The Lonely King

Thirty-Five

"Fuck," he moaned. "This is amazing."

My smile grew even though it already reached ear to ear. "Okay, I have one last one. I made this specifically for you." I quickly rushed back into the kitchen to take the last dish out. I caved in and let him try the food on my brand new restaurant's menu the morning of the grand opening. I hid all the dishes here and made him sit out there while I brought him different plates.

It's been about a week since I was allowed to ditch the wheel chair, but I still wasn't allowed to move around too much. I picked up the remaining plate with shaky hands. This is the one I was nervous for. He could hate all the other dishes and I wouldn't care, but this one was special. I wanted this to be perfect for him, and just thinking about it being different made a whole other set of nervous jitters wash over me.

"Okay, try this one." I carefully set the plate down, seeing recognition flash in his eyes.

He stuck the fork in one of the little sauce covered potato gnocchis and brought it to his mouth. What was probably a few seconds felt like hours as I waited for his reaction. My eyes were glued to him and I played with the hem of my shirt, a nervous habit that I thought I ended.

"This tastes exactly like how my mother used to make it," he mumbled.

"A while ago you told me she made the best gnocchi, and I thought it would be nice to add the recipe on the menu for you, and I asked Ryan to help me track it down, so we found one of your mother's friends who had it. I know it might not be exact, but I tried to make it perfect, and I understand if you want to—"

He cut off my nervous rambling by grabbing my face with his large warm hands and kissing my lips. All my worries were washed away instantly and I felt the familiar warm fuzzy feeling in my chest from making him happy. I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.

Once we both needed air, we broke the kiss and I broke the silence with a smile while saying, "I did that good, huh?"

"It's completely perfect. You're completely perfect." He pecked my lips. "Thank you."

"You welcome. I'm so glad you like it."

"Tonight is going to go so well with all the amazing dishes you put on the menu."

"I'm still nervous," I mumbled out, looking at my feet.

I felt his arm wrap around me and his fingers gently lift my chin, so my eyes met his supporting ones. "The food is fantastic, the place looks beautiful, and it's run by a stunning woman. I'm sure it's going to be a success."

He corners of my mouth tugged up and I felt slightly calmer knowing I had his complete support. "Well, I guess I have to go get ready." I stated as I carefully stood up. He instantly stood up with my and helped me up to make sure I wouldn't injure myself further.

"Thank you, but you know I'm going to be running around everywhere making sure everything is going right," I mentioned.

"I know, but you could at least make it to the grand opening before you hurt yourself."

I giggled. "Okay, I'll be careful before then."

He looked down to my belly with the sad, guilty eyes I've seen more often lately and then sighed. He pulled me to his chest and wrapped his arms around me. I could tell he was about to apologize, but I stopped him with my own voice.

"How many times do I have to tell you it's okay?" I whispered.

He sighed and dropped his head to lean on my shoulder. "I just feel like it was my fault," he whispered.

"I know, but it wasn't. If you didn't find me first, he would have since he was already looking."

"But if he knew we weren't together, then he would have just sent you to his brother instead of trying to kill you." He gently placed a hand over the gauze pad covering the bullet wound.

"You don't know that. Besides, being together with you was one of the best things that ever happened to me," I said as I lifted his chin up with my fingers, moving his gaze from my abdomen to my eyes. "Now will you stop blaming yourself?"

"Okay, I'll just be thankful you saved my life instead." He smiled.

"Yay!" I jumped up to hug him again since he finally agreed to stop sulking. "Ow!" I bent over and clutched my stomach instantly as I moved a little too fast. "Remind me to never get shot again," I mumbled.

He picked me up and brought me over to the couch and started to lift up my shirt to check the wound. "Trust me, I'm going to make sure you never get shot again."

~*~

A/N: sorry for not updating as usual. I'm currently on vacation, so I've been busy and didn't have time to write and edit. Also, I know this chapter is short, but I'll update soon! I'll give you a sneak peak for the next chapter: her restaurant is finally going to open, and Nick has a surprise for Amelia! Anyway, hope you enjoyed and will stick around for the last few chapters of this book.