STANDING NEAR THE window, I watched as the snow continued to fall. The light from the pool house’s windows illuminated large, fluffy flakes dropping steadily through the dark night sky. It had been snowing for hours. Each frozen crystal added to the growing sparkly blanket of white. Inside, the fireplace snapped and crackled as voices murmured and laughed, keeping the cold at bay.

“What are you thinking about?”

The deep voice questioned me while at the same time strong arms encircled my once-again enlarged waist. Nox’s hands splayed over our growing baby, our second little miracle. I leaned my head back against his wide chest and took in our faint reflection. From the top of his dark hair I started to scan, and inch-by-inch my gaze lowered. As I always did, I hesitated as my gaze met his mesmerizing blue eyes. He could speak volumes with them and never say a word.

Down I moved to his sensual lips and chiseled chin. It was resting atop my head, covered with just the right amount of stubble. We fit together perfectly. Nearly four years married and I doubted I’d ever tire of the way he held me or looked at me. Even from across the room, he made me feel as if no one else mattered, no one else existed.

Through all we’d experienced, his love and concern never wavered nor had his desire—make that our desire. In his arms, I was alive. With only his eyes he could set my skin ablaze. With his touch he could accelerate my heartbeat or calm a wild sea inside me.

The first time we’d created life while death had been all around us. This time, the life inside me was a planned joy, an anticipated addition to our family. Nox’s hard limit was gone.

“I was thinking,” I said, “about something Silvia told me a long time ago.”

I spun in his arms, craning my neck upward and relishing his light-blue gaze. Even surrounded by family and friends, Nox had a way of cutting through all the noise to see me, deep inside me.

“If it’s making you sad, stop.”

Despite the moisture in my eyes, my lips turned upward. “It doesn’t make me sad, not really.”

“You, Mrs. Demetri, have never been good at lying.”

“I’m not lying. I’m not sad. I’m reminiscing. The first time I was ever here in our house, Silvia told me about your mom. She said how much she’d loved this house and how she’d always wanted it filled with family.”

Together we turned toward the Christmas tree, aglow with colorful lights. From our position we could see the back of Oren’s and my mother’s heads as they sat together on the sofa. Silvia, Cy, Pat, Uncle Preston, and Aunt Gwen were also near, some refilling their plates with more of the amazing food that I’d help Silvia prepare. The chatter was light and festive as Christmas music played in the background.

I’d not neared Silvia’s level of culinary genius; however, frozen meatballs were no longer in my repertoire. With hers and the help of many patient Costello ladies, I’d made enough strides to keep my husband from starving—well, when Silvia wasn’t around.

Nox nodded. “It feels good having them all here. I think she’d be happy.”

I turned back toward the window. “I’m glad it feels good, because if the snow keeps falling as the weather people promise, we may all be together for more than tonight and tomorrow.”

“Luckily we have some extra rooms, plus the guest house, and Silvia will keep everyone well fed.”

“Mommy!” Angi squealed as she ran ahead of Jane. “Will Santa still come?”

Nox squatted to the floor, capturing our daughter only seconds before she tackled me—and her baby brother in the process. “Whoa, slow down, princess. Have you been good?”

Her lips thinned as she gazed up at her daddy, peering her big light-blue eyes through long lashes. “Mostly.”

“Mostly?” he asked, tickling her sides.

“Daddy, stop!”

The entire room quieted as Angelina became the center of attention.

“If you’ve been mostly good,” Nox asked, “why are you worried about Santa?”

She pointed out the large windows. “Because the man on TV said the snow is coming. He said lots and lots. He said no driving. What about Santa?”

“Child,” Jane said, “I told you, Santa flies a sleigh. Snow’s a Christmas miracle.”

I leaned closer. “Jane’s right.” I glanced at her smiling brown eyes, winked, and looked back to my daughter. “She always is. Santa’s sleigh flies better in snow.”

Angi tilted her little head. “But when you were little, you lived at Grandma and Grandpa’s big house. It doesn’t snow there. Did you still get Christmas miracles?”

“Baby, you’re my miracle.”

She reached out and laid her small hand on my tummy. “And my baby brother, too?”

“That’s right.”

“So Santa will still come?”

“Now how old are you?” Nox asked.

“You know how old I am! I’m three and a half!”

“Has Santa ever not come?” he asked again.

“No.”

“There is one thing you have to do,” I said.

“What?”

“You must go to sleep.”

“It’s the rule,” Nox added with a wink.

“No,” she declared with all her daddy’s finality. “Grandpa said I could stay up with him and watch for Rudolph. Santa needs his nose in the snow.”

Nox’s shoulders straightened. “Grandpa said that, did he?”

“Yep.” Auburn curls bounced as Angi’s little head bobbed.

When she was first born, her hair was copper, just as Dr. Beck had described mine. But with time it’s grown darker. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day it was as dark as her daddy’s. I still have my hopes set for some red highlights.

“Angi,” Oren called. “You weren’t supposed to tell. That was our secret.”

Her little eyes opened wider as she covered her mouth. “Oh, Grandpa, I forgot!” She took off toward him and my mother. “Can we still stay up? Please? I won’t tell…”

I shook my head as she landed directly between our parents.

“He never told me I could stay up for Rudolph,” Nox muttered.

“Mr. Lennox, some Christmas miracles take longer than others,” Jane said.

With my hand in Nox’s, we watched as both Oren and Momma nodded and agreed to whatever diabolical plan Angi was hatching. Though they’d decided marriage wasn’t in their future—or more accurately, my mother had decided she’d spent most of her life as a man’s wife—she and Oren were rarely apart. Whether they were in Savannah, London, or visiting us in New York, they were together.

