Chapter 34
Lorenzo
“We should get a tree.”
I glance at Vanessa and then back toward the road. We’re on our way home from our weekend getaway. It was everything I had hoped it would be—filled with conversation, laughter, and lots and lots of sex—but it was also tainted with knowing that it would be our first and last weekend away together.
“A tree?” I ask.
“Yeah. You know, the green thing that people decorate with ornaments and put presents under.”
“Smart-ass,” I mutter. “I know what a tree is. I just didn’t know you wanted one.”
“It’s Leo’s first Christmas with you,” she says, but the only thing I hear is that it’s our last. “We can’t take pictures of him by it if you don’t have one.”
“We can get a tree,” I tell her, my voice thick with raw emotion. “On one condition.”
She glances at me, waiting for my stipulation, her features serious.
“I can fuck you under it on Christmas Eve.”
Her face breaks into a grin, and she throws her head back with a laugh that hits me straight in my heart.
“I thought that was a given,” she says with a playful wink that has me wanting to pull her close and never let her go.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I moan, prying one eye open so I can watch as my wife takes my cock all the way down her throat.
“Actually, it’s Vanessa,” she sasses, smirking up at me. “Happy birthday.”
She goes back to sucking my dick, and I close my eyes, enjoying the feel of her mouth on me.
Last year, I woke up alone on my birthday. Matteo, Dani, and I grabbed a drink and dinner, and I went home and spent the evening drowning my sorrows with a bottle of whiskey.
Waking up to my wife sucking me off is definitely a better way to celebrate my birthday.
Once I come all over her chest, we shower together, where I fuck her against the wall. Since I have an early business meeting, after breakfast, I head to work. The day flies by, with my friends wishing me a happy birthday and Dani and Matteo stopping by with lunch.
When Dani asks if I have any plans tonight, I realize I haven’t heard from Vanessa all day, which is unlike her. She generally sends me at least one picture of Leo during the day.
Lorenzo
You good?
Vanessa
Yes. Are you having a good birthday?
Lorenzo
I got birthday head and birthday sex before seven a.m. How could it not be good?
She laughs at my text, but doesn’t respond, and then a call comes in from an important client. So, I get lost in work the rest of the day, until Kathleen lets me know she’s taking off.
It’s five o’clock, and Vanessa hasn’t texted me any more today, so I shoot her a text, asking if she wants anything in particular for dinner.
Vanessa: Nope! It’s your birthday. I’ll handle it. See you soon.
Twenty minutes later, I step off the elevator and find my front door propped open, a cloud of smoke wafting in the air, and the fire alarm blaring.
I run inside, and Leo’s in Vanessa’s arms as she uses a broomstick to hit the smoke alarm while Sal shakes a towel over the burned dish.
“Dada!” Leo shrieks, making Vanessa stop and look my way.
The defeat in her gaze has my heart clenching in my chest.
I grab the stick from her and hit the smoke alarm, and it goes quiet.
“Thank you,” she mutters. “I’m so sorry. Dani sent me the dish that your mom used to make for your birthday … an Italian casserole … and I …” She chokes out a sob. “I messed it up. I was getting Leo dressed, and I lost track of time and …”
“Hey,” I say, pulling her into my arms with Leo squished between us. “Thank you.”
“For what?” She sniffles.
“For caring enough to make me dinner for my birthday.” I kiss her soft lips, and she sighs into my touch. “This is all I need for my birthday,” I murmur against her mouth. “You and my son.”
“I let the doorman know everything’s okay,” Sal says. “Have a good birthday.”
“Thanks, man.”
He closes the front door behind him, and I turn my attention back to Vanessa.
“Pizza?”
She nods. “The food was a bust, but look how cute he is.”
I glance at the outfit Leo’s wearing and bark out a laugh at his onesie—Happy birthday, Daddy. I got you the best gift … me!
“I’m wearing one too,” Vanessa says, shifting Leo so I can read her shirt.
My husband is thirty-seven and still hot.
“Cute,” I say with a laugh, giving her another kiss. “I expect you to wear that tonight to bed … with nothing else on.”
I waggle my brows, and her face lights up.
“Happy birthday, Lorenzo,” she murmurs. “I hope this year is your best year yet.”
I nod in agreement while wondering how that’ll be possible when the one woman who makes my days brighter won’t be here to spend the year with me.
“Merry Christmas.”
I pry my eyes open and glance down at the beautiful woman lying in my bed with her head resting on my chest.
