Caution: Enzo & Paige (Oak Springs Book 3)

by Lucy Rinaldi

  “Marry me.” It shot out of my mouth, but I intended it to. I've been hiding from my feelings for her for far too long. And I will not deny her or my daughter any longer. She looks at me, eyes darting from side to side. I take her face in my hands again. “I am done fighting what I feel for you. I have loved you for so fucking long and I denied it because I thought you could do better than me.”

  “There is no one better than you.” She laughs.

  “True.” She slaps my chest for my cockiness. But I laugh nonetheless. “I love you, Paige. I am so deeply, utterly, crazily in love with you. You're mine, Paige.” I rest my forehead against hers. “Marry me, baby.”

  “Of course I'll marry you! I've been dreaming of nothing else since I was seven!”

  “Dreams do come true, baby.” She laughs as I pull her into my arms, her belly making it a little difficult for me to hold her the way I'm used to. The way I've needed to for five long months. “You, me, and our little girl belong together.”

  “You have no idea how good it feels to hear you say that. Wait, where are we going to live because Alice and I fully intend to have us all in one place.”

  “Alice?” I ask as she pulls away from me.

  “Yes, our little girl.” Alice was my mother's name. When she called our daughter that my heart sped up. “I'm sorry, I didn't think.”

  “No. You haven't done anything wrong. I was just shocked to hear you say it.”

  “The name just popped out at me when they told me the baby was a girl.” She cups my face in her hand. “I know how much your mother meant to you. If it wasn't for her, you wouldn't be here and I wouldn't be having this precious little girl.”

  “Alice Ryker, huh?”

  “Alice Eva Ryker.” She corrects. It's damn perfect. I kiss her softly, passionately. I've missed her so much it's unreal. Feeling her in my arms again after all this time is like drinking water for the first time after three days in the desert.

  “Well, you and Alice will be moving into my place first thing in the morning.”

  “Is that so?”

  “You're right. Tonight it is.”

  She laughs heartily and it fills my heart with warmth and love. A love I never knew existed until there was Paige.

  “Maybe we should get out there to our friends. Unless of course, you don't want them to know any...”

  “I want the world to know.” I cut her off. “Anyone in this damn town that will listen will know.” She giggles against me before kissing me again.

  Everything is going to be okay from now on. I'm not scared to love her, to show her just how much. I don't care what other people will think, I don't need their approval. This woman is my life, my soon to be wife.

  Epilogue

  Paige

  “This is more like it.” I chuckle at Della as she stretches out on the sun lounger beside me.

  It's a beautiful day and Enzo and I are hosting a huge barbecue in our massive back garden. Everyone is here. Della and Freddy. Hudson and Callie. Lora and Tommy. My parents and little sister. Aimee, Emilee, and Chase. Jesse and Mia, and, of course, everyone's children. Eleven of the little monsters. But I'm glad they're all here.

  My husband is barbecuing, massive smile on his face as he talks to Sonny and Freddy. Freddy finally came around to Enzo and I being together. When he saw how in love we are, he gave us his blessing. But not before telling Enzo exactly what he'd do to him should he hurt me.

  I know Enzo will never hurt me again, what happened in the past will stay there. We have a brilliant future ahead of us.

  “I can't believe you've already got your figure back.” Della pouts.

  “Del, you've got yours back, too.”

  “No I don't, I have saggy bits where I didn't have saggy bits before.”

  There's nothing wrong with Della's figure other than what's in her head. She gave birth five months ago to her little girl, Ruth. She's such a beautiful little girl, looks just like Della but with Freddy's dark eyes. She's so quiet and pleasant... Not like my little girl.

  Alice is now six months old, looks just like her daddy, and even has his attitude. She's loud and feisty already. That's not to say she's too much and cries a lot because she doesn't. I love my little girl like you wouldn't believe. I don't care that she's going to be a handful as soon as she can walk and talk, I don't even care that she prefers her daddy to me. I know she loves her mommy, but she is definitely a daddy's girl.

