekend getaway, she’d been looking forward to this moment.

“And ruin the surprise?” Logan shook his head. “No way. Don’t worry; I promise I’ve packed everything you and Sofia need.”

Delaney glanced down at Sofia, who was sleeping in her car seat at Delaney’s feet. The nine-month-old looked angelic and peaceful, with her long eyelashes splayed across her round baby cheeks and her tiny hands curling and uncurling in time with her dreams.

“Okay, okay. Let’s go to this mystery destination, then.”

“Come on, Ms. Cohen.”

They were standing on the tarmac of the private airport outside of New York where they’d met for that first flight almost eighteen months ago. Little had changed since then; there was still a small airport building and a collection of private jets ranging in size from the modest to the over-the-top ostentatious. Logan’s plane clocked in right in the middle. It was clearly the plane of a billionaire, although not a showy one.

Logan was a billionaire now. Several months ago, he’d successfully crossed that mark. He’d come home from the office, where he only worked part-time since the unveiling of The Cherished Infant, when he and Delaney had become an official couple. He’d been excited, but when Delaney told him that Sofia had taken her first slow, hesitant crawling steps, he’d completely forgotten about work. They’d spent the evening on the floor with Sofia, tempting her with her favorite toys and lots of encouragement, until she repeated the milestone.

“What did you want to tell me about work?” Delaney had asked later that night, when they’d lain in bed together after tucking Sofia in.

“Oh, right.” Logan had grinned at her. “I made my first billion. Although it hardly seems to matter now.”

Delaney had kissed him, long and slow.

“I love you. And I’m proud of you.”

“I love you, too.”

And she’d fallen asleep happy and secure in the knowledge that Logan really did put her and Sofia first.

Not much had changed since Logan had reached the one-billion mark. He’d always insisted on treating Delaney to anything her heart desired, from a babymoon in the Caribbean to jade earrings to all the funding she needed to start her gallery, and he still did that now. The only difference was that he felt more secure than ever, having reached his goal, and Delaney was proud of him for that.

Logan carried Sofia’s car seat up the steps and strapped it securely into one of the plane seats. Delaney was distracted from the process, though, by an unexpected guest.

“Cora?”

“Delaney!” Cora gave Delaney a quick hug.

“What are you doing here?”

“On your big romantic getaway, you mean?” Cora winked. “Don’t worry; I’m just the babysitter. Since it’s your first trip after Sofia, Logan wanted to make sure you’d have time to relax, at least for a few evenings. He also knew that you weren’t about to leave your baby with a stranger.”

“That’s true.” Delaney turned to Logan, who was still working on the car seat. “Thank you. And thank you, Cora, for coming and babysitting. I hope you’ll also have plenty of time to enjoy…” She trailed off meaningfully, but Cora shook her head.

“I’m not falling for that. I know this is a secret destination.”

“Fine.” Delaney took a seat beside Sofia, while Logan sat on her other side. “I guess I’ll just be surprised.”

The flight went surprisingly smoothly. Sofia turned out to be a wonderful traveler. On a tip from a friend, Delaney nursed on the takeoff and landing to help the child’s ears clear, which seemed to work. Other than that, Sofia mostly slept or lay across Delaney and Logan’s laps, smiling at them and wiggling to music that Cora played.

When they came down for landing, Delaney pressed her nose against the glass, eager to see where they were. Her eyes widened when she made out a few familiar shapes in the landscape, followed by several buildings she could easily identify.

“Logan, are we in Rome?”

“We are.” Logan took her hand. “I hope you aren’t disappointed at the repeat destination — I thought you might enjoy seeing the city again.”

“I definitely do!” Delaney leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m not disappointed at all. You know I’ve been wanting to come back here!”

“I know. And this time, we’ll get to show Sofia where her parents met.” They both smiled at the baby in her car seat, and she grinned a gummy smile back.

“Bah,” she said importantly.

“Indeed,” Logan agreed, which made Delaney laugh.

A few hours later, they were at their hotel — the same hotel where Logan and Delaney had stayed the first time. Today, though, they were staying in the hotel’s honeymoon suite, to which the staff had added a cot and a highchair. Cora was right next door and, as soon as they arrived, she took off to explore the city.

“My babysitting duties don’t start yet,” she told Delaney with a wink. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?”

“I think we’ll take it slow.” Delaney smiled at her friend. “You enjoy, though.”

“Oh, I will. I’ve heard a lot about Rome.”

Over the next few days, Logan and Delaney explored Rome with Sofia in her baby wrap. They visited Saint Peter’s Basilica and several art museums, strolled through the old town, and sampled so much pizza and pasta and gelato that Delaney joked she’d return to New York as round as she’d been while pregnant. Logan simply replied that she would look beautiful even then.

“Aren’t we going to visit the Colosseum?” Delaney asked on the morning of the third day.

“I’m glad you asked. We have a reservation at Basilico e Formaggio this evening. Cora has agreed to watch Sofia while we eat and to put her to bed in case we’re out late.”

“Okay, then. I’m looking forward to it.”

After another full day of sightseeing, Delaney handed Sofia over to Cora. Even though Cora had watched Sofia before, Delaney felt a little nervous leaving her daughter with anyone else. Luckily, Logan was by her side, and he held her hand all the way out of the hotel and all the way to the restaurant.

