WHEN FOREVER FOUND ME

Chapter Thirty-Six-Permanently Mine-Enzo

I was happy.

It was a strange thing to admit.

For most of my life, happiness had never been something I thought about.

I had responsibilities.

Power.

Money.

Enemies.

A family name that carried more weight than most people understood.

I had never needed happiness.

I needed control.

I needed loyalty.

I needed people to do what they were supposed to do.

That was my world.

Then Azul came into it.

And somehow, in three months, he had changed everything.

Three months.

That was all it had taken.

Three months of waking up beside him.

Three months of watching him slowly become comfortable with me.

Three months of his hand finding mine without hesitation.

Three months of his quiet smiles.

Three months of hearing him type those three words that still made something inside my chest tighten.

I love you.

I was happy.

Truly happy.

And I knew exactly why.

Azul.

⸻

I was sitting in my office that afternoon, staring at a report I had been pretending to read for the last twenty minutes.

I hadn’t absorbed a single word.

My mind was somewhere else.

With him.

It was always with him.

I knew I had an appetite.

I had always known.

I had never been a man who needed to pretend otherwise.

I’d had relationships before Azul.

I’d wanted people.

I’d slept with people.

But it had always been simple.

Desire.

Release.

Nothing that stayed with me after the door closed.

Nothing that made me want to rearrange my entire life around another person.

Azul was different.

Completely different.

With him, it wasn’t simply about desire.

I wanted him close.

Constantly.

I wanted to wake up with him.

Eat with him.

Work while he sat somewhere nearby.

Come home and find him there.

I wanted to reach across the room and touch him simply because I could.

Sometimes I had the ridiculous thought that if it were possible, I would live underneath his skin.

That was how much I wanted him near me.

And the worst part?

He knew exactly what he did to me.

Not intentionally.

That was the problem.

Azul could simply look at me with those mismatched eyes and I would forget whatever I had been thinking about.

He could smile.

Touch my hand.

Lean against my shoulder.

And suddenly my entire attention belonged to him.

I had mastered the art of making him blush.

That was one of my favorite things.

But I had also learned something else.

Azul needed time.

He needed patience.

He needed to discover his own confidence.

So I never wanted him to feel as though he had to match me.

I was intense.

I knew that.

My energy was different.

My appetite was different.

But I loved watching him grow comfortable with his own.

There was something incredibly beautiful about seeing his confidence slowly appear.

Every time he reached for me first.

Every time he kissed me first.

Every time he looked at me with that little smile.

Every time he teased me.

I noticed every single thing.

And I treasured all of it.

⸻

My phone buzzed.

I looked at the screen.

A message from Azul.

Azul: Are you busy?

I smiled immediately.

Me: Always.

Three dots appeared.

Azul: Then why are you answering?

I laughed.

Me: Because it’s you.

A few seconds passed.

Then:

Azul: I’m at the bakery.

I leaned back in my chair.

Me: I’ll come get you.

His response came quickly.

Azul: You don’t have to.

I smiled.

Of course.

He always said that.

I typed:

Me: I know.

Then:

Me: I’m coming anyway.

I stood.

My right-hand man looked at me from across the office.

“Where are you going?”

“To get my life.”

He sighed.

“Of course.”

I smiled.

⸻

The moment I entered the bakery, I saw him.

Azul was standing behind the counter, speaking with one of his employees through gestures.

His long black hair was tied loosely behind him.

His sleeves were rolled up.

There was flour on his cheek.

I stopped.

Just looked at him.

I swear there were moments when I forgot how to breathe.

He looked up.

The moment he saw me, his face changed.

That smile appeared.

Small.

Soft.

For me.

I walked toward him.

“You have flour on your face.”

He touched his cheek.

Wrong side.

I laughed.

“Other side.”

He tried again.

Still wrong.

I reached across the counter and brushed it away.

He smiled.

I leaned closer.

“Beautiful.”

He rolled his eyes.

I smiled.

“Very beautiful.”

He reached for his tablet.

You’re distracting me.

“Good.”

He shook his head.

I laughed.

“Come home.”

He stared at me.

Then typed:

I have work.

“You’ve been working all day.”

He pointed at the bakery.

I nodded.

“Yes. Your bakery.”

He smiled.

I reached for his hand.

“Come home anyway.”

He looked at me for a moment.

Then slowly nodded.

I smiled.

Victory.

⸻

On the drive home, Azul rested his head against the window.

I kept one hand on the steering wheel.

The other was holding his.

I looked at him occasionally.

He caught me.

He always did.

He typed:

Stop looking at me.

“I can’t.”

Why?

“Because you’re there.”

He stared at me.

I smiled.

“That’s enough reason.”

He shook his head.

But he was smiling.

I tightened my fingers around his.

Three months.

And I still couldn’t believe this was my life.

⸻

When we reached the estate, everything changed.

It always did when Azul was there.

The house felt different.

Lighter.

Warmer.

The chef would smile when he saw him.

The staff always greeted him.

Someone would ask him about the bakery.

Someone would bring him his favorite coffee.

