Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“Yeah, I’ve been cutting back, and I quit smoking.”
I nod. “Good.”
He tilts his head. “You knew?”
Honestly, I didn’t, but it never hurts to seem smart in front of my little brother. “Of course I did. Hang on.” I reach for my phone.
He chuckles. “Look at your face light up.”
My face lights up even more. My whole world does. Scarlet has sent me a photo of a pregnancy test. It’s positive. Then a text comes through. This is it, Elio. We’re going to have a baby. Sorry for texting. I know you’re at work. But… I HAD to let you know. When you’re done with your meetings, call me.
I’m on my feet. I’m cheering. Luca rushes over with a little kid’s smile on his face, melting years away, happy just because I am, even if he doesn’t know the reason. “What is it, bro? You look so happy! It’s freaking me out.”
When I tell him, he lifts me into a bear hug and picks me up right off my feet. I laugh and pat him on the back. It’s happening. Our lives are beginning. I’m going to be a father.
EPILOGUE
TEN MONTHS LATER
Scarlet
I stand over Molly’s crib, our daughter sleeping peacefully with a soft smile on her face. I could watch her for hours. I do watch her for hours, and I never get bored. I never stop being fascinated that my husband and I made something, somebody, so beautiful.
When she opens her eyes and starts crying, I keep singing. I thought she was asleep. I sing softly, without words at first, humming some of it. Her face is so cute when I do this. It’s like she’s trying to sing when she opens her mouth with that adorable smile.
I add some words when she starts crying again. It’s weird. Even if she can’t talk—she’s a long way off from that—I know what she’s telling me. She likes it when I add words to the songs.
“My little baby, an angel so bright, my little darling, my perfect light.” I lean down, gently kissing her on the forehead. She closes her eyes and starts sleeping again. She’s so warm. She fills me with so much love. It’s like reuniting with somebody I met long ago rather than meeting somebody new. She’s a piece of me.
“Your daddy’s a devil, they say. But who keeps the baddies away? He’s your shining knight by day. And at night…”
“Keep going,” Elio says from the doorway, his voice husky.
I turn, a smile spreading across my lips. He leans in the doorway, shirtless, still looking a little sweaty from what we did before I came to check on her. I’m not ready for the real thing just yet, so soon after the birth, but my man has other ways to make me tingle.
“I can’t think of another line.”
He walks over, smiling, kissing me, then reaching into the crib and gently touching Molly. “I’m a devil, they say?” he says.
I laugh quietly and kiss him again. “Well, they do.”
“You’re right,” he says. “I will keep the bad guys away. Always.”
“You’ve done it so far.”
“We’ve done it. This life… your music… Dad getting better… that evil piece of—” He cuts himself off before he curses in front of Molly. “That Shank getting shanked in prison. It’s been a good year, and we did it as a team.”
“My music is…”
“Is what woke Dad up,” he says passionately. “You heard the doctor. It was a clear sign.”
He holds me tightly. I cling to my man, savoring the love, the warmth, the belonging, knowing there’s nowhere else I would ever want to be except here, with my family.
EPILOGUE
SEVEN YEARS LATER
Leonardo Marino
I sit on the couch, Molly on my knee, love and family in my heart as my daughter-in-law sings for the whole family and the Family. We’re gathered in the restaurant where they first met, where they locked eyes and felt their souls fuse.
“Mommy is so good,” Molly says, jigging up and down on my knee.
I’ll never be able to explain how grateful I am to be able to hold her in place, trusting my body. Luca sits on the couch beside us with his wife. Elio is on the other couch with his other two children—my grandsons. Beside me, Alessia sits forward, watching the performance.
We’re in the bar lounge area, and the well-respected and successful singer, Scarlet Marino, has graced us with her presence. Her song notes flutter into the air. I remember the first time she sang in the apartment. I was trapped in a cage inside my mind, but she broke me free.
Alessia gently touches my arm. Love burns between us. It’s a changed kind of love. It will never be what it was before she cheated, but it will always be there.
“I still don’t know how you did it, Dad, how you forgave her,” Elio told me a few years ago. “I’m glad you did. The kids need a grandmom and a grandad. You seem happy, but…”