“Not every love story ends in ashes, fiore mio. Oursbegins there.” He cups my face in his rough palms and presses his lips to mine. “And God help anyone who tries to take it from us. I’ll burn the whole world to the ground if I have to.”
I believe him too. There’s nothing this man wouldn’t do for me.
Dom and Elio leave Riccardo and his men to deal with the container and climb into the front seat. Elio drives us away from the flames, away from the past, and into the life we fought for, bled for, and nearly died for.
As the fire fades in the mirror, a new dawn creeps over the horizon.
We don’t look back. The past burns behind us, but the future blazes ahead.
EPILOGUE
DAN
Sunlight filters through the branches of the Italian stone pines, the warmth of the sun’s rays stroking my skin.
I lean back against the tree, watching Dom dribble the ball across the grass, Angelos darting after him with a grin stretched across his face. He’s still a little pale, thinner than he should be after the past six weeks of hell, but he’s happy.
Rose lies on the blanket, her head resting on my thigh as she gazes up at me. She’s bundled in a pink cardigan over her dress, her skin still carrying a yellow hue from recovery, but colour is returning to her cheeks. Every so often, she closes her eyes and tilts her face to the sun, soaking it in as if she’s tasting freedom for the first time.
I could watch her do that forever.
Dom launches the ball again and pretends to miss Angelos' return kick on purpose, sprawling dramatically on the grass. He’s been back and forth between here and the UK, tracking Magnus, along with Riccardo and even Elio. Who’d have thought Magnus would be the one to bring our two families together?
“Uncle Dom plays like an old man!” Angelos shouts, hands on his hips.
Dom props himself up on his elbows and shouts back, “Old man, eh? Watch your mouth or I’ll trip you up with one of my geriatric moves.”
“You’re not fast enough!” Angelos fires back.
I chuckle under my breath, warmth filling my chest.
“Dom’s letting him win,” Rose says quietly on my lap.
“Yeah. He thinks he’s being subtle.” My fingers play with her hair; more brunette’s grown through now, reminding me of the woman I fell in love with all those years ago. I curl a lock around my finger. The blonde from the woman I fell in love with all over again.
She smiles at me, and for the first time in what feels like forever, there’s no fear in her eyes. It’s just her. My fiore mio.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, but I ignore it, playing with Rose’s hair.
“You not getting that?” she asks with a furrowed brow. “It could be important.”
“It’s not.” My fingers trace the lines on her brow. “There’s nothing more important than this moment with you and my family. And nothing is going to interrupt our day.”
She reaches a hand to my face and I kiss her palm. “You know, at some point, you’re going to have to tell me what you actually do for a living.”
I chuckle to myself, my chest shaking. “Don’t act innocent. I know you went snooping for my ID.”
Her lips press together in a thin line as if suppressing a smile. “That ID didn’t make any sense.” A small crease forms between her eyebrows and I kiss her there.
Angelos kicks the ball too hard, and it bounces onto the picnic blanket.
I catch it and grin. “Isn’t it obvious? I work inintelligence.”
Dom snorts, snatching the ball from me. “Yeah, the undercover kind—'cause no one’s ever actually seen your intelligence.”
Rose's mouth twitches like she's trying to be polite, but she bursts out laughing anyway. She tilts her head at me. “So what, you’re like James Bond?”
Dom chuckles. “More like Bullshit Bond.”
