“There was a small box of letters that we found in Valentino’s office. Momentous occasions. I only read the top one to learn what they were. Your mother wrote them when you were a kid before everything happened.”
I gaped down at the tri-folded letter. The paper had turned brown with age, and I wondered why Valentino had decided to keep them so long. Had he read them?
It didn’t matter. Not as I held a piece of her in my hand.
I peeled open the letter and began reading the old, familiar handwriting that I’d missed so much. It was headered, “Sienna’s Wedding Day.” I almost didn’t want to read it, but I took a deep breath and went through the whole letter once. Then again. I scanned each word, taking it in and imagining her standing in front of me and saying them to me. Some of the phrases and wordings reminded me so much of the strong woman who had been an integral part of my childhood.
A warm hand came to the side of my face and wiped away a tear I hadn’t realized I’d shed. But Dante said nothing as I stared at the words.
“You found this in his office?”
He only nodded.
I chuckled as I refolded the note and handed it back to Dante, allowing him to tuck it into his pocket. I rested both hands on his chest and leaned forward, meeting his lips with a long, sweet kiss.
“You don’t know how much this means to me,” I admitted. “I—I needed to see that today.”
I had no family here today. It was a Guerra celebration, but knowing that my mother was here in spirit…
I threw myself into his arms and stayed there for a long moment.
“I love you,” I told him.
He pulled back just enough to grab the back of my head and steady me. “I love you. More than life itself.”
The kiss he pressed on my lips wascertainlynot appropriate for a public setting, but I took in every moment of it. The pressure of his chest against the beads of my dress. The way his arms encompassed me wholly. The smell of his expensive cologne that didn’t entirely mask the smell of steel and sandalwood.
I sunk into his arms and allowed him to wipe away any uncertainty or sadness that had hung over the day. I had Dante. I had Alexandro and Bria. I had my own family now, and there was nothing that would come between us.
There was nothing I wouldallowto come between us.
Not anymore.
THE END
