Page 32

VALENTINA

One year later.

“Goodnight, honeybee,” I whisper, leaning down to kiss Matilda’s forehead. She snuggles into her blankets, a sleepy smile spreading across her face.

Five hours on the jungle gym will do that to you.

“Goodnight, birdy,” I sing, crossing the room to Alessia’s bed.

She’s got a new mystery book tightly clenched in her little hands, totally engrossed. I slip off her new glasses and gently tug the book away as she groans.

“Please, Mom,” she pleads, giving me her best pouty face. “One more chapter?”

“It’s past your bedtime already.” I shake my head, taking on the role of the tough cop. Enzo watches me from the doorway, grinning.

I pretend not to notice their covert little glances and winks. I know that book will be in her hands again as soon as I leave the room.

“Ladies,” Enzo announces, flashing them both a cheesy grin, “it’s my highest pleasure to bid both of you good night. We’ve got a big weekend ahead of us, so you need to be in tip-top shape tomorrow!”

I smile at him as he gives both of them wet, sloppy forehead kisses. Their little squeals and giggles warm my heart, and I melt inside.

I can’t ever imagine being happier than I am at this exact moment, with my husband, my girls, and my little secret.

“Adoption day, right?” Matilda calls from her little burrow of blankets. “We’re gonna make it official .”

“Righty-o,” Enzo agrees, joining me in the doorway.

We had explained earlier this month that even though Alessia has been living with us for over a year, it isn’t official. They’ve been counting down the days until tomorrow, when we sign the official papers making her our daughter.

“Okay, it’s officially bedtime for everyone,” I say, clapping my hands and looking at Enzo pointedly. “Even you.”

“I think we can postpone bedtime a bit, can’t we?” he whispers in my ear, looking as devious as ever. I shrug casually and flip the lights off, leading him down the hallway.

“The girls are happy,” Enzo says, his face glowing with the ease and happiness of a man whose life turned out exactly as he’d planned—even though it took a while to get here.

“They are,” I agree, climbing into bed. “You know what Matilda told me today? She said Alessia was her karmic twin… where the hell did she even learn that phrase?”

“Been spending too much time with Auntie Lux.” He laughs, snuggling against my chest.

The room is awash with the soft glow of his bedside lamp and filled with the crackle of firewood. I stroke his hair gently, breathing in that classic Enzo smell.

“Can you believe everything that’s happened to us?” I say, cracking up. It’s funny to look back on now, but God—there were some tough days.

Putting Alessia, and Matilda to a lesser extent, through intense therapy and watching their sisterhood grow was the toughest, most rewarding thing I’ve ever witnessed.

“Do you ever regret stepping away from the mafia?” Enzo asks, glancing up at me with genuine curiosity.

“Not even for a second.” I smile, placing a light kiss on the tip of his nose. “This is everything I’ve ever wanted… a husband, children, chickens, a garden, even those smelly goats. I have my ballet studio and the girls’ after-school activities to keep me busy. Enzo, I’m a happy woman.”

“Phew,” he breathes, blowing hot air across my neck. “I was worried you missed the shady back rooms and breaking knuckles.”

“I’ll leave that all up to you,” I say, scrunching my nose.

The greatest gift my father could have ever given me before he finally succumbed to his cancer was releasing me from the grip of the family.

It didn’t happen easily. For a while, I thought I might have to run away and change my identity, but eventually, he came to terms with it.

“I finally feel free,” I whisper, cursing my raging hormones for getting me teary-eyed again. “You made that happen for me.”

“Lenny,” he gasps, sitting up beside me. “Don’t cry. Are these happy tears? I hope they are. Only happy tears allowed in this house—don’t make me kick you out.”

I laugh, choking back a hiccup. His beautiful jade green eyes search my face, trying to figure out why I’m crying again.

He probably thinks I’ve been on my period for the past three months.

“Happy tears,” I assure, wiping my nose. He relaxes, stretching out beside me, and pulls me close. I snuggle into his flannel pajamas, savoring the safety he provides.

“I have a secret,” he whispers. “But you can’t tell anyone.”

“Funny, I have a secret, too!”

“No way! You first.”