Even the security men had grown used to seeing him.

Everyone liked him.

I pretended it didn’t bother me.

It did.

Sometimes.

Especially when I walked into a room and found three people talking to Azul while he smiled at them.

I would stand there thinking:

That’s my man.

Then I would remind myself that jealousy was ridiculous.

Usually.

Mostly.

I was still working on it.

Azul was simply kind.

That was who he was.

He didn’t flirt.

He didn’t seek attention.

He didn’t even realize how easily people were drawn to him.

He was intelligent.

Gentle.

Graceful.

Soft without being weak.

He carried himself with a quiet elegance that couldn’t be taught.

And he was almost the exact opposite of me.

I was brutal.

He was gentle.

I was hard.

He was soft.

I was feared.

He was loved.

I could walk into a room and make people go silent.

Azul could walk into a room and make people smile.

And somehow, those differences didn’t push us apart.

They completed something in me I hadn’t realized was missing.

⸻

That evening, I found him in the kitchen.

He was helping the chef.

I stood in the doorway.

The chef looked at me.

Then at Azul.

Then back at me.

He smiled.

“He’s been here twenty minutes.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“And?”

“He won’t let me do everything myself.”

I looked at Azul.

He shrugged.

I smiled.

“Of course he won’t.”

The chef laughed.

“You should marry him.”

Silence.

I looked at Azul.

Azul looked at me.

The chef suddenly realized what he’d said.

“I—”

I smiled.

“Keep talking.”

Azul’s face became bright red.

He immediately turned away.

I laughed.

The chef escaped.

I walked toward Azul.

He was still embarrassed.

I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind.

He leaned against me.

I kissed his temple.

“You heard him.”

Azul reached for his tablet.

Don’t start.

I smiled.

“I didn’t say anything.”

He gave me a look.

I laughed.

“Yet.”

⸻

Later that night, we sat together on the terrace.

The city lights stretched beyond the estate.

Azul was beside me, his head resting against my shoulder.

I looked at him.

Then at the house behind us.

My home.

My family.

My world.

And suddenly I knew.

I didn’t just want Azul visiting.

I didn’t want weekends.

I didn’t want him coming back to his family’s farm every few days and leaving me here wondering when I would see him again.

I wanted him here.

Permanently.

Not because I wanted to take him away from his family.

Never that.

I wanted his family to remain part of his life.

I wanted him to keep his bakery.

His dreams.

His independence.

Everything that made him Azul.

But I wanted this too.

A life together.

A home where he belonged.

A future that wasn’t temporary.

I looked down at him.

He was watching the city.

I reached for his hand.

He immediately intertwined his fingers with mine.

That tiny gesture settled something inside me.

I had always known Azul would be permanent.

From the beginning, some part of me had known.

But knowing wasn’t enough anymore.

I wanted to make it real.

I wanted to seal the deal.

Not because I doubted his love.

I didn’t.

I knew he loved me.

But because I loved him enough to want a future that had his name written all over it.

I wanted him beside me when I woke up.

Beside me when I came home.

At family dinners.

At the bakery.

On holidays.

On ordinary Tuesday mornings.

I wanted the boring days too.

Especially the boring days.

I wanted everything.

⸻

Azul turned toward me.

He typed:

Why are you looking at me like that?

I smiled.

“Because I’m thinking.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“About you.”

His cheeks became pink.

I laughed softly.

He typed:

What are you thinking?

I looked at our joined hands.

Then back at him.

“I’m thinking that I don’t want to spend another day pretending you’re temporary.”

His expression changed.

I continued.

“I know you have your home.”

He nodded.

“Your family.”

Another nod.

“Your bakery.”

He smiled.

“I would never take those away from you.”

I touched his cheek.

“But I want you to have a home here too.”

His eyes searched mine.

“With me.”

He didn’t move.

I smiled.

“Not because you have to.”

I kissed his forehead.

“Because I want you here.”

His eyes became glossy.

I brushed my thumb beneath one.

“You are the most precious thing in my life.”

He reached for his tablet.

His hands were slightly shaky.

He typed:

I already feel at home here.

I stopped breathing for a second.

I looked at him.

Then I pulled him into my arms.

He wrapped his arms around me.

I held him tightly.

And for the first time, the idea didn’t feel like something I was merely imagining.

It felt like something that was going to happen.

Something permanent.

Something ours.

I kissed his hair.

“My life.”

He held me tighter.

And I closed my eyes.

My father loved him.

Isabella loved him.

The people in my home loved him.

And I…

I loved him more than anything.

For the first time, my favorite people had met the person who had become the most important part of my life.

And they had welcomed him.

That feeling was impossible to describe.

It was more than happiness.

It was peace.

I had spent my entire life building an empire.

But suddenly, none of it felt important compared to one simple thing.

Building a life with Azul.

A permanent one.

I looked down at him.

He smiled.

I kissed his forehead.

And silently, I made myself a promise.

I wasn’t going to let this be temporary.

Not him.

Not us.

Not ever.

Azul wasn’t a chapter in my life.

He was the rest of the story.