When Momma had explained her reasoning, how after years of marriage, first to my father and then to Alton, she wanted to live for herself, I understood. It had been my plan when I’d left Savannah after academy and gone to California. I’d wanted to know what it was like not to be Alexandria Montague, what it was like to be Alex. And then I’d become Charli with an i. Now it was Momma’s chance to live as Adelaide Montague. She’d dropped the Fitzgerald and embraced being herself.

Not being married didn’t lessen Mother and Oren’s obvious love for one another. While at first the whole idea had seemed strange, it no longer did. With Oren by her side, I witnessed a mother I’d never known, one who was fiercely loyal and intensely driven. After the court agreed to uphold not only my grandfather’s will, ruling that Alton’s recent revision had been made by a man who was not of sound mind, but also our shares of Montague Corporation—together we maintained the majority vote—she asked Oren to help her, to teach her. She set out to learn what her father and Alton had told her she could never do. With Oren beside her, and with the help of Nox and Oren’s people, the board of directors was thoroughly vetted. Those loyal to Montague, to the belief in the company, were retained. Those loyal to Momma’s deceased husband were relieved of their positions.

New faces, both men and women, were brought on board. The misogyny of the past was over. It wasn’t always smooth. Change rarely was. The value of Montague stock fluctuated. Some of the subsidiaries sought other backing and support. However, Montague wasn’t alone in its struggles. The entire country had seen the shifts. The country as a whole was in a state of flux.

That had its advantages. We were no longer front-page news. Alton’s murder was in the past, as was Suzanna’s conviction. The press had called her a scorned lover. She’d received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after twenty-five years. Bryce’s plea was not guilty by reason of insanity. After his stunt at the hotel with Chelsea, it seemed plausible. However, the state didn’t accept it. The prosecution took the risk of taking his case to trial. Melissa Summers had been murdered on the Saturday of our engagement party. Hundreds of people saw and spoke to Bryce that night.

Cold and calculating were words used by the prosecutor. The trial went on for a lengthy period of time. Chelsea and I attended every session. The jury deliberated for days. Finally we received word the verdict was in.

Guilty of murder exercising malice and aforethought.

His sentence was for life with no possibility of parole.

Over time the association with Montague faded away. Despite my grandfather’s antiquated way of thinking, he had built a company that fostered success. As other headlines took precedence, the CEO or majority stockholder of Montague Corporation was no longer an issue.

Momma never took the position of CEO. She recognized her limitations. That said, she helped to fill the position with a person she could trust, and now she was an active member of the board. Even from London, she managed to stay on top of the pressing matters.

Jane ran Montague Manor until Angelina was born.

I wanted Jane in New York and thankfully she wanted to be here.

She didn’t raise our daughter the way she had me. Nox and I were too hands-on for that, but she helped. She and Silvia both. Together they sat with us during long nights of crying and colic. They gave advice and cared for all of us. Jane held my hand while Silvia kicked Nox’s behind. She was his voice of reason when he became too obsessed.

It worked. Together we were a family.

As Oren had said many times: family was family.

No longer did Nox and I need our apartment in the city. It didn’t make sense with Angelina. We both wanted our child to have a home with a yard, surrounded by love. That didn’t mean Nox and I didn’t still work in the city. Until just recently, I had a part-time position at Demetri Enterprises in their legal department—the job Nox had offered me years ago. With Dominic Russell almost here, I was officially on a leave of absence.

“I’m sorry Chelsea and Isaac couldn’t be here,” Nox said as we continued to watch the scene around us unfold.

“I know how you were looking forward to seeing him.”

Nox shrugged. “After all those years of having him around every day, it’s weird.”

“Don’t you speak to him daily regardless?”

“I do. Security isn’t all hands-on. He’s lightened some of Deloris’s burden.”

“I think it’s kind of cool that he and Chelsea finally realized there was something between them.”

Nox reached out to my stomach. “It’s about time since their little one is due in three months.”

I laughed. “I know. I was so looking forward to seeing Chelsea. She wasn’t showing the last time we were all together.” I smiled, recalling their wedding.

“Well, not all brides look as beautiful as you did with a baby bump.”

“Speaking of brides… Uncle Preston seems to be doing well with Cy.”

Nox sighed. “I’m so glad they’re out of Infidelity and now married.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I am too, but what’s going on?”

“Why would you think something is going on?”

“The way you said that. I know you hate the company.”

Nox shrugged. “Demetri pulled out.”

“I hate when that happens.”

His blue eyes shone. “Oh, princess. We can rectify that right now. You, me, upstairs.”

I laughed. “That’s almost as tempting as a trek to the gas station restroom.”

He leaned close, his warm breath near my ear and whispered, “We’ll do it in the bathroom, you can hold the vanity, and I’ll watch your golden eyes in the mirror as you scream about my cock.”

I shook my head. “Dick. You’re avoiding the subject.”

“I’m not. You want it. Just admit it.”

“I want to know what’s happening with Infidelity.”

“It dodged a bullet, a big one, with the Melissa murder. It’s not worth the risk. We’re no longer involved, not Demetri Enterprises, not you, or Chelsea, or Pat and Cy.”

“But, Nox, hundreds or thousands of people are, from everyday people to movie and sports stars. I wouldn’t want it made public for any of them.”

“Princess, I’m not exposing it. Deloris was a huge asset for the company. But we’re out. She has more important things to do than watch their firewalls. I’m not saying it’ll happen, but if it does, we’re clear. Even their…” He nodded toward Pat and Cy. “…records were deleted.”

“Chelsea’s?”

“Yes, that happened before asshole’s trial.”

I knew it had. It was just good to hear it.

“Lennox,” Oren called. “Angi and I have a proposition for you and Alex.”

Nox’s smile grew. “Do you know how much trouble we’re in if she learns her negotiating skills from him?”