  Thing is, Enzo absolutely adores Alice, hates leaving her whenever we go to work or out on date nights. Yeah, we're both back at work. I didn't know if I'd be ready so soon, but I knew if I didn't get back to it, I'd never go back. So, I started back at the hospital doing three-hour shifts last week. And I'll continue to do three-hour shifts for the next three months. Maybe then I'll be ready to leave Alice longer each day with my mother, who takes amazing care of her. She's so proud of her grandchildren.

  Enzo, on the other hand, does nothing but call every damn hour of the day he's at work to check up on Alice. He's worse than a woman! I shouldn't complain, there are some fathers out there who just don't give a damn about their kids, never see them, never tell them how much they love them. But Enzo dotes on Alice, she's his whole world. Nothing, where she's concerned, is too much for him. And I love him so much for that. He's an amazing father and I couldn't've asked for more.

  We've been married seven months now, having got married a month before Alice was born. I didn't want to get married looking like a beached whale, but Enzo didn't want Alice to be born to unmarried parents. So, we did the whole big white wedding thing – well, I wore a smoky gray wedding dress. Come on, I'm not the big frilly dress all virgin white and perfect. I'm a tattooed, pierced up, rocker type chick. But we went traditional, apart from the dress.

  The whole day was amazing, my dad walked me down the aisle with such pride in his eyes. But just before he walked me towards the man who was to become my husband, he took my hands in his and turned me towards him and said, “I want you to know how proud I am of you, Paige.”

  I smiled at him, I could see how proud he was of me, he didn't need to tell me.

  “I need you to know how much I love you.” I was a little confused as to why he was saying all of that. I already knew, he didn't need to prove it. “When I tell you that I love you like you're my own child, I don't think you actually believe it.”

  “Of course I believe it, daddy.” It hurt to think he doubted me.

  “The way Callie and Hudson love those babies as their own as if they created them. How they would die for them... That's how I love you, Paige. As much as I love your brother and sister. I may not have created you, but you are mine as much as they are. You have never been an outsider, Paige.”

  How did he know I'd once thought like that? It hurt and the tears fell from my eyes. Thank god for waterproof makeup!

  He wrapped his arms around me tightly, holding me the way my own father never had. I held him just as tightly before telling him, “I love you so much, daddy. I don't care about blood, you have always been my father and I couldn't've asked for a better one.” I looked up at him and told him, “That's why when the priest says my name, when he asks if I take this man to be my husband, he'll be saying, “Paige Estella” Right or wrong, that's who I should always have been.”

  And the priest did refer to me as that. Much to the amazement of everyone there that day.

  “Why are you so worried, Del? My brother loves you so damn much I bet he hasn't even noticed those slight wobbly bits.” She chuckles. She knows I'm right. I'm not a big girl, never have been. But compared to all my friends, I'm the big girl of the group.

  Not that my husband has ever cared. He loves me the way I am, and I love him twice as much.

  The sound of my baby girl yelling, “Mamma” makes me chuckle to myself. She can only say mamma and dada, but I think she's going to be a very early talker. God help me.

  I jump up and grab her from the playpen she's in with Ruth, who's asleep. Alice ha
s just learned to sit up, but little Ruth can't just yet.

  I blow raspberries against her little chubby cheek, she giggles in that beautiful way babies do before pointing to Enzo and yelling, “Dada!”

  “Using me to get to Daddy, huh?” Her big blue eyes sparkle with laughter. God, I love her.

  “Hey, husband,” I say with a kiss to his naked shoulder. He's wearing long board shorts and a white wife beater. Sexy bastard that he is.

  “Hey, wife.” He smirks and slides his arm around my shoulder. I rest my head against his shoulder and smile as he takes our daughter from me, kisses her head, and then mine. This is my life, my dream come true. The man I have always loved is finally mine. And he gave me a beautiful daughter, one I can't imagine never having.

  It may have taken us a while to get here, but we made it!

