Epilogue
MARA
A Few Months Later
Isit with my hand in Ettore’s, glowing with love and pride as we watch Sylvie at her latest ballet recital.
I can feel people looking at us – Ettore wasn’t wrong when he said people would – but I don’t care.
I’ve only got eyes for the little girl onstage.
She beams with pride as she performs her moves flawlessly.
During the bow, she looks directly at us, her eyes twinkling with joy.
I feel the same joy bubbling in me more and more every day.
Life has slipped into a steady, beautiful routine I never could’ve expected when I first arrived at the Bellandi estate.
The streets are quiet. The police have moved on.
The other Families have agreed to let the past be the past. The Calvis – without any actual Calvis running them – are a shadow of their former selves.
Most importantly, we are different from our former selves.
Reading through my aunt’s letters, all the love there, the dozens of stories about my parents’ and her life, the regret at not being able to be with me…
it changed something in me. It woke something up.
Before, I wanted a family. Then, suddenly, I needed one.
And luckily, I already had one. A mother I never had in Livia. A daughter or friend I never had in Sylvie. A boyfriend who cares about me, supports me, respects me… until I don’t want him to.
He leans over and kisses me on the cheek. I squeeze his hand, resting my head on his shoulder, not having to wonder if we deserve happiness like this. Now, I feel entitled to it, in a good way. Not like some in-the-way foster care kid. We deserve this magical, sparkling thing between us.
In the car on the way home, Sylvie naps between us, snoring softly. Ettore smiles down at her with more open affection than I ever saw in him before we found each other.
I take out my phone and text him.
Mara: I love seeing how much you love her.
He checks his phone, then smiles at me.
Ettore: I love being there for her. I love straddling that line, Mara, the one we always talk about.
Between heaven and hell, between mobster and civilian.
Ettore: And it’s all because of you.
Mara: It was in you all along. It just took some… encouragement.
Ettore: It took the woman I fell in love with, piece by piece, and now I can’t imagine living without her. That’s who it took, Mara.
My heart beat speeds up. I know he loves me and I know I love him, but we’ve been coy about it.
I’m still technically employed as his nanny, though the title doesn’t fit anymore.
I sleep in his bedroom. We share our lives.
He’s been talking about what I’d like to study if I ever wanted to go to college, or what businesses I could start.
“Or maybe you want to be a stay-at-home mom,” he even said.
So, we’re there. But this is the first time we’ve brought it out into the light.
Mara: Is this woman in the car with us?
I reply, smiling at him.
He chuckles.
Ettore: Yes, she’s the sassy one who needs to take this seriously before I lose my mind.
I take a breath, feeling like I’m crossing an important threshold, that we are. This is when our romance really begins.
Mara: I love you, Ettore, so, so much.
I send the text, so ready for what the future brings.