When we make love, it’s intimate and he’s cupping my face with his hands, looking down into my eyes.
When he enters me, he whispers, “I love you, Mia,” and it’s everything I’ve always wanted to hear come from his mouth.
“I love you, too,” I whisper, tears slipping from my eyes from all the emotions, and Dante takes his thumbs and wipes them away, still moving inside me.
When I come, I clutch at him, digging my nails into his back. I’m making marks that I hope will sting in the shower, make him remember me later.
Dante groans loudly when he spills inside me, kissing along my neck, the side of my face.
“You can’t ever leave me again,” he says fiercely. “It was awful without you.”
I laugh. “It was only twenty-four hours, Dante.”
“Too long,” he mumbles, pulling out of me with a wince and sliding into bed next to me.
I run my fingers along the marks I’ve made on his back, his shoulders. “Too long,” I admit.
I still haven’t completely forgiven him. I’m still hurt, but now that I know he loves me, things are different.
I know there’s a long way to go, but I think everything will be all right.
31
DANTE
Luca and Anastasia come to our house for Thanksgiving the next year, after we all go to Mass together. They immediately make their way up to the nursery, where little Alessia is sleeping peacefully. We haven’t all gotten together since the baby was born, and so her grandparents are eager to see her.
Anastasia picks her up, waking her, but Alessia only smiles broadly at her. At six months old, she’s smiling and laughing all the time.
She’s my happy, sweet littlebella, and I only thought my feelings for Mia were strong. What I feel for this little baby is indescribable. I’d move heaven and earth to make her happy, make thembothhappy, and I plan to.
It took some time for Mia to forgive me. We spent days talking, nights making love, like we should have done in the beginning. I was completely honest with her, and she with me, and eventually, we got to a better place.
I do some of the side dishes for Thanksgiving dinner, but I do let Marisa do most of the cooking. She’s the chef in the family, after all, although I do like to cook.
The turkey is delicious and moist and the roasted potatoes I’ve made as a side are a huge hit. And of course, there’s homemade pasta, ziti, and manicottis, and everyone eats their fill.
Nico and Alberto are there, too, shoveling down food with various moans and compliments, and Mia giggles at them. We don’t have to worry about taking turns holding the baby like usual, because Anastasia won’t let her go.
I look at three generations of beautiful women and smile, taking a mental picture. I already spoil Mia and Alessia relentlessly, and Luca does too. Mia keeps warning me that she’ll be a little brat, but I don’t care.
I fully admit that my girls have me wrapped around their little fingers.
We have something to tell Alessia’s grandparents, too, and Mia smiles at me as I sit next to her. She intwines her fingers with mine, resting them on my thigh.
“We have some news,” she starts, and Anastasia says something quickly to Mia in Russian.
Mia laughs and nods, and Anastasia bursts into tears.
Luca looks at me, confused, and I shrug, also looking confused.
“We’re having another baby,” I explain to him as Anastasia gets up and hugs Mia tightly.
“Irish twins,” Luca chuckles.
“Not quite. The baby won’t be born until April. Let’s call them Italian twins,” I correct, and he barks out another laugh. He looks at his wife and daughter and granddaughter just as fondly as I do before turning back to me.
“Are you happy with your choice, Dante?” Luca asks quietly while the girls are occupied.
I smile brightly. “It’s the best choice, Luca. You were right.”
He nods slowly, and I can’t explain the happiness I feel, how bright everything seems now that my quest for vengeance is over and Mia and Alessia are in my life.
“Are you happy, Dante?” Mia asks me, looking at me curiously, as if she’s worried that another child might make me panic.
“I never knew what happiness was before I married you,” I say, and I mean it. It had always been just another couple nights with a woman, another few days with my family. I’ve never thought about my future, not in any real way that didn’t involve death and hate.
Mia has taught me what real life is, what real love is, and I never want to let her go.
