“Friends, we’d like to introduce you to someone.” Jonah stood beside his wife, who cradled a pink blanket in her arms. The smallest hint of an infant’s face was visible from Gage’s vantage point.

What struck him most was how damned happy Jonah appeared. His eyes filled with paternal pride as he gazed down at his daughter in his wife’s arms. Though Gage hadn’t thought about marriage in six years, he could still understand the appeal as long as you were with someone you trusted implicitly. And how often did that happen in life?

The women rushed to surround Astrid, cooing over the baby and admiring everything about her. Gage moved more slowly, clapping Jonah on the back when he got to him.

“Congratulations, man. I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you.” He lowered his voice for Gage’s ears only. “I’m still scared out of my mind I’ll screw up something. But apparently, from what I hear from other parents, that feeling doesn’t go away for at least eighteen more years.”

Gage’s father hadn’t invested that much concern in Gage’s upbringing, shipping him off to the United States for school to ensure his antics—youthful attempts to capture his dad’s attention—didn’t taint the family reputation. Alonzo Salazar had been more like a father to Gage than the man who’d sired him.

“The fact that you worry about being a good parent says a whole hell of a lot about the job you’re already doing,” Gage assured him as he watched Astrid pass the pink bundle to Elena.

Something about seeing her hold the little girl, an expression of tender fascination on her face, felt like a sucker punch to Gage. A reminder of the chance for the family they’d never gotten.

Still, he couldn’t have looked away if he tried. Transfixed, he was still watching her fifteen minutes later when Astrid and Jonah disappeared into the kitchen to oversee preparations for the evening meal. Chiara followed them, leaving Gage alone with Elena in the front room near the foyer.

“Would you like to hold her?” Elena asked, approaching him with Katja in her arms. “You have a lot more experience with children than I do given all those cousins who have kids.”

And in a flash he was transported to that time he’d taken her to New Zealand to meet most of his relatives at a family party. It had been a huge deal for him, introducing her to everyone. His mother had insisted on holding a big reception on his father’s estate, inviting half the country.

He reached to take the baby from Elena, his arm brushing her breast in a purely accidental way. Awareness of her exploded. Bending closer to speak into her ear, he said, “I hope you’re contemplating giving me that high sign sooner rather than later.”