Once again, Logan spoke in flowing Italian to the ma?tre d’, who led them to a table right in the window. Logan pulled out Delaney’s chair and she sat, her gaze drawn to the Colosseum outside.

“Would you believe that we sat at this exact same table eighteen months ago, on our first trip to Rome?”

“Hardly.” Delaney looked at the table and at Logan. “Everything feels so different. For one, we were practically at each other’s throats on that trip.”

Logan chuckled. “I suppose we were. There were a lot of things we didn’t see eye-to-eye on.”

“Most of which you turned out to be wrong about.”

“Hey!” Logan considered. “Although you do have a point. You were right about so much. You knew that I was too scared to have a relationship. You knew that I was making a mistake by putting finances ahead of anything else. You knew keeping The Cherished Infant locked away wouldn’t have been right.”

“There was a lot you were right about, too,” Delaney admitted. “You were right that I needed to open my gallery, even if it was scary.”

“Is that all you can think of?”

“Well, it’s a good one.”

And it was. While Delaney was pregnant with Sofia, she’d managed to open her gallery. It had been a huge challenge to do so while pregnant, but with Logan’s help and a supportive staff, she’d pulled it off. The gallery was called Sofia’s Corner, and it was thriving. Delaney worked there in person several hours a week, while the other days were covered by her staff. She and Logan had both needed to learn a few important lessons about delegation, and there had been stumbling blocks along the way, but it was all worth it. Together, they were able to juggle parenthood, romance, and their careers.

The first course arrived; a simple, fresh salad.

“Little did we know when we were here last time that we were only a few weeks away from moving in together,” Logan said as he took a sip of wine.

“True. That seemed like the furthest thing from possible at the time.”

“It really did seem like it was all falling apart for a bit there.” Logan shook his head. “You were on the verge of moving to Rome.”

“But it turned out to be kismet,” Delaney continued. “Because I gave up my lease, I had nowhere to go when I decided to stay with you.”

“So, I convinced you to move in.”

“That could have been a disaster.” Delaney ate a bit of salad. “We’re just lucky that it worked out so well.”

And it truly had. Delaney had moved into Logan’s penthouse. Immediately, she’d begun to make changes. She’d added color and chosen art and changed linens and picked out baby supplies until it looked more like a home than a soulless man cave. Now, the penthouse felt like home to both of them.

“The best part was that I got to be around for almost the whole pregnancy,” Logan continued.

“Including the birth.” Logan had been by Delaney’s side for every moment of her labor. He’d held her hand and fed her ice chips and allowed her snarky comments brought on by the pain to roll right off him. He’d been an immense comfort and, best of all, he’d been there to welcome their beautiful Sofia into the world.

“And then Sofia joined us.”

“Yes, and that made everything so much harder — and so much better. I miss her, you know.”

“So do I, but Cora is taking excellent care of her. And it’s nice to have an evening to ourselves.”

“It really is.” They smiled at each other.

“Do you think you’ll want more kids?” Delaney asked after a pause.

“Do you?”

“I think so. Maybe not right now, but sometime in the future…” Delaney blushed. “I know we haven’t talked a lot about the future. We’ve been so caught up in getting to know each other and raising Sofia that it never felt like the right time.”

“Well, now feels like the right time to me.” Logan took Delaney’s hand across the table. “What do you want our future to look like?”

“I want us to be together,” Delaney said. “I want Sofia to grow up happy and safe. I want us both to continue to be successful in our careers, without giving up too much of our family life. I might want more kids. Someday, when Sofia is a little older, I’d love to travel more.” She tilted her head. “What do you want?”

“I want all those things — and one more. Delaney, the day I met you, my life changed forever. I didn’t know it at the time, but you were the person I was waiting for. The person who would make me complete.”

“Aw, Logan.”

“Let me finish.” He squeezed her hand. “I think a lot about the first few weeks we spent together. I wish I had behaved better, but I didn’t know yet how happy we would be together or how perfectly we would fit. I thought being with you would mean giving up on my career. I didn’t know that being with you would mean falling more in love every day, becoming a better man because of you, and becoming a father. I didn’t know how much it would be possible to love you.

“You’re right that we haven’t talked about the future much, but I’ve thought about it every day. You are my future, Delaney. You and Sofia. I want to spend every day by your side. I want to make plans with you, go on adventures, raise our children, fall asleep beside you every night. I want to wake up with you in my arms every morning.”

Delaney’s heart began to race. She had a suspicion about what was happening, but she wasn’t sure.

“Logan?”

“Delaney Elizabeth Cohen.” Logan stood, still holding Delaney’s hands with one of his, then dropped to one knee in front of her. With his free hand, he pulled a small box from his jacket pocket and flipped it expertly open. Inside rested a large, gleaming, princess-cut diamond on an elegant band. “Would you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?”

Delaney was so emotional that she could barely speak. She reached for the words to say yes, of course, but found herself nodding instead.

“You will?”

Delaney finally found her voice. “I will. Of course I’ll marry you!”

Logan was on his feet in an instant. He caught Delaney in his arms and embraced her, lifting her slightly off the ground. The restaurant broke into applause as they kissed. Then Logan set Delaney down and slipped the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit.

“I love you, Delaney.”

“I love you too, Logan. And I can’t wait to marry you!”

The End