Page 128 of Thorns of Blood

“Our family, which includes you and Jet, is indeed big,” Giovanni answered, now shaking her hand. She flicked a worried look to Jet, who gave her a silent nod of approval and she followed Giovanni, her small hand in his big strong one as he introduced her to his brothers, then her uncle Kingston, leaving my twin for last.

Seeing him like this, with my—our—family made it harder to maintain my composure.

Much like me, Lou got down to her knees and pulled Elira into a hug, her lip quivering. “I’m your Aunt Lou, sweetie, and you and me, we’re going to be best friends.”

Elira reached out and touched her face. “You look just like my momma.”

“We’re twins too,” my sister said gently. “Like you and your brother.”

My daughter glanced at me and Jet, who was still standing by me, watching his sister like an overprotective brother.

She returned to me, her small palm coming to my cheek.

“You have a big family,” Elira whispered shyly, her gaze hesitantly moving between Giovanni and me, then darting to his brothers and my sister, only to come back to me.

“Wehave a big family,” I murmured. “You two areourfamily too.” It was impossible to hold back tears, so I let them fall,laughing and crying at the same time. “And you’ve made me”—I glanced at my husband who had been with me every step of the way since he barged into my life with love and gratitude—“ madeuscomplete.”

Then I pulled them into a hug, my husband’s arms wrapping around all of us like a protective cocoon.

My chest glowed, and for the first time ever, I finally experienced what it meant to be blissfully happy. It wouldn’t matter what life brought our way, because I finally had what I’d yearned for for so long.

Love. Family. Happiness.

EPILOGUE

GIOVANNI

Boston

Eighteen Months Later

Daffodils symbolize rebirth and hope, but also resilience, and that was exactly what our family was.

As I promised my wife, I had been slowly checking off every single one of her bucket list tattoos from her list.

This was another one. Dancing barefoot across the field of daffodils.

My wife wanted to walk in a field of them, stronger than ever, and I ensured to make that happen. I bought land all around our home and planted daffodils so she could always run barefoot through them. And she did, over and over again, then she’d run back to me and pepper kisses all over my face, only to go back and run over it again. And now she was dancing in the field of daffodils.

Happy. Strong. And more beautiful than ever.

Leaning against the doorframe of our terrace door with my hands in my pockets, I watched my family run barefootover the flowers. Jet, Elira, and Lia made a dance circle with their cousins, Lou, Lara, and Kingston, and my brothers who grumbled, claiming they look ridiculous.

They were right; they did.

But judging by everyone’s smiling faces, my brothers would continue looking ridiculous.

Seeing them all like this, it made the journey to get to this moment so fucking worth it.

Life was good, so fucking good that sometimes I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

Our family divided our year between Siberia, Venezuela, and Boston, playing mitigator between three criminal organizations—the Cartel, the Omertà, and the Syndicate. Our relationship with the Omertà, the Kingpins, and the Cartel was stronger than ever. The Syndicate was making progress in tearing down flesh trading. And my wife… she was so fucking happy, she glowed.

Having the twins, Amara, and Lou back in her life made an extraordinary change in Lia. The children, being close in age, became tight friends and extremely close. And so did my wife and Emory. Lia still visited Dr. Freud, although not as frequently, and more often than not it was a social call rather than a professional one. The two had formed an unlikely friendship.

Life really worked in mysterious ways.

“You did good, Giovanni.” Mateo’s voice came from behind me and I glanced at him. “I have to admit, when I first heard about you marrying Lia, I wasn’t so sure about the match.” I rolled my eyes, and he continued, “Not that it would have mattered. In that regard, you’re very much like me.”