Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 22067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 110(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 110(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
And it was only when I received Hope's call yesterday that everything became clear.
A dog, for goodness' sake!
A dog!
Adriano is one of East Coast's toughest and smartest litigators...and yet he still ended up dumping me because of a dog?
It made me laugh and cry while listening to my friend excitedly discuss her every hypothesis, all of which I also believe to be true.
Because I know my boss.
I've been working for him for eight-and-a-half years.
I know what makes him tick. What makes him smile. And most of all, I know what would make someone who's always been noble...do something so, so cruel out of the blue.
"I don't deserve your forgiveness."
His words make me want to laugh. And cry. I know there's a saying about how opposites attract, but I think in our case, it's the other away around. We're each other's mirror image, and it's why, even from the start, we've always understood each other.
Just like how I understand he's punishing himself the way I used to punish myself.
Needlessly.
I place one trembling hand on his cheek, and his big body shudders at my touch.
"We've both hurt each other because of our past, Adriano. But when it comes to what we've both said and done to each other?" A smile wobbles to my lips. "Everything we did, every day we've spent together, it was always good and beautiful. We were falling in love with each other from the first day we met. We just didn't know—"
His jaw suddenly clenches, and I stop speaking as fear gets the better of me.
Oh no. Oh please. Don't let there be another misunderstanding.
"You have it wrong."
"W-What do you mean?"
"When I look back on that day," Adriano says unsteadily, "I think I've always known."
It takes me a while to realize I was scared for nothing.
"The moment I saw you, somewhere in my heart, I knew—"
And I start to cry even as his hands settle on my waist as he slowly pulls me close.
"I've found the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with."
I close my eyes as he lowers his head. Our lips meet, and the whole world fades away.
This man...is my boss.
And someday, my husband.
But from the very start, he was the man God chose for me, and the man I'll love for the rest of my life.
Epilogue
SHAYLA
I STAND BEHIND THE heavy wooden doors, listening to the gentle melody of the string quartet filtering through. My heart is racing, but not out of nervousness. It's just that my joy is almost impossible to contain, my gratitude to God overflowing.
So much has changed in such a short time, and I know it's all because of Him. Therese is no longer a concern. I didn't even have time to wonder or worry if there's anything going on between them. I didn't even have to ask a single thing. That night we got back together, Adriano told me right away that he's dealt with Therese. Apparently, she tried asking him out again when we were apart, and because he already knew of his feelings by then, he had told her they could only be colleagues...since he was hoping to marry me, the woman he loved.
And yes, he said those exact words.
Lissa White is also joining our firm to reduce Adriano's workload. He wants to spend more time loving me and making babies, and yes, he did say those exact words, too. Even worse? He insisted on being quoted verbatim on this when we were interviewed.
Hope's pregnancy is showing now, and the amount of satisfaction her husband derives from this...is equally proportionate to the dissatisfaction I derive from how Chip continues to bark at me...while all it takes is one meeting with Adriano, and the traitor can't stop wagging his tail every time he sees my boss.
Grrr.
Needless to say, Chip's seal of approval means the world to Gilbert, and the former prosecutor and my future husband haven't just become fast friends since then. Both men also take the pleasure of siding with each other against me in legal debates.
Double grrr.
Or maybe I should say 'triple grrr' since that part about Gilbert being a former prosecutor? It's because he's now working with us, too, and he's even brought along a new client: Hollywood royalty Guy de la Rocq, who's in need of legal representation because of a woman Gilbert describes as the "unlikeliest" of fangirls.
Honestly, the past three weeks have been hectic and eventful, but I also wouldn't have it any other way. If we weren't so busy, I doubt Adriano and I would've been able to keep our vow of celibacy until our wedding night. Most people think we're crazy for making such a vow, but that's fine. We're doing it for God, not for anyone else. But be that as it may...
It's not easy. At all. And that's why holding hands is as far as we've allowed ourselves to do. Anything else is off-limits. We both know all it would take is the briefest of contacts for us to forget what we've promised. Temptation is something you flee from, not fight futilely against.