I Grabbed a Cold, Dangerous Billionaire at My Ex’s Engagement Gala and Begged Him to Pretend to Be My Boyfriend—I Had No Idea He Was the Most Feared Tycoon in the Country, and by Midnight, He Refused to Let Me Go

Six months later, the sun was setting over the private beach behind our Lake
Forest chateau, casting long ribbons of rose-gold and deep violet light across
the calm waters of Lake Michigan.

Enzo and I walked barefoot along the wet sand at the water's edge, our fingers
tightly interlaced, our shoes left behind on the stone steps of the terrace.

The gentle evening wind carried the scent of pine trees and fresh water.

Enzo stopped walking, turning to face me, pulling me into the circle of his
arms. He looked down at me, brushing a stray lock of dark hair behind my ear,
his expression filled with an overwhelming, tender peace.

"What are you thinking about, little bird?" he asked softly.

I looked up into the amber eyes of the man who had given me a new life, a grand
adventure, and a love deeper than any ocean.

"I was thinking about how lucky I was," I whispered, resting both of my hands
flat against the crisp white fabric of his dress shirt. "Out of all the hundreds
of men in that ballroom that night... I grabbed the only one who was strong
enough to hold my heart."

Enzo leaned down, his lips brushing softly against my temple.

"You didn't choose me by accident, Natalie," he said with absolute conviction.
"Fate knew I was waiting for you."

I smiled, taking his large right hand in mine, and slowly guided his palm down
from my waist, resting his hand gently over my lower stomach.

Enzo froze.

His breath caught sharply in his chest. His amber eyes widened with sudden,
profound realization as he looked from his hand on my stomach back up to my
smiling eyes.

"Natalie...?" his voice trembled for the first time in his life, thick with
unspeakable emotion. "Are you...?"

"In seven months," I whispered, tears of boundless joy shining in my eyes,
"we're going to need a smaller tuxedo."

Enzo let out a ragged, breathless laugh of pure, unadulterated happiness.

He swept me up into his arms, lifting my feet off the sand, spinning me around
in the golden sunset light as the waves lapped against the shore, burying his
face in my neck as tears of joy wet his cheeks.

He set me down gently on the soft sand, dropped to his knees in front of me, and
pressed a tender, reverent kiss against my stomach.

"I love you, Natalie Romano," he declared to the sky, the sea, and the rising
stars. "I love you and our child with every beat of my heart."

I knelt down beside him on the sand, wrapping my arms around his broad
shoulders, pulling his face between both of my hands—just as I had done on the
night our story began.

"Look obsessed with me, Enzo Romano," I whispered with a radiant smile.

Enzo looked into my eyes, pulling me into a deep, eternal kiss under the rising
moon.