Epilogue
RORI
Fifteen Years Later, Caruso Estate in Sicily.
“I’m going to kill him.” The words are spat through clenched teeth by Nico the moment he walks out of the main house and sees what Alessio and Sienna’s three kids are all wearing. Thankfully they’re only loud enough for us adults to hear, but it does nothing to quiet our laughter.
Luca, Alessio’s oldest and the spitting image of his father, sees Nico first, and a wicked grin splits his face into pure glee.
It’s no secret that he loves to push buttons the same way his father does.
“Uncle BB, you’re here!” he calls loudly, throwing just enough excitement in his voice to have all the kids turn to look his way.
There are a few loud squeals from some of the girls, but especially Gemma, Alessio, and Sienna’s daughter, the only girl and the baby of the family.
“Uncle Boo Bear!” she cries as she paddles her little hands furiously toward the pool's edge. “Uncle Boo Bear, come swim. Come swim!” Her face is flushed from the summer heat, and her dark hair flat to her head. She’s the apple of her father’s eye, and she keeps Sienna on her toes with the amount of sass she can throw.
Serves her right. At least I was smart and only had boys.
“Yeah, Papa, come on in,” Nico and Gia’s oldest son, Enzo, calls with a wicked grin of his own stretching across his face.
A mixture of both his parents, at fourteen, he’s the second oldest of all the kids, but he and Luca are thick as thieves, much to Nico’s annoyance.
Especially once Luca let it slip why all the cousins call Nico Uncle BB.
Well, other than Gemma. She loves to say the whole thing, just to see her favorite uncle stew.
“You’re a dead man,” Nico growls furiously at Alessio, before grabbing Gia and hauling her into his arms for a kiss. He was delayed in getting here due to some issues at home, but I’m glad to see he’s made it. And from the way Gia sinks into him, I’d say she’s happy too.
Alessio grins wickedly, some gray starting to come in at his temples and lines starting to form around his eyes.
Even older the man hasn’t changed a bit.
He’s just gotten more creative in his ways to annoy everyone, but mostly Nico.
“Awww, Boo Bear, you know you missed me. I mean, you did name your daughter after me.”
Nico skewers him with a glare, but then his eyes move around trying to find one of his two daughters. I’ll never forget the day that Gia called to tell us she was pregnant with twins. She was terrified and excited, but to find out they were both girls, it nearly sent Nico into a coma.
That was until both girls were born, and there was a small error with the paperwork for the girls’ names.
I don’t know how Alessio did it, but I know it was him.
Nico lost his shit, but Gia loved the name so much that he couldn’t change it.
Not that it mattered. Both girls have him wrapped around their little fingers.
At eleven, Alessia and Rosa are the oldest of the female cousins and the spitting image of their mother.
Nico’s already assembled a team of guards to watch over them, but I don’t think he has much to worry about with them.
They’re quiet girls, with kind hearts, and love to help out with the younger kids.
“Fuck off,” Nico tells Alessio when he finally pulls away from Gia. His eyes sweep over to me. He takes in the dog at my side and arches a brow. “That better be mine. If I have to hear Roman whine about not having his own dog one more time, I’m going to hire someone else,” he threatens darkly.
Gia and I share a look and roll our eyes. It’s been his go to threat since the day he finally agreed to get another dog. So for the past six months straight. He hates my pesky rule that no dogs are allowed into homes until I’m certain they’re ready for it.
After moving to Sicily, I was bored for less than a day before I was roped in to help Titus with their dogs. From there, it just became my permanent position. I trained all their dogs, and before long, I had other families asking for our help with theirs. Only allies, of course.
A small pang of sadness hits me at the thought of Hades, who helped me train each of them until he finally passed of old age at thirteen.
A year longer than the average, but I like to think that was because he wanted to make sure me and the kids would be alright without him.
It wasn’t long after my youngest, Santino, turned five that I found him in his bed early in the morning.
My only comfort was that he just went to sleep.
I cried for a week straight, heartbroken.
Alonzo had no idea what to do to comfort me, but I saw the wetness in his eyes the day we buried him.
The two of them were close up to the end.
I refused to do anything with any other dogs, until finally, I knew I had to get my butt in gear.
