My breath caught.
He opened the box. Inside was a ring—simple, stunning, timeless.
"Marry me. Not because of duty. Not because of the past. But because I want every morning, every night, every heartbeat with you."
Emotion swelled in my chest, overflowing in tears that I didn't try to stop.
"Yes," I whispered. "A thousand times yes."
He slipped the ring onto my finger, his hands steady even as his eyes glistened. Then he leaned in and kissed me—soft and deep, sealing the promise we'd just made.
I rested my head against his shoulder, my body finally surrendering to fatigue. "Do you ever think about who we used to be? The mafia man and the woman who stole from his brother?"
He was quiet for a moment, his free hand stroking my hair. "They feel like different people now. People from another lifetime."
"Do you miss it? The power, the control, all of it?"
His answer came without hesitation. "Not for a second." He looked down at Luca, then back to me. "I traded an empire for a family. Best deal I ever made."
The simple honesty in his words washed over me like a benediction. We had both been broken people when we met—me fleeing an abusive relationship with stolen evidence, him trapped in a violent legacy he'd inherited. Somehow, against all odds, we'd pieced together something beautiful from those broken parts.
"I love you," I whispered, the words still new enough to feel momentous each time I said them.
Vittorio's eyes, those ice-blue eyes that had once terrified me with their coldness, now warmed as they met mine. "And I love you. Both of you."
Luca stirred in his sleep, making tiny dreaming movements with his mouth. We both watched him, entranced by every small gesture.
"Welcome to the world, Luca Blackwood," Vittorio murmured. "You will never know darkness."
As sleep finally claimed me, I felt Vittorio's lips press against my forehead, his arm secure around me, our son nestled safely between us. The last thought that drifted through my mind was one of perfect contentment—we had survived the impossible and emerged not just alive, but truly living.
We were no longer captive and captor, victim and villain, prey and predator. We were simply a family. Victoria, Marcus, and LucaBlackwood—three hearts beating as one in a small Portuguese clinic, far from the shadows of our past.
And it was enough. It was everything.
EPILOGUE
Vittorio
The morning light filtered through our coastal bedroom, casting golden rays across the white sheets. I stood in the doorway, watching Sophie adjust the simple white sundress that flowed around her curves. Six months had transformed her body back to its pre-pregnancy shape, though subtle changes remained—evidence of the life she'd carried. Her hair fell in loose waves down her back, adorned with tiny white flowers she'd picked from our garden.
My chest tightened with an emotion I was still learning to name. Not the sharp vigilance of my former life, but something warmer, deeper.
In my arms, Luca squirmed, his tiny hands batting at my face. I'd dressed him in the sailor outfit Sophie had found in the village market last week, complete with a miniature captain's hat that kept sliding off his dark curls.
"Ready to make this official?" I asked, my voice low.
Sophie turned, her smile lighting up her face in a way that still stunned me. She crossed the room and adjusted Luca's hat, her fingers brushing mine.
"I've been ready since the moment you asked me," she said. "Though I still can't believe the man who once handcuffed me in his Bentley is about to become my husband."
I caught her hand, pressing my lips to her palm. "The man who handcuffed you died a long time ago."
"Not entirely." Her eyes sparkled with mischief. "I've grown rather fond of certain parts of him."
I laughed, shifting Luca to my shoulder. "Save those thoughts for later, Mrs. Soon-to-be-Blackwood."
The name still felt strange on my tongue. Not Ricci, not Blackwood, but Romano—a name we'd chosen together, with no history or baggage attached. A clean slate.
