Epilogue
Sofia
Four Years Later
“Okay. That’s enough,” Giorgia, Sal’s wife, huffs as she puts the barbell back on the rack.
“That’s fine. You did great!” She looks at me suspiciously as I stand in front of her in the gym with a swollen belly.
She was one of the last people in Alessandro’s circle to agree to having me as a personal trainer—that was the main role I picked out when he offered me a job of my choosing.
It only took me a day to think of it because, well, I was doing this before moving to Sicily.
And while it may not seem like the most impactful thing, Alessandro says the improvement in cardio and strength of his men has saved some of their asses.
And I enjoy working with the wives; it helped me get more acclimated to living here and get invited to more social gatherings.
I don’t even need to drag Alessandro to most of these things anymore either.
He’s still an introvert at heart, but the antisocial tendencies have nearly vanished.
“You’re not going to force me to do another set?” Giorgia sits down on the bench, looking spent.
“No, I can see that we made a lot of progress today, and sustainability and consistency are more important than anything when it comes to exercise. I don’t want you to get burned out.”
She raises her eyebrows and tilts her head. “Well, since you’re letting me off the hook, I suppose I should go before you change your mind.” She winks at me. “My son’s family is coming over, so I could use the extra time to prepare for that.”
“Have fun.” I give her a warm smile before she heads out the door.
I speed through a quick workout of my own—nothing crazy since I’m pregnant—before going upstairs to see what Alessandro is up to with the kids.
I walk past the pool, the indoor tennis courts, which we put in two years ago, along with the rock-climbing gym.
I may have gone overboard with the renovations in this part of our home…
but Alessandro said to do whatever I wanted, and I took him up on that.
Valeria and Dario are going to love that once they’re old enough to use these things.
And Valeria should be pretty darn close to old enough soon, seeing that she’s turning four this weekend.
The sound of giggling echoes from the children’s playroom and guides me to my family.
When I enter the doorway of their toy-filled room, I see Alessandro struggling to sit in one of the little chairs at their table.
He’s wearing a pink cowboy hat that is small enough that it rests precariously on the top of his head.
Valeria has her back to me, and it looks like some Halloween decorations that went missing from the living room a couple of months ago have joined them for tea: a ghost and a witch. I guess that mystery is solved.
Dario looks as though he’s entertaining himself by playing with his cars in the corner. He notices me first and runs up to me with a big smile on his face.
“Hey, baby.” I pick him up and kiss the top of his head. He’s very quiet most of the time and seems to prefer independent play. But he’s affectionate and cuddly in his own way.
“Mommy!” Valeria screams. “We’re having tea time with the ghost and the bitch.
We’re having cookies and glitter tea and…
” the little chatterbox babbles on as Alessandro refuses to make eye-contact so he doesn’t laugh at what she said.
We’ve been trying to speak more English over the past few weeks.
It’s important that they grow up bilingual so they can talk to my family, so it’s refreshing to hear her babble in my native tongue.
But what did she just say?
“Who are you having tea with, Val?” I sit next to them and politely cut her off because I know she’s only going to keep going.
“Daddy, the ghost, and the bitch.”
“Ah.” I lift the witch decoration as Alessandro covers his mouth, Dario still nestled at my side. “Is this the bitch?”
“Yep!”
“She’s called a witch, not a bitch.” I don’t even bother telling her that’s a bad word, knowing Valeria that would only make her say it more.
“Witch.” She repeats what I said. “But Daddy didn’t tell me it was wrong.”
“My English isn’t as good as Mommy’s.” He gives me a sarcastic smile. “She’s right, I’m wrong.”
“Okay.”
Dario wiggles out of my arms and goes back to his corner to play.
I spend time with all of them for a while before heading to our room to finally take a shower, leaving Alessandro to handle bedtime—he takes over that task when I have a training session that runs late into the evening.
And besides, things are running smoothly with our business.
Quiet but just as profitable as when Marco was in charge.
That has given Alessandro some much-needed rest and time to spend with our kids.
When I open up the closet in our bedroom, my jaw drops to the floor when I see how many presents Alessandro bought for Valeria’s birthday.
