Love Arranged (Lakefront Billionaires, #3)(116)

He rolls on top of me, keeping most of his weight off me. “Say it again.”

“I love you.”

He claims my mouth like he does my heart, an unapologetic takeover of my mind, body, and soul.

“Again,” he says after breaking away.

“Te amo.” I brush the hair out of his eyes.

“Anch’io ti amo, amore mio.”

“I know, baby.” Which is why I’ll never let him go, not now that I know for sure he loves me back.

Wherever Lorenzo goes, I will follow, whether it be a few towns over or across the world.

Plus if Trevor wins, I don’t want to stay here anyway for multiple reasons, but most of all because I could never put Lorenzo through that kind of pain.

He shouldn’t have to choose between the woman he loves and his own mental health, and I won’t allow him to.

It will be hard, but I can restart anywhere, so long as it’s with him.




“Well, well,” Dahlia says the next morning, scaring the shit out of me as we both sneak back into the house at the same time.

She gives me a quick pass. “From the state of your hair and makeup, I take it Lorenzo finally cleared up a few of your issues?”

I blush. “Shut up.”

“Oh, no. I’m going to keep pestering until you spill some deets.”

I’m tempted to ignore her as I head to the kitchen, but that’ll only encourage her. “Not much to share.”

“You spent all night together, and based on the bags under your eyes, I don’t think you did much sleeping.” She waggles her brows.

“I hate you.” I grab a protein bar from the pantry.

“I’m only saying…” She smiles.

“Yes, we talked things out and we’re finally in agreement on a few things. Does that satisfy your curiosity?”

“Come on. Give me a little more than that.” She bats her lashes, and I reluctantly concede to her request.

“We talked about our future.”

Her grin widens. “And?”

I glance away for this next part. “If he loses, we’re going to move.”

“What?” she whisper-shouts. “You can’t leave! Not when I moved back here.”

I make a face. “I love him, Dahlia, so if he wants to go, then I’ll follow him.”

“Why isn’t he willing to stay if he loses?”

I can’t tell her about his past without his permission, and honestly I doubt I’ll ever ask for it. That’s Lorenzo’s story to tell, and if he doesn’t want to, I’m not going to pressure him into doing so.

Instead I say, “I don’t want to stay here if Trevor wins either.”

Let her think it’s because Trevor wants to tear down my business and Richard is an ass, which, while important, aren’t the deciding factors.

Lorenzo is.

Dahlia raises her chin. “Then we need to make sure Lorenzo wins.”

“We?”

She nods. “I’m not going to let my baby sister and her man get run out of the town they love.”

“And how are you going to do that?”

She cracks a smile I’m way too familiar with. In my experience, it can either end with the best results or temporary jail time.

I have no idea what Dahlia has planned, but I can only hope it leads to promising results because the campaign and my future in Lake Wisteria are counting on it.





CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE


Lorenzo


As much as I want to spend the next few days with Lily, I have an election to win, so I resist the desire to hole up in my house with her. She is always understanding of my busy schedule, and she doesn’t make me feel bad when I have to cancel our weeknight dinner because a city council member wanted to meet with me.

She asks for nothing except two things: that I continue going to my therapy sessions no matter how busy I get—I reassure her that I have no intention of stopping, although there are some days where I’m tempted—and that I start sharing my location with her on my phone.

I went from being the stalker to becoming the stalked, and I’m not mad about it since I still do the same with Lily’s bracelet app. Doctor Martin says we will have to work on my checking behavior eventually, but I’m still holding off.

I’d rather tackle my other compulsions first before I approach any Lily-related ones because I know those will be the hardest to manage. Her safety is on my mind often lately, along with her emotional well-being, which needs to be protected at all costs.

The only times Lily and I get together over the next week are always in public, surrounded by way too many people. People who like to politely interrupt us to ask us about our upcoming engagement party or chat with me about my stance on random topics related to the town.

I’ve always had people pull me aside to ask about small-town issues that relate to them, but now it is happening more than ever before, which is a positive for my campaign but a negative for my social life.

Lily is a good sport about it, and she never gets annoyed, even when I end up spending twenty minutes of our cake-tasting date talking to the couple seated next to us about the impact of Ludlow’s budget cuts on the recreational center. Nor does she seem the least bit bothered when I get pulled aside during Trivia Night at Last Call because a constituent wanted to speak to me about affordable housing for seniors.