I can tell Sofia is hiding her excitement and trying to look as serious as possible as she moves to stand next to me again.
“A lot has shifted in your family,” he says.
I snort. “Are you talking about my sister’s affair with my stepbrother, killing Marco, or that Sofia is with child?”
“Killing Marco. Then the coup that followed soon after worries me.”
“As it should.” I shrug. “But I trust the surviving captains. We’re promoting a few of the most loyal soldiers. And, the most unfortunate part, we’re backing off of certain territories to not antagonize anyone while our numbers are low and we’re perceived as vulnerable.”
“Good.” He looks towards Sofia. “What about you? Do you feel that it’s safe and secure here?”
“Yes,” she answers. “We’re in a well-fortified castle on the top of a hill that usually has a small army stationed outside of it. When I hated him, I would mull over how to escape in my mind. And aside from one attempt, there was never any other opportunity.”
He laughs. “I bet this is a story. How did that attempt go?”
Sofia smiles uncomfortably, most likely because this escape attempt ended with her getting spanked over my desk.
“Yes, Sofia. How did that go?” I love seeing her flustered.
She kicks a loose rock at her feet. “I hopped over to the next balcony, stole some clothes to conceal my identity, then walked out that door. But I didn’t get far before being caught.”
“Hop?” I scoff. “Tell him how far you actually jumped.”
She playfully rolls her eyes at me and tells him how far she thinks she jumped.
Her grandfather laughs. “That sounds like Sofia.”
The conversation drifts to more boring topics like digging into various trade deals and whatnot. Sofia is an active participant, and I’m so happy that her grandfather sees this. Eventually, we lose track of time, and when we head inside, a good number of people are gone already. The entire room turns towards us, and I realize the three of us are laughing at something her grandfather said as we enter. And for the first time tonight, a few of those faces lighten up when they see me.
I leave Sofia with her family, and she promises that she’ll be up soon—but I doubt that. She’s going to be sucked into conversation after conversation. But that’s okay.
I have the rest of my life to spend with her.
To grow a family with her.
And nothing has made me happier.
Epilogue
Sofia
Four Years Later
“Okay.That’senough,”Giorgia,Sal’s wife, huffs as she puts the barbell back on the rack.
“That’s fine. You did great!” She looks at me suspiciously as I stand in front of her in the gym with a swollen belly. She was one of the last people in Alessandro’s circle to agree to having me as a personal trainer—that was the main role I picked out when he offered me a job of my choosing. It only took me a day to thinkof it because, well, I was doing this before moving to Sicily. And while it may not seem like the most impactful thing, Alessandro says the improvement in cardio and strength of his men has saved some of their asses. And I enjoy working with the wives; it helped me get more acclimated to living here and get invited to more social gatherings. I don’t even need to drag Alessandro to most of these things anymore either. He’s still an introvert at heart, but the antisocial tendencies have nearly vanished.
“You’re not going to force me to do another set?” Giorgia sits down on the bench, looking spent.
“No, I can see that we made a lot of progress today, and sustainability and consistency are more important than anything when it comes to exercise. I don’t want you to get burned out.”
She raises her eyebrows and tilts her head. “Well, since you’re letting me off the hook, I suppose I should go before you change your mind.” She winks at me. “My son’s family is coming over, so I could use the extra time to prepare for that.”
“Have fun.” I give her a warm smile before she heads out the door.
I speed through a quick workout of my own—nothing crazy since I’m pregnant—before going upstairs to see what Alessandro is up to with the kids. I walk past the pool, the indoor tennis courts, which we put in two years ago, along with the rock-climbing gym. I may have gone overboard with the renovations in this part of our home… but Alessandro said to do whatever I wanted, and I took him up on that. Valeria and Dario are going to lovethat once they’re old enough to use these things. And Valeria should be pretty darn close to old enough soon, seeing that she’s turning four this weekend.
The sound of giggling echoes from the children’s playroom and guides me to my family. When I enter the doorway of their toy-filled room, I see Alessandro struggling to sit in one of the little chairs at their table. He’s wearing a pink cowboy hat that is small enough that it rests precariously on the top of his head. Valeria has her back to me, and it looks like some Halloween decorations that went missing from the living room a couple of months ago have joined them for tea: a ghost and a witch. I guess that mystery is solved.
