Epilogue
Isabella
Irina giggles as Cas blows against her cheek. She’s always loved her godmother more than anyone else.
A fact that has become increasingly helpful as Teo and I attempt some semblance of normalcy in our lives again.
“There’s some extra milk in the fridge if you need it,” I repeat needlessly. “It will need warming up, but…”
“I know, Issy.” Cas blows again, causing another peel of laughter. “You really don’t need to worry.”
I don’t think I’ll ever stop worrying, but I don’t say that. “Thank you for this. I know it’s short notice.”
She brushes me off. “Don’t be ridiculous. Cory and I were going to have a quiet night in any way.”
The baby in question is currently crawling around our living room, curiously exploring the open space. Occasionally, I make out the mop of dark hair charging around corners at alarming speeds.
I approach Cas and lay a hand over Irina’s forehead. She only has a fine layer of blonde hair, although Teo is still confident it will turn as dark as his in the coming months.
“Her temperature is down from yesterday,” I withdraw my hand.
“It’s normal for these things to fluctuate a bit,” Cas reassures me as she brings Irina to her shoulder. “Another good sleep, and she’ll be right as rain again, I’m sure.”
I bite my bottom lip. “Maybe I should just cancel.”
Cassandra Moretti might be an actual saint. In the time we’ve known each other, the woman has gone out of her way to befriend and support me. At first, I thought it might be because I helped her give birth. But after all this time, I think she might just be that nice.
But then, sometimes, she gives me a look that reminds me that she’s married to an ex-don.
“You absolutely will not.”
“Cas…”
“You’ve barely been out of this house since Irina was born. You need to take some time for yourself.”
I roll my eyes at her. “I do take time for myself.”
“Working does not count!” Cas snaps. She’d been horrified when I’d admitted I had no intention of taking maternity after Irina was born.
But my office is here. Teo has more tech here than most large-scale corporations, and it is right at my fingertips. It’s all just odd jobs, anyway—things I can easily complete while Irina sleeps or Teo allows himself an afternoon off.
Besides, I like the work. Plus, the more I do, the less that will be on Teo’s plate, which means I actually have time to see him.
Neither of us truly expected how difficult an alliance between the Prince’s Hand and the Guild would be. The stress on Teo, especially these last couple of days, has been, well…
“Teo needs a night off too, remember? Don’t bail on him now,” Cas says firmly.
There’s no real room to protest that. So I sigh in resignation. “All right. But you’ll call me if anything goes wrong?”
I lean in, and we kiss on either cheek before I press a final kiss to Irina’s forehead.
“Nothing will go wrong,” Cas reassures me before an odd expression flashes across her face. I don’t have a chance to think about it before she’s ushering me out the front door. “Just have a good night, okay?”
“If you and Rocco ever need a babysitter?—”
“Go already!”
She all but shoves me out the front door and slams it behind me.
I smile to myself. She’s a force of nature, really.
“We don’t need to go out if Cas bullied you into it.”
I turn on the alarm to see Teo waiting for me, leaning as elegantly as ever against the sports car. Sometimes, I think he likes to match his suits to his cars. My gaze lingers on the flash of skin revealed beneath his dark collar.
“I thought Martino was picking me up?” I make my way down the steps toward him.
“I had a bit of time to spare. Thought I’d save him the trouble.”
I eye him suspiciously before greeting him with a chaste kiss. “When have you ever had spare time?”
“For you, my love, I would spare all the time in the world.” He returns my kiss with a longer one. A deeper one. One that makes me consider dragging him back inside and asking Cas to take the kids to her place.
It’s a distraction, and we both know it. But that doesn’t stop me from enjoying it.
“In that case, can we finally talk about upgrading your central processing unit because if I have to do another job where I’m waiting for the damn thing to keep up with me?—”
He silences me with another kiss. “I said I have time for you. Not work.”
I hum happily. “Where are you taking me, Vitale?”
“You’re not getting anything out of me.” He pulls away somewhat reluctantly before opening the car door for me. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
The journey is swift, and Teo keeps his hand on my knee most of the way. It’s almost as if he’s reluctant to let go of me for even a second.
I don’t recognize the building we stop at, nor do I have any real sense of where we are as Teo leads me through the back door and into an elevator.
“If I didn’t know any better,” I mock-whisper as we watch the levels on the monitor get higher and higher, “I’d guess you were kidnapping me again.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“I’m not sure our daughter would ever forgive us.”
It still feels weird to say it. Every time it leaves my mouth, it sounds like some kind of miracle. It makes my heart clench that Teo and I could even make something so beautiful.
He throws an arm over my shoulder, and I’m enveloped in that all-too-familiar scent of vanilla and sandalwood. “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind for a couple of hours. It’s not like she’ll remember it.”
I scoff. “Are you kidding? The moment she’s old enough to retain memories, I’m telling her about all the times you stole me away.”
“You can’t indoctrinate our daughter.”
“I need to do everything in my power to protect her from ending up with a man like you!” I tease.
He pulls me around so that he can lay a possessive hand around my waist. Facing him, it’s far harder to tease him. The intensity of those endless eyes melts my playfulness into desire.
“And how did that work out for you?” he says with a smug expression on his lips as he catches me glancing at them.
“Horribly,” I reply instantly. Breathlessly.
His hand reaches to tilt my head up to his. “Seems like it.”
