Page 178 of Modern Romance October 2025 5-8

‘Do you really think that we can put all this behind us?’ she asked, hope a desperate twisting thing alive in her chest.

‘I don’t want to put it behind us. I want it to be a funny story that we tell our grandchildren,cara. About how I met a beautiful woman who had forgotten how to laugh.’

‘And how I met a handsome prince who had forgotten how to love,’ she added.

‘Until you.’

‘Until you.’

‘I love you, Enzo Rossetti,’ she said, letting that love fill her up from the inside until it shone from her eyes and her heart like light, radiating golden heat.

‘Say it again,cara,’ Enzo instructed, the smile on his lips almost heartbreakingly beautiful.

So, she threw her head back and shouted, ‘I love you, Enzo Rossetti!’ and then ruined it by descending into giggles and laughter, so pure and true that they would both remember it for the rest of their lives.

Epilogue

ERIN COULDN’T BELIEVEthis day was here.

She looked at herself in the full-length mirror, the beautiful flowing ivory lace dress that clung to her torso and fell from her waist in cascading layers. Her hair, tumbling down around her shoulders in waves.

Her mother stood behind her, tears in her eyes. ‘You look so beautiful,’ she whispered, as she pressed a tissue to her face to stem the flow. ‘But you’re ruining my make-up,’ she accused with only love in her voice.

They both laughed with smiles that wobbled with happiness and delight.

Her mother took her in her arms. ‘I’m so pleased for you, Erin. But more than that, I’m just so proud of the woman you have become. It’s incredible to see you go from strength to strength. I love you, Erin, but more than that Ilikeyou,’ she said, her gaze full of truth and joy, Erin knowing it was the highest praise her mother could give.

Arla Carter’s words touched her deeply.

It hadn’t been easy. As predicted, the presshadbeen full of headlines and pictures, and articles full of equal amounts of harsh critiques and praise. And just as one wave of the news cycle crested, another began to pick up speed. First, following their announcement that there wouldn’t be a double wedding, and then a second when Enzo’s father’s engagement broke apart beneath rumours of infidelity and money troubles. But together they had weathered the worst of it and delighted in the best of it.

Shortly after Enzo had visited her in Falmouth, they had travelled to Switzerland to meet with Amelia Gallo. It wasn’t easy, there had been years of hurt and neglect. But Erin knew that it meant the world to Enzo to see his mother getting the help she needed and deserved.

And soon after, Gio Gallo had reached out privately to Erin, with a reworked offer regarding Charterhouse. And as hard as it was to let go of a childhood dream, Erin knew that turning it down was the right thing to do. She couldn’t continue to follow her father’s dreams, and nor could she hold herself to a promise she’d made to her mother before she’d known better. Erin had turned Gio’s offer down, but instead made a counter-offer of her own; a visit between Erin, Enzo and Gio the next time they were in Italy.

He hadn’t been able to make it today, and Erin suspected privately that it was because he wasn’t well enough to travel. But Enzo’s cousins Antonio and Maria had, and even though he would probably never acknowledge it out loud, the burgeoning friendship between the cousins meant a lot to Enzo.

So it would be a small group of people that celebrated her marriage to the Playboy of Amalfi, Erin thought wryly, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Marcus was there, Alana, whom Erin had met at that fateful party in Cannes, Samara had managed to come over for it—Enzo’s look of shock when he realised Sam was in fact a woman was priceless. She’d brought with her several black-suited men and women that made her think of security guards.

And Erin had realised that the funny thing about her friendship with Sam was that it had never needed the trappings of details, of things that Sam kept secret...because what they felt and what they did know about each other was enough. And Erin was just thankful that she could be part of this day, having been part of the chaotic plan that had brought her to Enzo in the first place.

She and her mother had taken a car to the church, and from there the day moved in bursts of incredible speed and moments of incredible stillness. Erin’s mother walked her up the aisle of the very small, very ancient chapel in Capri where they’d chosen to exchange their vows.

The service, delivered in Italian and English, was short, but deeply sentimental, and Erin wouldn’t have changed a single thing about it. They had each written their own vows and nothing could have prepared Erin for the overwhelming sense of love that rippled through her at his words.

You are my compass, my north, my south, my east and west, you are my guide and my companion. You are my home and I am yours. When you are lost, and whenever you are in need of rest, I am yours. When you are happy, joyful, and silly, I am yours. I will protect you, love you, honour you and cherish you with every breath I take. Because I am yours and I love you.

And when she’d given hers, she’d thought she’d seen the shimmer of tears in his eyes and knew how much her words meant to him.

I promise to stand beside you, no matter what adventures we weather—thrilling, or tough—because I am yours. I promise to stand beside you when things are good as much as when they are hard, when we are happy or sad, when we are hungry or full, when we are angry or laughing. I will stand beside you because I am yours and I love you.

They had kissed to applause and laughter, the perfect way to cement their vows and their union, and while she knew it wouldn’t always be plain sailing, that didn’t matter, because they would face whatever came their way. Together.

Long after the last staff member had left the yacht anchored off the Amalfi Coast, Enzo Rossetti came to where his wife stood at the rails, looking out at the glittering coastline. He slipped his arms around her and gently rested her back against his chest, wondering how he’d got so lucky.

He held her in his arms, knowing they had all the time in the world and he realised that for the first time he didn’t want to rush off somewhere new, he wasn’t looking for some crazy distraction. He had everything he needed, right here, for the rest of his life.

He could barely credit all the things that had happened between them, to bring them here.