Because that wasn’t what Hades would have wanted, so I got back to work.
I worked my ass off with the other dogs, until I finally felt steady enough to let him go completely.
Now, we have another Cane Corso named Zeus, keeping with the Greek name theme, who is a little more of a goofball than Hades, but watches over the kids like the perfect nanny he is.
Even now, I glance over and see him herding Lazaro and Amara’s youngest, Kira, away from the pool’s edge. Then I look at the dog at my side.
A young German Shepherd I’ve dubbed Aries, sits at attention, waiting for the next command. “He’s yours,” I tell Nico, looking back at him. “We’ve got a few things we’re still working on, but he should be able to go home with you when you leave.”
“Is this one going to eat my favorite shoes?” Gia asks lightly, but her eyes soften when she looks at the dog.
I trained another German Shepherd they called Diablo for them about a year after I moved here—and people say Nico doesn’t have a sense of humor—and he died not long ago.
The kids have wanted another dog ever since.
“Probably.”
Gia groans, but she smiles. “Just gives me another excuse to go shopping.” Nico groans, but I see the smile pulling at his lips.
Gia’s embraced living her life as a free woman, and she loves to shop as often as possible.
Nico didn’t like it at first, but I think they’ve found a good balance.
Especially since his daughters hate shopping while Roman loves to go with his mother as often as possible.
An arm slips around my waist, and I instantly sink back, recognizing Alonzo’s grip.
Even after fifteen years, he makes me feel warm and fuzzy when he’s near.
Maybe that’s because we’ve made it a point to never let our passion and love for each other fizzle.
We’ve struggled, especially after we had Salvator twelve years ago, with Santino following only a few years after, but we’ve made it work.
Not to mention, we have to get very creative to get some time alone, and it makes it hotter.
“Hello, orsetta,” he rumbles in my ear, kissing my neck.
“Goliath,” I tease. “I thought I was going to have to send out a search party. Did you bury Dante in the shallow grave, after all?”
“We tried, but the asshole is slippery.” He grins wickedly down at me. “But I managed to get in one good punch to his balls, so I call it a win.”
I sigh, rolling my eyes. Even after all these years, Dante has to put up with Sofia’s brothers giving him shit. At least he’s a good sport about it. Well, that and they live thousands of miles away, and they only ever see each other in person a few times a year.
I look behind him and see Dante heading our way, walking a little stiffly, and I shoot him a sympathetic look when our gazes catch. He gives me a good-natured grin and moves to the pool, picking up Sofia where she’s lounging and settling her on his lap as he sits down.
“Fucker still has a death wish,” Alonzo grumbles.
“Shhh. They have two boys, and they didn’t get them from the stork. Your sister has sex, get over it.” It’s the same argument we have every time we see them, and as much as Alonzo loves his nephews, he never wants to think of just how they got here.
He glares at me and stalks away to grab a drink and stand with Massimo, Lazaro, and Zeno. All three of them glance my way and then over at Dante with scowls on their faces.
“Men. Some things will never change, will they?” Sienna laughs lightly, coming to stand with me.
“He acts like we didn’t squeeze in some orgasms of our own before the kids got up this morning,” I snort.
“Mom, gross,” Salvatore groans.
Whoops. Forgot he was so close by. I’ve always had an open communication policy with my kids, and at twelve, he definitely knows all about the birds and bees.
I also have made it clear that I will not hide my attraction to their father from them.
I want them to see what a healthy relationship looks like, and how I expect them to treat their future partners.
He’s the spitting image of his father, right down to the bulkiness of his shoulders and chest, and he’s edging closer to my height every day.
The boy will be towering over me before long.
Not that Santino won’t be long in catching up to him.
At almost ten, my youngest is already growing too fast for me to keep in clothes for longer than a few months.
And don’t even get me started on birthing the two of them.
I pulled a page from Amara’s book and freaked the hell out about my vagina never going back to normal.
It was a dark time for me, not that my husband or kids give a shit.
But you damn well bet I wring every last drop out of that for awesome Mother’s Day gifts, and sometimes heaps of guilt when the occasions call for it.
Mostly when they’re pissing me the hell off, but I keep those moments few and far between.