Chapter 59
Elodie later, she changed into blue; and now she’s finally in red, the color she loves most.
I’m counting the seconds until I can steal her away. I can hardly wait to have her, now as my wife.
“Ricco, I want you to know,” I begin, turning to face him, “that I don’t have enough lifetime to make up for how much I regret never knowing Nicolo.”
Even after all these years, a flicker of pain crosses his face when I say it. “I wasn’t ready for reconciliation back then, either, Gianni.”
“It was only when I found out Elodie had lost my child that I truly understood what you went through.”
“I’m sorry, too, brother. But now you’ve been blessed again. Soon there’ll be another boy in the family,” he says, referring to the coming of my first heir.
Elodie is four months pregnant and more radiant than ever.
When I found her again after our separation, I feared she’d never recover from the miscarriage. But even though she still speaks of the child we lost now and then, she’s learning to move forward.
“I want another dance, husband. You can’t say no to a pregnant woman’s wishes,” she says, kissing Ricco’s cheek before coming into my arms.
“I’m your slave, bella. A dance or the whole world, you can have anything from me.”
Wedding Night
“Look at me, Elodie.”
I carried her into our room in my arms, and when I set her down, standing before me, my wife closed her eyes, overcome with emotion.
It takes her a few seconds to open them. They’re glistening with tears.
Elodie, though made entirely of emotion, doesn’t like anyone to see what she considers her weaknesses.
“It’s real, Gianni. We happened. We’re a family now.”
“We’ve always been real, my Romniya. The piece of paper we just signed only made it public that you’re mine, but we’ve always been real. Now, with our child, we’re complete.”
I kneel and kiss the belly where she shelters our baby.