"You're worth everything to me, too." She pressed a kiss to my chest. "Come home to us. That's all I ask. Just come home."
"I promise."
We made love again later—slower, more tender, savoring every touch. Then held each other through the night, neither of us sleeping, both unwilling to waste a single moment.
Dawn came anyway.
Sofia brought the babies back at seven a.m.
Both of us were exhausted, hair mussed, clearly having spent the night exactly as she'd hoped.
She smiled knowingly but didn't comment. Just handed over Ezio and Eva with kisses on their heads.
"Your last morning together for a while," she said gently. "Make it count."
We spent those final hours as a family of four.
Fed the babies together. Changed diapers. Sat on the couch with one twin each, just being present.
"They won't remember this," Valentina said, looking at Eva sleeping in her arms. "They're too young."
"But we will." I traced Ezio's tiny hand. "We'll remember. And we'll tell them someday—how Daddy had to go away for a little while to make things right, but he came back. Always came back."
"Always," she repeated, voice thick.
At noon, Domenico arrived to drive me to the federal facility.
The goodbye was brutal.
I held Ezio first, memorizing his weight, his smell, the serious expression that was pure concentration.
"Be good for Mama," I whispered. "Protect your sister. I'll be home soon."
Then Eva—so small, so perfect. "Love you, sweet girl. Daddy will be back before you know it."
Finally, Valentina.
I kissed her desperately, tasting salt from the tears neither of us could stop.
"Six weeks," I promised. "Maybe less. Then I'm home and never leaving again."
"I'm counting every day." Her hand pressed over my heart. "Come back to me."
"Always, Mrs. Valestri."
The name made her smile through tears.
I walked out without looking back, because looking back would have broken me.
Domenico drove in silence for the first ten miles.
"You did well, fratello. The wedding, the babies, walking away from the life. Eva would be proud."
"You think?"
"I know. She always wanted you to find something worth living for instead of just surviving." He glanced at me. "You found it. Now go serve your time, come home to your family, and live the life she never got."
"I will," I promised.