There are even some little boys’ toys, so I don’t know if he’s stockpiling for Dario’s next birthday or if he’s turning into the type of person to buy little gifts so that the other siblings don’t feel left out.
It’s obvious why he’s doing this. But I worry that it’ll backfire and we’ll end up spoiling them. I jump over a pile of toys to get to the dresser and take out something I can sleep in, then head to the bathroom, thinking about how I should approach this.
The warm water is so relaxing when I step into the shower that I nearly stop caring and let Alessandro do whatever the heck he wants with her party. But our children are being raised in an unimaginably rich and powerful family—we need to make sure they don’t end up spoiled rotten.
And Valeria has already inherited my stubbornness.
I’m surprised when Alessandro walks into the bathroom.
“That was quick.” I raise my eyebrows as I lather conditioner into my hair.
“Dario was tired, and I told Valeria that I’d read a book with her soon.”
He sheds his clothes and joins me. I feel like we never get a moment to ourselves anymore, so he doesn’t hesitate, gripping my backside and pulling me flush against him—or as flush as possible with my swollen belly. His lips press against mine.
I moan. “I needed this.”
He pulls my head back, his fist gripped in my hair, and kisses me down my neck, reaching his thumb down to my clit, stimulating it until he turns me around and slips inside of me.
My hands brace against the shower wall as he thrusts. Though we haven’t retired entirely from our kinkier ways, we’ve been making love more like this recently. Slow. Sensual. Relishing the alone time that we have together.
He hits that magic spot deep inside of me, thrusting harder until I come undone, then he quickly does the same.
My legs feel wobbly as he helps me stand upright. I grip his arms, feeling a head-rush suddenly.
“You okay?”
“Yeah…” The feeling of faintness passes. “Just pregnant.”
He turns the water colder and feels my swollen stomach, a gentle smile on his face. “Did you see the presents?”
He looks so happy with himself that I don’t want to burst his bubble, but my face must be too revealing.
“What is it? Is it too much?”
I bite my lip and nod. “I’m worried we’re spoiling them.”
“They’re just things, Sofia. We’re teaching them manners, teaching them to get along with other kids, so what if they’ll need a second playroom? We have the space for it.”
“…A second playroom?”
Both of them have large bedrooms and a room for all of their toys. Now he’s telling me there will be a second one?
“I want them to know they’re loved.”
“And they do.” I put my hands on his chest. “But they feel that way because of the time we spend with them, not because of the things they have.”
“Can I at least buy her a bitch doll? Something she can have all year? Maybe an entire Wizard of Oz set.”
“Did you give her the wrong pronunciation on purpose?”
“I promise you, no.”
The smile he has on his face almost makes me not believe him. But it’s more likely that was simply an accident he didn’t correct. She’s young enough that she mixes up letters all the time, especially in English.
“Seriously, though. I’m worried everything you bought is way too much…”
He sighs. “I’ll cancel the rest of the orders.”
“There were more?!”
He looks sheepish. “It’s more fun now that she’s growing out of the baby stage. So many more options.”
I groan. “You’re making this too hard for me. I don’t want to be the bad guy.”
“I’ll cancel the rest,” he says with more conviction. “I got carried away and excited.”
“Thank you.”
He gives me a quick kiss. “Now, I should make sure the kids aren’t getting into anything they shouldn’t be. And if she’s still awake, I owe her a bedtime story.”
He leaves me alone to finish my shower and wonder how I ended up here after the stress of our marriage a few years ago.
I never admitted it to him, but part of me was worried early on that once the attraction waned between the two of us, he’d recede into his miserable self and I’d become more combative.
But that never happened. Any of it. He’s so happy that I don’t know if he’s even recognizable at all.
And me?
For once in my life… I feel relaxed. Like my mind isn’t going a mile a minute all the time.
Which is ironic since I’m always getting pulled in multiple directions with my family and my role here.
My temper is reduced too. I can take a breath and hold my tongue.
And I don’t care about being right or winning or any of that nonsense anymore.
Because I have more control and agency over my life, and of course, a family that I adore.
THE END
Thank you for reading Hollow Deception!