  “I love you, Lorenzo Ryker.”

  “I know, baby.” I roll my eyes playfully with a smile on my face while snuggling into him. He kisses my head. “I love you more, beautiful.”

  I know that. I will never doubt it again.

  Enzo

  I'm a lucky man. A very lucky man. I have the most beautiful wife a man could have, a little girl I adore like you wouldn't believe, what more could I want?

  I've given up cage fighting completely. I'm too old for that shit now. Okay, I'm not old, but in the world of fighting, I'm past it. Even though I told myself I wouldn't fight again after returning home, my manager convinced me to do just one more. A huge one.

  So, I had my last fight the night before Alice was born. I won, of course. Taking me out on top as one of the best cage fighters of this century. I've made millions from it, and I'll miss it, but I can live without it.

  I saw the look of relief on Paige's face when I told her that I wouldn't be fighting any longer. She's always hated what I do, but she never missed one fight, apart from the time she was in LA, of course. She was always in my corner, cheering me on. Even when she wasn't my girl.

  But... the monster is now officially put to rest.

  I'm still a firefighter, paramedic, and hotel owner. I could never give up work completely, I'm just not that kind of man. Although I don't work much at the hotel, I have employees for that. But I check in now and again, just to make sure my hotel is being run the way I'd like it to be. Customer satisfaction is paramount.

  Paige went back to work last week, I wasn't sure it was the right time for her to leave Alice yet, but Paige insisted that she'd be working only three-hour shifts. Christ, neither of us need to ever work another day in our lives. We're millionaires. But I can't deny that I love how feisty she is, how she told me point blank that she's not giving up work, her dream. Independent is what she is.

  I mean, the girl told me that just because we have money doesn't mean we have the right to be lazy fuckers and not work. God, I love her.

  “God, I'm exhausted.”

  I smile at my wife from my perch on our bed. I'm leaning back against the headboard, wearing nothing but my boxers. She's so fucking beautiful. She's only wearing a little silk slip. She's just put our little girl down for the night, and now she's crawling into bed beside me.

  She lays her head on my shoulder and wraps her arm around me. Mine slide around her body and pull her closer.

  “She asleep?” I ask. She nods against me. I spoke too soon. The baby monitor starts blinking, Alice starts screaming. Paige groans. She's so tired she can't even open her eyes.

  I kiss her head. “I'll go.”

  “Thank you.”

  She's sitting up in her crib when I get to her room. She giggles when she sees me, my beautiful daughter. “Why are you still awake, baby girl?” I lift her from her crib. “Mommy thought you were asleep.”

  “Dada.”

  “You wanted daddy?” Of course, she doesn't answer, but I know this cheeky little madam, six months old and already knows how to trick her mother. God help us, she's going to be a complete handful when she's older.

  It doesn't take long for her to fall asleep in my arms. Daddy has the magic touch.

  I lay her down, kiss her head, and then make my way back to her mother. She's fast asleep by the time I get there. I watch her with a smile on my face for a moment before climbing into bed next to her.

  I never dreamed, okay, I dreamed, but I never thought this would be my life. I never thought I was deserving enough of this beautiful woman.

  Years she's loved me. Years she believed in me. Never once did she give up on me, even when she should have. She kept my baby, she kept her and came back to me. She forgave me for everything I put her through. And I'm finally understanding that I do deserve her. I deserve to be happy. My mother wouldn't want me to believe I am anything less than the loving husband and father that I have become.

  And it's all because of this little lady beside me.

  I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her back against me, spooning her like we do most nights. It's her favorite way to sleep. I kiss her soft cheek and smile to myself. I'm so glad she didn't take my warning.

  Caution is always necessary with a man like me. Luckily for me, Paige is the exception.

  The End

  Read on for a sneak peek at book 4 in the series. Traced, Bryton & Roya.

  Also, I'd just like to thank you for embracing my new series the way you have. I appreciate each and every one of you and the comments and messages you leave me regarding my stories. Without you, they wouldn't be the books they are. If you wouldn't mind leaving a review I would be most grateful :) What you think counts, so let others know what you think. And again, I thank you for taking the time to read this.