“Nope.” I laugh. “You brought it up. I double-dare you to go first.”

“Fine,” he agrees, rubbing his temple in mock annoyance. “Fucking stubborn Taurus. Okay, so get this, Lux is pregnant again. Rafael said three months along, but they’re not telling people until next month. Can you believe it?”

Lux! I can’t believe it! I just spent the entire day with her and the kids, and she didn’t say a word.

Good thing Rafael is such a gossip, because this gives me the perfect opportunity to share my secret.

For a second, I worry about telling Enzo. We already have our hands full with the girls and their therapy sessions, after-school activities, my ballet studio, Enzo’s criminal empire—it’s a lot.

What if he’s not happy about it? What if he doesn’t want it?

“Helloooooo,” he drones, waving his hand in front of my face. “Earth to Lenny? Come back to me, please. I’m dying to hear your secret.”

Lux and I are pregnant at the same time.

I break into laughter even as I struggle to get a hold of myself. I think back over the last few months and realize that neither of us has ordered any alcohol.

We also both keep suggesting alternatives for our weekly sushi nights—and neither of us has realized what we’re hiding from each other.

“Okay, I’m officially terrified,” Enzo says lightly, but I see worry in his eyes. “Do I need to call a priest?”

“Oh, stop,” I wheeze, trying to control my laughter. “It’s just so funny.”

“That she’s pregnant?”

“That she’s pregnant,” I confirm. “Because I’m also pregnant.”

Shocked silence stretches between us, and I quickly sober up. Maybe that was a terrible way to tell him.

I glance over at him, trying to figure out his thought process. He stares back at me, open-mouthed and in shock.

Panic swells up in my chest, and my breathing gets shallow. Oh god, he doesn’t want this. He doesn’t want a baby.

I jump to explain, to tell him we can discuss it, but he cuts me off with a loud whoop.

What the…

I watch as he propels out of bed and jumps around, cheering. He’s acting like a cheesy athlete who’s just won a game, pumping his arm and whooping so loud I’m sure he’s going to wake the girls.

“Enzo, calm down.” I laugh. “I take it you’re happy?”

“Elated,” he sings in a loud opera voice.

“Shhhh,” I warn. “You’re going to wake the monsters.”

“We have to tell them!” he announces, already running out of the room.

Sometimes I forget that when he gets like this, having Enzo around is like having a third child, but his joy is infectious. I run out to the hallway and yank him back by the shirt.

“Oh no, you don’t,” I whisper, dragging him back to the bed. “Tomorrow is Alessia’s day, and I don’t want anything to overshadow it.”

“You’re right.” He instantly quiets down. “This is why I married you, you brilliant, amazing, wonderful woman.”

We climb back into bed, both of us giddy with our little secret. He snuggles up to me again, placing his warm hand across my tiny, growing belly.

“How long?”

“Three months.” I chuckle. “Just like Lux.”

“So funny.” He smiles. “Maybe it’ll be a boy. Enzo Jr.”

“We’re not naming him Enzo Jr.,” I laugh, smacking his shoulder.

“You’re right, Enzo the Second, it is.”

“Stooooop,” I groan, but he takes the rest of my words away with a deep, hot kiss.

I sink into his arms, letting go of the world around me. He slips my shirt off, working his hungry mouth down my chest, skimming over my belly button, going lower and lower.

I moan softly, threading my fingers through his hair, and relax into his touch. Valentina, the mother, the ballet teacher, the daughter, the friend—all those versions of me disappear.

And for a little while, I become just Valentina.

The truest version of myself.

The one I can only be with Enzo.

The end.

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She was promised to me.

A mafia princess who thought she could escape the underworld.

No one gets out of this twisted game…Especially when they’re carrying my heir.

There’s only one way to keep her safe now—she must play the part…my fiancée.

But I see how she looks at me. She hates me.

Before long I'll have her beneath me, begging for more.

I don’t play nice, and I never lose.

I’ll groom her into what she was always meant to be—my queen.

She was born to rule beside me in this bloody empire.

Every look of defiance only fuels the fire between us.

But she’s hiding something—I’m not blind.

Her belly is growing, sealing our bond in blood.

She’s mine—forever. And she knows it.