While she gets her breathing under control, I kiss the inside of her thighs and slide my palms up over her hips to her belly, embracing what we’ve created there.
She reaches down and threads her fingers through my hair, and that softness tempts me to stay in bed with her all morning, napping and fucking her. But then I remember she has other needs.
“You’re thinking about feeding me, aren’t you?” She eases herself off me and slides down into the space between my arm and chest, resting her head there.
A smirk plays across my lips. “That, among other things.”
She smiles, tracing the line of my jaw with her fingers. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For always looking after me.”
“That’s my job,” I murmur.
“I know.” Emotion threatens to steal her voice. “But not everybody gets this, and I just want you to know how much it means to me.”
I brush her hair back, lips grazing her cheek. I know she’s probably thinking about her mom and the life she never got to have. Her father left her wounded, and I’ll spend the rest of my life healing what he broke if that’s what it takes.
“You weren’t protected the way you should have been,” I tell her. “But you’re mine now. And I can promise you, with me…that will never happen again.”
EPILOGUE
ABELLA
The afternoon sun bathes me in golden warmth as I sprawl across my husband’s bare chest. It’s a perfect encapsulation of a moment in time, and there isn’t a thing that could ruin it. Not even when a shadow falls over us, and I open my eyes to find Mariella holding our crying daughter in her arms.
“She has her father’s temper.” Mariella hands Antonella off to Angelo and shakes her head before she leaves us.
He doesn’t even look the slightest bit sorry about that as he cradles the back of Antonella’s head and tucks her into the safety of his arm. On cue, she lets out one last little huff and settles in, exactly where she wants to be.
He smirks at me, and I roll my eyes. “She does the same thing with me when you’re not around.”
“Sure she does.”
Truthfully, nobody can calm her the way Angelo can. But I get it. He’s our safe space—our refuge from the world. Antonella is a daddy’s girl through and through, but when I see them together, I can’t even be sad about it.
Angelo was intense throughout my entire pregnancy—ensuring I ate, slept, and rested as needed. But now that our daughter has arrived, he’s absolutely unhinged when it comes to protecting the two of us. I already pity whichever poor soul falls in love with Antonella when she’s older, because they won’t stand a chance.
True to his nature, my husband is terrifying in his devotion. What we have is sacred and untouchable, and he makes it clear every day that nothing and nobody will ever come between us again.
To everyone else, he’sIl Diavolo—the man who sends shivers down spines when he walks into a room. His life is filled with darkness, sin, violence, and bloodshed. He’s dangerous, but not to us. When he holds our daughter, he handles her with a gentleness nobody else will ever know from him.
Unlike my father, there isn’t a thing Angelo wouldn’t do to protect his child. Every time I’m reminded of that, it heals a little bit of that pain deep inside me. He’s everything I could ever want for the father of my children. And someday, I have no doubt we’ll have the huge family we’ve talked about. But for right now, I’m more than content with our perfect little Nella—the entire center of our universe.
I’ve taken a long maternity leave, and after this trip, I plan to return to work half-time until Nella is older. Angelo is still perpetually busy with Mafia business and the Vitale empire. But without fail, he comes home to us every night.
I settle deeper into his arm, releasing a happy little sigh as my fingers coast over the fresh ink on his ribcage.
Abella and Antonella.
“You like seeing your claim on me?” he asks.
“What do you think?” I press my lips against his warm skin.
He grazes my hip with his palm and squeezes. “I think if you keep doing that, I’ll come up with some other ways for you to leave your mark on me.”
“We have a baby to take care of,” I remind him.
