Epilogue
Niccolo took a drink of his champagne. Georgia was snuggled on his lap, a blanket wrapped around them both to help stave off the night’s chill.
On the seat beside them, Dante and Callie, also snuggled up beneath a blanket.
Being pregnant, Callie was the only one of their party without a glass of champagne.
Marisa, snuggled up with Rico, was on her third glass, which was always good fun to watch.
Next to them, smiling as much as any of the rest of them, Gennaro, extending his hand to Luisa, who’d just returned after popping inside to check on the sleeping toddlers.
Between the four couples, they had twelve children.
The baby in Callie’s belly was unlikely to be the last birth the gang celebrated.
Huddled together in front of them like penguins, the nine children deemed old enough to stay up and watch the fireworks.
Amongst the huddle, ten-year-old Dante, Niccolo and Georgia’s eldest child, and his sister, six-year-old Calista, who was holding hands with her best friend Teresa, Rico and Marisa’s second eldest child.
Every year it was the same. The gang invaded Dante (senior) and Callie’s castle to see in the new year.
It was a time that had become sacrosanct to them all.
They would feast outside whatever the weather was doing, then sit back and watch the firework display so big that the people of the closest town gathered in the town square to watch the display.
The display never disappointed.
Gazes lifted to the sky, they watched the explosions lighting the sky in beautiful colour.
A warm hand slipped beneath his shirt and rested above his heart.
“Happy?” Georgia murmured, her contented gaze on him.
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Always. You?”
She smiled. “Always.”
She settled back with her head on his chest.
Niccolo caught Rico’s eye. In unison, they raised their glasses and nodded.
Ten years of friendship, and he still hadn’t found a way to repay the debt he owed Lorenzo Esposito’s youngest son. Making him Calista’s godfather was not, to Niccolo’s mind, a debt repayment. It was good parenting.
Oh well, he thought, planting a kiss in Georgia’s silky hair, if the day ever came when Rico needed him, he would be ready.
Until then, he would enjoy the close bond they’d forged, but never would he forget that the beautiful woman in his arms and the two beautiful children they’d created were all here because of what Rico had done.
Because of Rico, Niccolo was the happiest man in the universe.
The Esposito Legacy series:
The Don is dead. Long live the Don… or Donatella…
Lorenzo Esposito’s sudden death has sent shockwaves across Europe. Italy’s most powerful man leaves behind an empire, and now his successors are plotting their moves for the ultimate prize – control. But his children aren’t the only players in the game…
Dive into the dark and dangerous world of the Italian mafia, where the men are ruthless and possessive, loyalty is everything, and where the stakes could not be higher.
Book 1, Blackmailed Vows