  Yours, Lucy xoxo

  Sneak Peek

  Bryton

  My six months here is almost up. I didn't think spending time with my much older brother and his family would be so much fun. I was wrong. My brother is seventeen years my senior. Big age gap, right?

  My mother was married before she met my father, and, of course, she had a son with him, my brother, Chase. My mother, Myra, met my father, Paul when Chase was just six months old. They shamelessly had an affair and when Chase was two-years-old his father walked out. My mother married my father a year later. They had four children together, four sons. After Chase my mother had Ryan, he's now thirty-six. Then came Michael, who's thirty-four, then Zack, who's now thirty-two. Then there's me, the baby at twenty-five.

  I've been traveling the world for the past four and a half years, working for a company who specializes in fitness, one that sends me all over the world to work in different locations of their world renowned fitness company. It can be a tiring job, but I work hard, damn hard. Whether it be training unfit men, flirting with very fit woman, or volunteering at whatever local shelter I come across in whatever country I'm in at the time, I never stop working. I'm even working while in this little town. Anything to try and forget her and what I did to her. It's kind of sod's law that it hardly ever works.

  Anyway, I arrived home six months ago from nine months in Holland and decided to come to this little town of Oak Springs to spend some time with my big brother. We've never been particularly close, but he's my brother at the end of the day. And finding out he'd married Emilee, his dead best friend's baby sister, sixteen years his junior, shocked me a little.

  Not as much as finding out about their two children, Aidan, who's now five, and Harper, who is now two, was a bigger shock. Serves me right for having next to no contact with my family for almost seven years. Apart from the odd postcard I sent my mother here and there, I never spoke to any of them.

  Of course, when I turned up on Chase's doorstep he was shocked, but he was pleased to see me. I couldn't believe how good he looks for his age. My brother has always been a strong and buff kind of man, but he does not look forty-two.

  I was so happy to see Emilee. The two of us were best friends growing up. She may have been a year older than me, but we were incredibly close. Meeting my niece and nephew was amazing. And I must say I love them both so fucking much
I don't know how I'm going to leave them next month.

  Finding Jesse here, my brother's best friend, and remarried with even more kids was shocking. I had no idea he'd moved here. It had been a while since I'd seen his son, Caleb. I couldn't believe how tall he'd gotten. But I suppose at the age of ten he would be. Jesse also has twins, a boy and a girl, three years of age, and two of the quietest kids I've ever met. Whatever they put in those kids cereal they should sell to every parent. They'd make a fortune.

  I've made a few friends here, all of them my brothers friend's. But still, I like them all. There's not much in the way of hot women in this town, it seems everyone is either taken or a slut who goes out of town to sleep with any man they can open their legs for. There's one girl here who would be worth a couple of hot steamy nights. Aimee, local boutique owner. But no matter what I do, she's not interested. I feel like I've lost my touch, I mean I'm not that bad. I'm six-foot-two, sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, broad shoulders, six pack, slim waist.

  Okay, I'm making myself out to sound like an underwear model. But I take good care of myself. I'm a fitness instructor for fuck's sake. She must be a lesbian, why else won't she say yes to me?

  I decided to come for a drink with my brother and Jesse at the local pub. A couple of their other friends have joined us. Freddy and Enzo. Their wives are apparently meeting up with Jesse and Chase's wives. Aimee apparently wants to introduce them to the new girl in town. We've all heard about her from the local gossip, Mrs. Clarke. Some girl who's moved into her dead daughter's house.

  Apparently, she's gorgeous, tall, blonde, green eyed, and made me think about her again. I haven't seen this new girl yet, but Jesse told us all how hot she is, even if she is young enough to be his daughter. Which is crazy when you think about it.

  “Another?” I ask as I hold my beer bottle up to the guys. Each nods their heads yes. “Everybody want the same?”