I can’t help it; I stretch onto my toes. But he denies me my kiss and pulls away, just as the elevator pings open.
It’s a warm evening, a fact that makes stepping out onto the rooftop an instant relief. A cool breeze brushes across my sweltering skin as I look over the skyline.
Brooklyn, in all its glory. The beach to one side, the river further down. Then there, in the distance, Manhattan has begun to sparkle in the growing twilight. It’s a perfect vantage point of the entire city.
“It will all be ours soon,” Teo murmurs at my side, following my gaze out toward the urban sprawl.
I bite the corner of my mouth. “I thought you didn’t want to talk about work.”
“I don’t.”
I sigh contentedly at his side. The rooftop also houses an extensively stocked bar and luxurious outdoor seating area. It’s a prime location for a Friday evening, but the entire place is empty.
Even the servers and bartenders fade quietly into the background.
I turn to look at Teo. “Did you hire this place out?”
He just shrugs. “I had a busy week. Didn’t really feel like dealing with anyone else.”
I hit him playfully before heading toward the bar. “In that case, I’m making the most of it. I haven’t been drunk since I got pregnant.”
His eyes flash wickedly. “In that case, let’s get the most expensive thing on the menu.”
This turns out to be a champagne that even I barely knew how to pronounce. But it has a truly tantalizing taste, and I sip at it happily as we take a seat by a modern fire pit. I watch the flames dance across the surface of the stone in fascination.
“I can’t remember the last time we had a minute to ourselves,” I confess.
Teo chuckles in agreement. “I think we deserve a night off.”
“In that case…” I kick off my heels and pull my feet up onto the outdoor couch, tucking them neatly beneath me.
His arm automatically drapes over my shoulder, allowing me to snuggle more deeply into his side. My sigh of contentedness matches his as we sip at our drinks and watch as night begins to fall across the city.
“You know,” I say after a moment of peaceful silence. “For future reference, this wouldn’t be a bad place to propose to me.”
His entire body stiffens.
Got him.
“W-what?”
I blink up at him innocently. “You haven’t thought about it?”
“No, I—” his jaw opens, and a look of panic sweeps across his expression that I’ve never seen before. “Of course, I?—”
“So you have thought about it?”
I can’t help the smile from tugging at the corner of my mouth.
His dark eyes zero in on that tiny expression, and he blows out an exasperated breath. “You know.”
“You thought you could hide it from me?”
“I thought I could surprise you!” he protests, looking more dejected by the second. “But you were just messing with me this whole time?”
I bite my lip. “Not the whole time.”
“When? Did Cas tell you?”
“Cas knows?”
“How else do you think I managed to find out your ring size?”
My heart starts to pound a little faster. “You bought a ring?”
“Wouldn’t be much of a proposal without one.” He slowly starts to smile. “Come on then, if you’re so clever. Where is it?”
“The ring?”
He nods, taking another sip of champagne.
I scowl at the challenge before examining my glass carefully. Nothing lies at the bottom of the golden liquid.
Teo snorts. “Do you really think I’d be so cliché?”
Putting my glass down, I take a moment to consider before suddenly launching myself at him, kissing him hard as my fingers explore his chest…and the insides of his jacket pockets. Nothing.
Teo hums contentedly against my lips.
I pull back in frustration. “You’re enjoying this too much.”
“Maybe I don’t have a ring. Maybe I just wanted you to kiss me.” But there’s far too much light in his eyes.
There’s definitely a ring.
I get to my feet, suddenly feeling a little foolish as I scan across the rooftop for any sign of his tampering.
Teo finishes his drink and stands up lazily behind me, striding toward the balcony edge and leaning against it. After a second, he pointedly looks at what seems to be a sheet rope tied to the bar.
With a huff, I follow after him, leaning over the railing to take a look.
There, dangling over the side of the building is a small box.
“A nod to your first daring escape attempt,” Teo explains.
I try to roll my eyes, but my heart is too busy knocking my breath out of me to be very effective. “I assume you expect me to pull it up myself?”
He winks at me, and I resign myself to the task.
It’s, in fairness, not a long rope, but it does take me a moment to detangle the box from its bindings.
It’s small and ornate, and it shivers slightly in my hands as I brace myself for what might be inside.
My fingers clumsily undo the latch and pry back the lid.
But there’s nothing inside.
He played me.
I swallow down the bitter, bitter disappointment that threatens to swallow me whole.
“Teo, this is really very mean. I wouldn’t?—”
The words catch in my throat as I turn around.
Before me, Teo is kneeling.
His devastatingly handsome face looks up at me with heartbreaking earnestness as he presents me with a ring.
Silver band. Brilliant diamond. Bigger than any I’ve ever seen.
But the sight does not hold my attention. Not when Teo begins to speak.
“Isabella Natali. You are the most infuriating woman I have ever met.” He smiles. “I don’t think there is anyone in the world that knows how to get under my skin like you do.”
“Teo.”
“You are mean, and you’re stubborn, and you know exactly what you want and how to get it. You are…a wonderful mother. A beautiful soul. And I want you to ruin me for anyone else for the rest of my life.”
“Teo.”
“I love you, belle. I will always love you. Will you marry?—”
“Yes!”
I throw myself at him. Unable to hold myself back for a moment longer.
And we kiss under the endless night sky.
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