It’s Christmas morning, and while I should be excited to spend the holiday with my family and friends, since Peyton and Dominick are hosting brunch, I can’t help but wish I could turn back time because, tomorrow, Vanessa will leave to go back to Seattle.
I refuse to call it her home because if it were up to me, her home would be with Leo and me in North Harbor Point. But that’s selfish and unfair.
She packed up her stuff, and the movers came and picked it up two days ago since it’ll take several days for them to take it to Seattle.
Since her college apartment isn’t big enough to hold everything that I bought for her sewing room, she asked if I could hold on to it all until she graduated and figured out where she’d be moving to next.
“Merry Christmas.”
I glance at the baby monitor, and Leo’s still asleep.
So, I roll on top of Vanessa and kiss her slowly, gently, trying to make it last while memorizing every detail.
The soft noises she makes when she’s turned on.
The way her body fits perfectly under mine.
She wraps her legs around my waist, and since we fell asleep naked, her pussy grinds against my groin, eliciting soft moans between us.
As I slide inside her warmth, I kiss her like it’s the last time, trying to convey how much I love her. Needing her to know how much she means to me.
And when we both find our release, I stay inside her for several minutes, not wanting to let her go. Knowing this time tomorrow, she’ll be on a plane, heading thousands of miles away from me. Away from Leo.
“I don’t think I can do this,” she whispers, making me remove my face from where it was nuzzled in her neck.
When my gaze meets hers, her violet eyes are filled with unshed tears, which damn near breaks my heart.
But I have to be strong for the both of us because if she were to stay, she’d regret it.
Maybe not right away, but eventually, she would resent me.
Resent Leo. She has too many hopes and dreams to walk away from them.
“You can, and you will,” I tell her once I’ve made sure my voice is steady. “You’re so strong and independent. You’re a talented designer with an insane work ethic, and one day, everyone will be wearing clothes with your name on them.”
She chokes out a laugh mixed with a sob.
“I was thinking maybe I could come home for spring break …”
I love that she called it home. I don’t know if she’s referring to Harbor Point or my condo, but either way, I love it.
“You’re always welcome here.”
She releases a sob. “Lorenzo, I don—”
Before she can say something she’ll regret, I cut her off with a kiss that turns into another round of sex.
We’re just getting out of the shower when Leo wakes up and calls out for us.
“Mama! Dada!”
Vanessa looks like she’s about to cry at the name he’s dubbed her with, so I pull her into my arms and kiss her temple.
“Breathe, baby. We’re all going to be okay. Now, let’s go see if Santa came.”
Santa did, in fact, come. The look on Vanessa’s face when she glanced at all the presents under the tree was worth getting up in the middle of the night, after she was asleep, and setting them out.
She’d told me that her mother never gave her a Christmas.
That from an early age, she told her that Santa didn’t exist and her gift from her mom was her life.
As we help Leo open his toys, Vanessa doesn’t leave his side. She snaps picture after picture, and while she has a smile plastered on her face, I can see the underlying sadness.
Even when she opens a new bottle of her favorite perfume that I got for her and thanks me, she looks equal parts happy and sad.
“I didn’t make this,” she says, handing me a thin rectangular box. “But I personalized it.”
I rip off the wrapping paper and open the box, and nestled inside is a black tie with gold playing cards all over it.
“To match my necklace,” she says with a soft smile.
“I love it.”
I wear ties to work every day, and I have a feeling when she’s gone, I’ll be wearing this one often.
“It’s engraved,” she notes.
I flip it over and read the script—Always under the same sky.
“I came across that quote the other day, and it made me think of us,” she says, her cheeks flushing a beautiful shade of pink. “We might be thousands of miles apart, but we’re still under the same sky.”
Fuck, this woman.
Reaching around, I fist the back of her head and tug her toward me for a kiss. “Thank you,” I murmur against her lips before I pull back and grab her gift.
“For you,” I say, handing her the box. “It’s not really a gift, but …” I shrug.
She slowly opens it, and when she sees the contents, tears stream down her face. She met with my legal team and discussed her opening an LLC in her name, but she told them she’d have to wait since she didn’t have the money to move forward. So, I did it for her.
“Vanessa Baker Incorporated,” I say. “Everything is set up. I used my business address so you can file in Florida every year until you figure out where you’re going to settle down.”
“Lorenzo,” she whispers just before she throws herself into my arms, “I don’t know how to thank you. And not just for this, but for believing in me and my dreams.”
“You never have to thank me,” I tell her, inhaling her floral scent. “Just follow your dreams, baby. Watching you succeed is all I need in return.”