Chapter 240 EPILOGUE 7

Chapter 240 EPILOGUE 7
\~~~SERENA.

“So, husband of mine,” I said, leaning back against the plush pillows of our king-sized hotel bed in Rome and kicking my bare feet up under the crisp white duvet while the midnight breeze drifted in through the open balcony doors, carrying the sweet scent of blooming jasmine and distant city life. “Are you ready for a new baby?”

Damien, who had been right in the middle of unbuttoning his shirt by the full-length mirror, completely froze. His hands dropped instantly to his sides, and he turned around slowly, staring at me like I had just spoken to him in ancient Greek or told him our entire global bank account had mysteriously vanished into thin air overnight. 

“Are you kidding me right now?” Damien asked, his voice dropping an entire octave into that deep, dangerous register he usually reserved for hostile corporate takeovers or dealing with sketchy board members who tried to cross him during high-stakes negotiations. 

“Not even a little bit,” I grinned, resting my chin on my hand and batting my eyelashes at him as innocently as possible. “Don't you think we should start trying for another one? Our child is four years old already, you know. Time flies, and before we know it, she’ll be off to college.”

Damien let out a long, dramatic groan, marching over to the edge of the mattress and planting both hands firmly on the sheets, leaning over me with a look of pure, unadulterated disbelief. “And you think bringing another child into this house is what you want? Have you completely lost your mind, Serena? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“Oh?” I tilted my head, letting out a teasing chuckle that I knew drove him half crazy. “Is the great, fearless Damien Hale scared of a baby now?”

“Scared?” Damien scoffed, throwing his hands up in disbelief and pacing a small circle by the foot of the bed before turning right back to me. “Honey, I don't have just a baby anymore. I have a walking, talking, high-energy tactical chaos machine in the next room who interrogates our mailman, demands architectural blueprints for pillow forts, and negotiates with pigeons! Another baby would literally kill me. It would finish me off completely. I'd be ruined.”

I burst out laughing, grabbing a soft feather pillow and clutching it to my chest to keep from falling over backward onto the mattress. “Oh, please! Look at you! Four years ago, you wanted a baby so bad you practically hired a private security detail for my stomach, and now you’re acting like an absolute coward.”

“Four years ago, I didn't know what it felt like to be physically assaulted in a hospital delivery room!” Damien fired back, a dangerous, incredibly sexy glint of amusement flickering in his dark eyes as he dropped down onto the edge of the bed right next to me, closing the distance so fast I barely had time to blink. 

“Oh, stop it,” I giggled, narrowing my eyes at him playfully. “Are you seriously trying to bring up the delivery day again? It was four years ago! Let it go!”

“I am bringing up the fact that you literally beat me up that day, Serena!” Damien deadpanned, pointing right at his own shoulder with absolute, comedic seriousness. “You used my collarbone as a stress ball. You screamed at the top of your lungs that I was personally responsible for human biology. You gripped my hair so hard I thought I was going to be scalped, and you threatened to sue the head obstetrician for treason because he wouldn't let you eat a cheeseburger!”

I covered my mouth with both hands, laughing so hard my stomach started to ache. “Well, to be fair… I don't remember most of that part.”

“Of course you don't remember it!” Damien groaned, falling backward onto the pillows with a dramatic thud, staring up at the ceiling as if seeking divine intervention from above. “You were high on epidural, laughing, and living your best life while I was the one getting beaten black and blue in front of three terrified nurses who probably thought I was an abusive husband!”

“You survived, didn't you?” I teased, crawling across the mattress until I was hovering right over him, looking down into his gorgeous, laughing face. 

“Barely,” Damien muttered, though a helpless, lopsided smile finally broke through his tough exterior. He reached up, his large, warm hands sliding securely around my waist. “Can we just enjoy Dawn? Can we focus on the little human we already broke our backs creating instead of adding to the zoo?”

“Nope,” I whispered playfully, shaking my head so my hair brushed his chest. “I’ve made my final decision, commander. I want another one. I want a mini-Damien running around terrorizing your board meetings and keeping you up at night.”

“God help us all,” Damien muttered, a low chuckle rumbling deep in his chest. “One of you is already enough to dismantle my entire global empire. Two of you would put me in an early grave before I hit fifty.”

“Then you better get used to the idea, husband,” I murmured softly, letting my gaze drift down to his lips, watching his breath hitch. 

“Serena, I am dead serious, we are not…”

I didn't give him another second to argue. Before he could squeeze another word out, I hooked my legs firmly around his waist, locking myself securely against him as I leaned down and captured his mouth in a deep, demanding, utterly intoxicating kiss. 

The argument dissolved immediately.

It always did.

Damien let out a low, defeated rumble right against my throat, his hands sliding up my back with sudden, desperate urgency as all his mock-resistance melted away into nothingness. He pulled me flush against his chest, groaning softly into the kiss as his fingers tangled in my hair, his initial stubbornness completely evaporating under the heat of my touch. 

“You are an absolute menace, you know that?” he muttered against my lips between breathless kisses, his strong arms tightening around me as he effortlessly rolled us over on the bed, trapping me beneath him with a protective, fierce intensity. 

“And you love every single second of it,” I laughed softly against his skin, pulling him down closer still. 

Damien stared down into my eyes, his chest rising and falling heavily, a soft, helpless tenderness replacing the mock-exasperation on his face. He pressed a long, worshipful kiss to my forehead, then my cheek, before trailing his lips down to the curve of my neck. 

“Fine,” he whispered against my skin, a deep smile in his voice as he finally surrendered completely. “If we are going to dive back into the chaos, we do it my way. Custom nurseries, double security, and an ironclad contract that says you cannot pull my hair this time.”

“No promises, hubby,” I whispered back, pulling him down for another deep, earth-shattering kiss as the night wrapped around us.

“No promises,” I whispered with a grin.

Damien closed his eyes for a brief second before laughing quietly.

“I knew marrying you would shorten my life.”

“And yet…”

I kissed him once more.

“You’d do it all over again.”

He smiled against my lips.

“Every single time.”