Vanessa pulled back and studied me. “I was thinking hip. You’ve got just enough room left down there, don’t you think?”

“If you want me to take my pants off, princess, all you have to do is ask.” I winked at her.

Vanessa’s laugh filled the room. “What are you talking about? I barely even have to do that.”

Once her laughter died down, I threaded my fingers through hers and tugged her close again. “You know I’ll fight for you every day. I’ll never stop fighting to be the man you need me to be.”

Her eyes turned shiny. “You’re already exactly the man I need. You challenge me, push me, and dare me to take more from life than I ever thought possible. You were the wild card. The one thing I never planned on. And you’re the best thing to ever happen to me. I love you, Constantine.”

I hauled her into my lap and covered her mouth with mine. In between showing her exactly how I felt, I told her.

“Fucking love you, princess. Always.”

* * *

Lord

A few hours later

Elle had a surprise for me, but I had one for her too. Con left us alone for the unveiling, and I couldn’t wait to see what she’d come up with.

“You going to keep me in suspense?”

She shook her head. “You know I suck at surprises.”

It was true. She did. Too impulsive to keep a secret to save her life. She flipped the sketch pad around and there it was, like she’d snatched the image right out of my brain.

A chain, links shattered at the ends, but more and more solid as they came together in the middle. The part I hadn’t imagined? A small pocket watch in the middle.

“What time is that set to?”

Elle smiled. “The time I started my job interview.”

I huffed out a chuckle. “You mean the time you came into Chains and demanded I hire you?”

“Call it whatever you want. Perfect timing. Me saving your ass. Fate. The time you changed my life.” She shrugged with a grin.

“Let’s go with the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“That works for me.” She studied my face. “So, do you like it?”

I nodded and reached into my pocket. “I love it. But not nearly as much as I love you.”

I dropped to one knee on the floor of my brother’s tattoo shop, and Elle’s mouth fell open.

“Oh my God.” Her eyes went wide and filled with tears. “Are you—”

“If you’ll let me talk, you’ll find out.”

Her lips snapped shut.

“You blew into my life like a hurricane, and I’ve never been so caught off guard. You’re not just my better half, you’re my partner in everything I do. You make this life an adventure, and I can’t wait to wake up every morning to see where it’s going to take us next.”

Tears slid down her cheeks as she smiled down at me, so I figured I was doing this right.

“Eleanor Marietta Snyder, will you marry me?”

Elle dropped to her knees in front of me. “Only if you promise that you’ll never say my full name ever again,” she said with a laugh. She flung her arms around my neck, and I wrapped mine around her, squeezing tight.

“I can promise that.” After all, once we said our vows, she’d be Eleanor Marietta Robichaux, and I’d say it whenever I wanted.

She lifted her teary face to mine. “Yes. My answer is hell yes.”

A champagne cork popped outside the room, but I didn’t need alcohol because Elle’s answer already had me buzzing.

I wondered what she’d say when I told her we were getting married next week. I wasn’t waiting any longer to make her officially mine.

* * *

Lucas

The next day

“You sure you want to do this?” I asked as Yve and I walked into Voodoo Ink. She had a sketch pad from the baby shower under her arm, and she’d refused to show me what she’d worked on with Con.

The man who’d once been my rival was now one of my best friends. Two years ago, if someone had told me I would be walking into his tattoo shop with my wife to get matching tattoos, I would have laughed them out of the room for being insane.

Apparently, life had different plans, and there was nothing I would change because it all led me here, to this moment with this woman.

Yve raised an eyebrow at me. “Of course I’m sure. Although I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to keep myself from attacking you once you’ve been inked.”

This time my eyebrows rose. “Is that right? What exactly am I getting tattooed on me anyway?”

She flipped open the cover of the sketch pad and turned it so I could see.

The meaning hit me like an avalanche, which was appropriate considering I was staring at a mountain range. She knew what this meant to me. How it had haunted me until I’d finally granted myself absolution. When I met her eyes, she rushed to explain.

“We’ve both conquered our demons, even when they seemed insurmountable. I think we need to celebrate that instead of pretending they didn’t exist. Mine brought me to you. Yours made you into the man I love. There’s nothing to hide.”

She was right. But then again, my wife was always right. I had the superior taste it took to choose such an amazing woman—and she’d knock that arrogance back down my throat every time she felt it was necessary.

I nodded. “So, where is this going?”

“I was thinking your forearm, so when you roll up your sleeves in your meetings . . . delicious.” She punctuated her statement with an mmm.

“It sounds like we’ll be having more meetings at home then.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea.”

“Where are you putting it?” I asked, and I read the hesitation in her expression as her lips pressed together. “What?”

She bit her lip before finally speaking. “I’m going to have to take a rain check for a little while.”

My gaze sharpened on her. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“I’m pregnant.”

The words hit me harder than the meaning of the tattoo, nearly taking me out at the knees. I stumbled backward into a chair in the empty waiting room, glad that asshole Leahy wasn’t out here to see.

I looked at Yve, her face the picture of anxiety. “You’re pregnant.”