"Dante, Ugo and Primo are all there. I wanted to ensure my wife was safe." He always will.
We rejoin the others just before the graduation ceremony begins. I settle Amadeo in my lap and Nico takes Lucia from Zeta.
"Maddalena doesn't look as terrified as Matilde did at her graduation," Dante murmurs to Nico.
I lean past my husband. "She's not getting ready to marry a scary Capo tonight like I was… or his even scarier brother."
Dante slants a look at me. "Maybe I liked it better when you were scared of us."
"Too bad for you. Amadeo needs a diaper change. Why don't you be a wonderful uncle and take care of that for us so we can watch my sister?"
Dante grumbles, carrying our son out of the auditorium, while Nico's laughter fills my heart with joy.
***
"I wondered if we would ever have the house to ourselves again," I whimper as I tug off my heels late that night.
Nico appears behind me, massaging my neck and shoulders. "I think your sister enjoyed the party."
"She did." Maddalena enjoyed the gifts and celebration while Nico and I were busy ensuring harmony in his realm. "Your uncles, cousins and captains all seem pleased with your decisions regarding who will handle what and where."
"And their wives seem to have taken a liking to you."
"They want to make sure their husbands live long lives. They won't forget where I started off anytime soon, but that doesn't matter now."
"If I am the king of this territory, you will be their queen,tesoro.In time, they'll see how well you wear the crown." He lowers his mouth to my collarbone. "You look so sexy in this dress."
My husband has had enough of our networking discussion for this evening, so I spin around, reaching up to stroke his stubbled chin. "Thank you. You look sexy in your suit. In every suit you own. I love being married to a sexy, older man… who looks even sexier out of those suits."
He smirks, capturing my wrist for a sensual kiss. "I have a present for you."
"For me?"
His smoldering gaze stirs my desire, and I expect a naughty sort of present when Nico ducks into his closet. But when he comes back out, he's carrying a canvas. "I was working on this while we were apart. I had to sneak in time to finish it since you've been back. Not that I'm complaining."
He turns the canvas around so I may see. My jaw drops. "Nico… It's so beautiful!"
Under a sunny sky, there's a wooden fence cutting through a pasture with lambs and peach trees in the distance. The colors are warm and inviting, bringing the farm where I grew up clearly to mind. And there's a young woman in a flowing dress with leaves in her dark hair balancing on that fence. "She is you, but this time, you will not fall."
"And if I do, I know who would help me with the stitches. I can't begin to tell you how much this means to me,"I say in Italian, my throat too tight with emotion to bother with English.
"I can't begin to tell you how much you mean to me, but I will try to show you every day."
I hug him tightly, kissing his cheek and feeling the same way."Grazie.How did you get all the details so close?"
"I practiced my Sicilian enough to make a phone call to your father's old Don. He had a few photos of your father's farm. You can share those with Maddalena, but the painting is yours."
"I may never see it again."
"Would you want to?"
"Visit Sicily? I have no passport." He smirks, reminding me there's little he can't accomplish. "Would you want to see it with me? Oh, but the babies are young for such a long trip. And I want to focus on the painting now. I love it so much. We will hang it up, just likeSorrow's Cascade.What will we call it?"
He shakes his head, grinning at my excitement. "Whatever you wish, my love."
***
Just a few days later, Nico and I are preparing to host another party. Well,Iam baking cupcakes with Nunzia while my husband holds a meeting in his office.
