Chapter 7 Sexy Secret Service Agents #2
I can’t give them the answer I want to give them because I’m too busy crying, and now the mascara I toiled over downstairs is streaking all over my hand, and I couldn’t give a shit, because I’m so happy.
I’m so happy. My heart is filling, and fizzing, and that warmth is everywhere, and I didn’t know it was possible to feel so unbelievably, completely, radiantly happy.
‘Oh, angel,’ Dex says, getting to his feet and wrapping his arms around me as Max follows and tugs us both into a big, messy hug. ‘Please don’t cry. We love you so much.’
Max kisses the top of my head, and I tilt my face to look up at him.
‘We want it to be the three of us together, forever,’ he says, his expression still serious, his eyes scanning my face.
‘What do you say? It’ll be one hell of an adventure, but I can’t imagine living without you.
Him either.’ He jerks his head at Dex. ‘It would be a fucking nightmare without you two.’
‘Of course I’ll marry you!’ I say. ‘Oh my God, how could I not want to marry you?’ My voice sounds snotty, but they don’t seem to care, because they’re tugging me tighter, and kissing me, and kissing each other, and then they’re both crying, too.
We stand there in this giant soppy, weepy hug, and it feels like the best, most miraculous thing in the world.
I can’t believe we get to have this forever.
* * *
MAX
The lake is a rich cobalt blue at this time of night, the various villages that border it picked out in the pretty glow of their lights. I’d have us stay here forever if I could, sunbathing and taking scenic boat trips and eating pasta as if our lives depended on it.
I’d keep them here forever, in this bubble where there’s no work and no tabloids and no one who’s not Dex or Darcy.
But if I have to return to the real world at some point, I can only tolerate doing so with them.
We’re sitting at the edge of the hotel’s terrace, away from the other diners and next to the ancient stone balustrade, tucking into excellent seafood and chilled white wine.
The evening is balmy, and the air is still, and my heart is so full I can scarcely bear it.
Of all the deals I’ve closed throughout my life, this is the one that makes me the proudest—and the most relieved.
She said yes. Dex said yes, too, when I proposed it to him.
‘Do you mind that we planned it behind your back?’ Dex asks Darcy, and she smiles.
‘Not in the slightest. It was really romantic. A double proposal—what girl could say no to that?’
We’ve talked about the future plenty over the past six or seven months.
It’s not something we’ve ever shied away from.
But I suppose Dex and I are traditionalists at heart, however unorthodox the circumstances of this relationship the three of us have built.
It was important to us that we do this the old-fashioned way.
And that, to us, meant a trip to Graff on Old Bond Street and a devious plan involving an Italian lake and bucketloads of flowers.
‘The plan was most definitely not for you to say no,’ I say drily, and she and Dex both laugh.
She glances down at her ring again and tilts her hand back and forth so the diamond sitting on her long finger catches the candlelight.
I look on approvingly. It’s a beauty—a brilliant-cut solitaire on a band of pavé.
‘Not to be that person,’ she goes on, still admiring her ring, ‘but I assume we can’t actually legally get married.’
‘Unfortunately not,’ Dex says, reaching across to take her hand. I set my mouth in a grim line, because the British government’s views on polygamy aren’t where I’d like them to be, to say the least.
‘So what shall we actually do?’ she asks, turning to me. It makes me inordinately happy that that’s her default, that they both believe me to be capable of looking out for them. Of solving all their problems in life.
‘Let’s get this straight, sweetheart,’ I say, setting down my fork and reaching out both my hands.
They each take one, so we’re in a circle.
A circle connected by flesh and blood and love.
‘A legally-binding marriage is just about financial and legal protection, really. It’s about tax breaks, and equitable asset splits in the event of a divorce, and custody of children, of course, as well as protecting your loved one when one of you dies.
‘We can deal with all that. We’ll take the tax hits, we’ll put some private legal agreements in writing, and we’ll redo our wills.’
‘I don’t have a will,’ Darcy offers, and I roll my eyes.
‘Of course you don’t.’
‘I’m twenty-six and childless. It’s not like I have anything to give away, anyway,’ she says, and Dex smirks.
‘She’s got a point.’
‘You’ll have plenty to give away when I’ve finished with you,’ I say sternly, and she smiles her adoring smile.
‘Don’t give me all your money, baby. You know I’m irresponsible with it.’
‘As long as you’re responsible with my heart, both of you, that’s all I care about,’ I tell them, and it’s true. Nothing else matters. We have money coming out of our ears. The financial and legal stuff is immaterial. ‘What matters is that we’re making a lifelong commitment to each other.’
Darcy frowns. ‘And kids? What happens if we have kids?’
‘When we have kids,’ Dex corrects her smilingly, and he and I exchange an amused look, because there’s no fucking way we’re not impregnating the hell out of this woman.
‘When we have kids,’ she agrees with a huge grin.
‘Well, one of us will be the biological father, so we’ll have full rights,’ I point out.
‘So we just have a commitment ceremony?’ she asks.
‘We have a beautiful, heartfelt ceremony wherever in the world we want,’ I tell her, ‘and when we promise ourselves to each other for all eternity, I vow to you it will be more special than any vows ever pledged in any church or town hall.’
‘And then we have a huge party,’ Dex says, looking misty-eyed and squeezing my hand hard, ‘with everyone who loves us.’
‘Your dad’s NFI, obviously,’ I say, and we all laugh.
‘Obviously. But Mum’ll be there.’
‘Yes she will.’ Lauren is a lovely woman, and I’m pretty fucking confident I won her over with my considerable charm the moment Darcy and I met her.
But Darcy’s frowning again. ‘You two should get married, though. Legally, I mean.’
‘How so?’ I ask her, but I don’t fail to notice how my heart skips at the mere idea of Dex being my husband in the eyes of the law.
‘Hear me out. First, it gives whoever isn’t the legal father of any of our children more rights, but secondly, if you can do it, you should.
I could never choose which one of you to marry, and anyway, it’s a bit meh for me to get married.
We’ve been able to do that for centuries, you know?
But same-sex marriage has only been legal for, like, a decade.
It’s a stand you should take—if you can do it, you should. ’
My heart is, impossibly, swelling even more at her generosity of spirit. ‘But I want it to be equitable between the three of us,’ I protest. ‘I don’t ever, ever want you to feel less than.’
‘Exactly,’ Dex says. ‘It changes the balance of the relationship.’
But she’s shaking her head. ‘That’s the whole point. It makes it more balanced, not less—it’s a step towards making sure you guys have all the rights you should have. It’s just a piece of paper, like you said. You get covered, and then we all make our vows together in the way that matters.’
When we hesitate, she presses on. ‘Seriously. People fought hard for this. Take your rights. And if you think there’s the slightest chance I’ll ever stand for being a third wheel, you’re deluded.’
I laugh, and Dex grins with a face full of tears. ‘We’d never, ever be that delusional.’
‘I suppose you have a point,’ I muse. ‘About the legal side of it. I hadn’t thought of that.’ I hadn’t allowed myself to think about it, I suppose, because I was looking for an equitable solution for the three of us, but she’s right.
‘You’re welcome,’ Darcy says, blowing me a kiss. ‘At least we’ve got one fine strategic brain among the three of us.’