Cassidy kissed Remy’s cheek as he still slept and rolled out of their wooden sleigh bed—king-sized oak with gold leaf inlays—flipping the white sheets and white comforter off her naked body.

She rushed into the bathroom a little faster than normal and let the shower take away all her muscle aches.

Soon, she was ready to face the day. She dressed and saw that Remy hadn’t moved from his pillow.

Even as a boy, he’d slept like the dead. She smiled with satisfaction—they’d stayed up late and he probably needed to regain his strength. Cassidy left and walked downstairs, and headed right toward Gigi’s room. She knocked and saw the gray-haired older woman she loved sitting on a chair, reading a book. She made a sound to let her presence be known, and then asked, “Gigi, care to take that walk in the gardens with me this morning?”

Gigi closed her book and left it on the table beside her as she stood on her own. She walked without a cane and said, “You’re glowing, my dear.”

“I’m happy. You look great.” Cassidy answered, unsure what else she could say. Gigi’s cheeks were pink again and her eyes clear. She offered her arm and Gigi accepted.

Gigi patted her elbow as they neared the back patio door. “The doctors think I’m making a full recovery now.”

“I’m not at all surprised.” Cassidy hugged Gigi tighter than before and almost picked her up. “That’s amazing.”

Gigi laughed as Cassidy let her go and directed them outside, toward her prized rose garden. “When you didn’t come to your wedding, I knew we had to find you. You’re the closest thing I ever had to a daughter, y’know.”

Her heart melted. Gigi was her only grandmother, really. She’d clipped her hair back this morning, but a gentle breeze freed a strand. “What about Remy’s mother?”

Gigi walked with her, but they paused at a large pink rose bush where Gigi inhaled a fragrant blossom. “She wasn’t married to my son long enough to really get to know her well. She was sweet though.”

“Thank you for everything.” Cassidy stared at Gigi’s slightly wrinkled face. “You’ve always been in my corner. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Gigi let her arm go and bent toward a vibrant purple orchard. “Take care of my Remington. He doesn’t see the blessings in his own character.”

“I agree.” Remy still saw himself as someone fun-loving and looking the part of being Lord Sky when he had a serious side that he hid, like taking care of his people.

Gigi straightened and they continued down the path.

From the end of the walkway, they both saw Remington, fully dressed in gray slacks and a blue shirt waving from the patio. They meandered over as he came toward them and soon, he stood in front of them and kissed both their cheeks. “Grannie, I need to steal Cassidy away. We have to start revitalizing her tenants—it will be fun.”

He took Cassidy’s hand and a thrill raced through her. Remy loved her. She never thought it possible, but now she smiled and met his warm gaze. “I’m ready.”

Gigi waved them off and he walked her around the house toward his Ferrari, opening her door for her.

Every day for the rest of her life, she would wake up next to Remy. Nothing could be better than this.

He drove her toward her parents’ property though technically it would be hers one day. She settled in her seat and didn’t ask anything until he stopped in a small village of maybe ten homes in the area. She opened her own car door, not waiting for him, and asked, “How is this fun?”

He read a sheet of paper he pulled out of his pocket, then left it in the car, walked around and took her hand, guiding her toward the first house. “Come. You’ll see.”

She kicked a rock near her feet but stayed still. “Remy, I have never visited this village—I don’t know these folks.” It had been hard enough taking care of those living on her estate.

He massaged her lower back. “It’s part of your estate, bordering my property. I figured we’d start close and work our way through the villages and towns. It’s important to bring hope to our people.”

Okay. She could do this. She followed him as he walked to the first wooden cottage with a blue wooden door. A variety of wild flowers in pots added color. Remy tapped his knuckles against the frame. Her breath caught in her throat. “You just knock?”

He winked at her, but placed his hand on her lower back. “Yes, we’re the landed gentry, remember?”

Jumpy, Cassidy tried to stay still while the homeowner unlocked her door. The twenty-something woman who answered lowered her gaze immediately. “Hello, my lord, my lady. How can I help you today?”

