Page 114

I consider the question seriously, knowing she deserves honesty. "Sometimes I miss certain parts. The adrenaline. The certainty of purpose." I meet her gaze directly. "But I'd trade it all again in a heartbeat for this. For you. For our family."
She searches my face, finding whatever reassurance she needs there. "Good. Because I have news."
"News?" My hands settle on her hips, holding her close.
"Mmm." Her eyes sparkle with that mischievous glint I've come to adore. "Dr. Ramirez called while you were putting Gianni down."
My heart skips a beat. "Everything okay with the baby?"
"Perfect." She takes my hand, guiding it to her belly. "So perfect that there are two of them."
The world stops. Restarts. Stops again.
"Two?" My voice sounds distant to my own ears. "Twins?"
She nods, watching my reaction carefully. "Identical girls, apparently. Are you...is that okay?"
A laugh bubbles up from somewhere deep inside me, joyous and disbelieving. "Okay? Ava, that's..." Words fail me, so I lift her instead, spinning her in a careful circle that pulls a surprised laugh from her throat.
When I set her down, we're both breathless, grinning like fools.
"Three children," I murmur, shaking my head in wonder. "If someone had told me three years ago that I'd be here, a rancher in Montana with three children and the most beautiful wife in the world..."
"You'd have had them killed for insulting your intelligence?" she suggests dryly.
I laugh, the sound echoing across our land. Our home. Our future.
"Probably. But they'd have been right all along."
I draw her close again, marveling at how perfectly she fits against me. How completely my life has transformed from darkness to light.
From monster to man.
From obsession to love.
"Ti amo, tesoro," I whisper against her hair. "With everything I am."
Her arms tighten around me, her voice soft but certain. "I love you too, Stefano. Always."
The end.
* * *