This was the twenty-first century. There was no need to avert your eyes.

Remy ignored the behavior and asked, “Are you related to the Harnets who lived in this house during the soviet occupation?”

The woman glanced up immediately and held the door like it kept her upright. “Yes, this has always been our home.”

Remy kept Cassidy close but continued to ask the young woman, “Your family used to run a pizza shop?”

She nodded and her gaze narrowed. “Yes, that was my grandparents.”

Remy’s finger traced Cassidy’s spine. “Well, are you interested in opening up a shop like your grandparents?”

The woman gasped audibly, but then she lowered her head again. “I don’t have the cash to be honest and I don’t really like making all that dough. I wouldn’t mind a ristorante. I love making pastas far more than I ever liked pizza.”

Remy nodded and wrote something in a black leather notebook he took out of his pocket. Then he handed her a business card. “Well, to revitalize, we’re offering all the affected former owners the start-up funds for their business. If you figure out price and location you’d like in this area, along with the projected money needed, then we can fund the start-up.”

“Why would you?” The woman clutched the card as if it might blow away.

Remy tugged Cassidy closer and into the conversation. “It’s a wedding present to my wife. Her family lost a lot during the occupation and now that she’s secured her inheritance, it’s important to revitalize Avce’s economy, one house at a time.”

The woman accepted this as fact, nodded at them both as her goodbye and said, “I’ll get you the numbers next week.”

Remy took a step back and Cassidy did too, stunned by his generosity in action. It was one thing to hear of a plan, and quite another to implement it. “Sounds great. My wife and I have other stops. Take care, Miss Harnet.”

“Thank you.” The young lady closed her blue door.

Cassidy waited till they were far enough away from the house so no one might hear her, but then she asked, “How many people like her did you discover?”

He walked her to his car and took the paper he’d left on the dashboard, which he handed to her. “There are about fifty families we need to visit.”

So he intended to reopen all the businesses lost in the past thirty years on her lands too? She read the files about the remaining families and then she flipped through his tenant files. After funding the businesses, he intended home ownership financing at low rates and low interest business loans to anyone who applied. She glanced up at him, amazed. His numbers seemed high, but the payout predictions were astronomical. She gave it back to him. “Remy, this is beyond what I imagined.”

He folded the papers and walked her to the passenger seat. “In a few years when the businesses are all up and running again, your lands will be fruitful.”

He held her door open for her, but she didn’t go in. Instead she stared at him blankly. “Even with the Internet? Most of us shop online.”

Again he gave her that wink of his. “So, you’re in charge of ensuring our business ventures have a digital footprint.”

She nodded and met his gaze. “I can do that. I never thought about that to be honest. I was too worried about my family and keeping them fed.”

He motioned for her to get in the car. “In helping others, we help ourselves. Grannie taught me that lesson.”

Overwhelmed with love for him, she wrapped her arms around his waist. “Remy, kiss me.”

“Now? We have a lot of stops left to do.” He held her tight and delivered a warm kiss laced with passion.

With a smile, she shrugged. “Then there will be lots of kisses today. Your soul is so pure and good, Remington Burke. I hope you realize it.”

“It’s your job as my wife to remind me.” He nibbled her lower lip.

His logical plans for their future made him even sexier. As his lips pressed against hers she lost track of time and focused on happiness.

When he finally stepped back, she was weak in the knees and when he helped her into the car she didn’t fight. “Let’s get going—I told you that we’d have fun.”

She complied but joked, “Fifty stops and fifty kisses. Today is going to be a good day.”

He laughed and closed her door. As he slipped in beside her to drive, she realized her heart was lighter than it had been in years. She no longer had the burden of her parents’ estate or day-to-day worries of getting by. With Remy running the banking, her tenants could prosper without once tempting her father’s addiction. Remy was one of a kind and she was lucky that he’d always been here for her, as children, as friends and now as her husband.