Chapter 23
Mina
Cristiano sits on the edge of the tub, leaning forward so he can clench my thighs with both his large hands.
“Does it say anything yet? Mina, does it say anything?”
I’m propped against the vanity holding a developing pregnancy test while Cristiano gazes up at me with so much intensity he could burn through concrete.
I smile at him. “Cristiano, you have to be patient. These things take time.”
His knee bounces up and down as his heel jogs on the floor. “How long did it take last time? Were you by yourself? Were you thinking about me?”
“The last time I took a pregnancy test, I was eighteen and scared out of my mind.” I caress his face. “All I thought about was you, and how much I missed you.”
“Mina.” He fixes me with a stern look. “You did not miss me. I was the one missing you. I felt like the living dead.”
“I was scared of you,” I admit. “But my heart still ached for the boy I cared so much about.”
As I thread my fingers through his curls, he groans and leans into my touch with his eyes closed.
“I was miserable in Italy. The sun was never hot. The wine was vinegar. The food tasted like ashes. Without my Mina, there’s no color in the world.
” His eyes open, and they flick to the pregnancy test. “God, Mina. I’m going out of my mind. Does it say anything yet?”
“I told you, Cristiano, you have to be…” I trail off as I look at the test.
My eyes widen, and my heart starts to pound.
Cristiano’s hands clench even tighter on my thighs. “Mina, what does it say? Mina, you’re killing me.”
I can’t speak. My body flames with delight as I turn the test around to face him.
He stares at it for five long seconds, and then shoots to his feet with a shout. “You’re pregnant?”
Before I can answer, he drops the test and kisses me. A fierce, hungry kiss. His mouth trails over my throat and then down between my breasts to my stomach as he drops to his knees.
“Mina, Mina, Mina.” He kisses my belly again and again. “That’s it. I’m not letting you out of my sight for the next nine months.”
“I’m probably already six or eight weeks pregnant, so seven months. I’ll have to tell my family. We’ll need to prepare so much.”
Cristiano is still kissing my belly, and I don’t think he heard a word I said.
“I’m going everywhere with you, and we will have six bodyguards.
No. Twelve. All the best doctors. A fleet of midwives.
You can make a wing of the house into a nursery for the baby and a bedroom for Leon.
I’ll massage your feet and lower back. If you have cravings, I’ll start a war for the last jar of pickles in the city.
You’re not lifting anything ever again. Are you hungry?
Do you need anything from the kitchen? You’re coming with me.
Because I mean it, Mina. Never. Out. Of. My. Sight.”
I gaze down at him, bewildered. “I thought you promised to be less crazy from now on.”
“When the hell did I promise that?” He kisses his way up my body and cradles my head in his hands. “I never promised that. I’m going to be ten times as fucking crazy now, Mina.”
So he didn’t. I’m the object of this man’s obsession, and for the first time in my life, the thought is thrilling, not frightening. A smile spreads over my face.
He kisses me hard, and hot sparks shoot through my body.
“Can we tell Leon who I am now?” he whispers.
My stomach swoops with excitement. Leon is going to be so happy when we tell him that Cristiano, the man he so adores, is his father, but I temper my happiness with caution.
“You will be careful when we tell him, won’t you? I don’t want to overwhelm him. You come on so strong, Cristiano.”
He crosses his heart. “For our babies, I am the sanest man on earth.” His teeth nip my ear. “I’m only crazy for you.”
I smile and tip my head back so he can kiss my throat, which he does with passion. “All right. Let’s go and tell our son about his father and the new baby.”
We find Leon in the guest bedroom where he’s been staying. He’s sitting on the plush carpet in his robe, a fleet of toy trucks spread out around him. He’s making engine noises as he pushes a red fire truck across the floor.
“Mama! Cristiano!” His face lights up when he sees us in the doorway. “Come play with me?”
Cristiano and I exchange a glance. My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat.
We settle onto the floor with him, Cristiano moving carefully because of his still-healing injuries. Leon immediately hands him a blue pickup truck.
“This one’s yours,” Leon announces. “We’re building a city.”
“A city?” Cristiano takes the truck. “That sounds perfect.”
I watch them for a moment, Leon chattering away about where the roads should go, which buildings need to be taller. Cristiano listens intently, asking questions, making suggestions. They already fit together so naturally.
“Leon, baby.” I reach out and take his hand. “Cristiano and I have something to talk to you about.”
Leon looks up at me with those amber Montoni eyes. “What is it, Mama?”
I take a deep breath. “Do you remember how you noticed that you and Cristiano have the same eyes?”
Leon nods eagerly. “And Adora too! The pretty lady.”
“That’s right.” I glance at Cristiano. He’s watching Leon with such intensity, such hope. “You have the same eyes because you’re family. Cristiano is your papa, Leon. He’s always been your papa.”
Leon blinks. Looks at me. Then at Cristiano. Then back at me.
“Cristiano is my papa?”
“Yes, baby.”
“But…” Leon’s brow furrows. “Where was he? I never met my papa before.”
My chest tightens. This is the moment I’ve been dreading.
Cristiano takes over for me, and I feel a surge of gratitude. “When you were a baby, I had to go far away for a while. But I came back as soon as I could, and now I’m never leaving again.”
Leon turns to Cristiano, studying his face. “Did you miss Mama while you were away?”
Cristiano’s eyes go bright with emotion. “Every single day.” His voice is rough. “I missed you both every single day. But now I’m going to be here every day. With both of you. Because I love you so much.”
He reaches out and cups Leon’s small face in his hand.
“You and me, we’re going to get stronger together, until these scars that hurt so much feel so far away in the past.”
“Really?” Leon exclaims, and throws his arms around Cristiano’s neck. “And you’ll play with me all the time?”
“Yes, really.” Cristiano catches him, pulling him close. Over Leon’s head, his gaze finds mine. There’s a lump in my throat so big I can barely breathe. “All the time.”
I know he’s not just talking about the surgical scars. He means all the years apart, and the fear and pain and damage we’ve all carried.
We’ll all heal together.
“What do I call you?” Leon says into Cristiano’s shoulder.
“You can call me whatever you like. Cristiano or Dad or Papa.”
“Papa,” Leon says softly, as though trying it on for size.
Cristiano squeezes his eyes shut tightly, and has to take a deep breath before he replies, “That sounds pretty great, buddy.”
They stay like that for a long moment, holding each other. My heart feels too big for my chest.
When Leon finally pulls back, he’s smiling. “Will you help me build the fire station?”
Cristiano laughs. “Of course.”
He glances at me, and I can see the question in his eyes. Now?
I nod.
“Leon,” Cristiano says carefully. “Can I ask you something?”
“Uh-huh,” Leon says, already selecting blocks.
“If you had a little brother or sister, what would you think about that?”
Leon looks up, considering. “Someone to play with every day at home, so I don’t have to say goodbye like when I leave my cousins?”
Cristiano’s smile widens. “Exactly that.”
“Yes please!” Leon bounces slightly. “Can I have a brother? Or a sister? Do I get to choose?”
I reach out and smooth his hair back. “Leon, do you remember the story of where you came from? That once you were a tiny baby growing in my tummy?”
“I remember.”
“Well, there’s another baby growing in my belly now, and they’re going to be your little brother or sister. We don’t know which yet.”
Leon’s eyes go huge. “Really? Right now? There’s a baby in there right now?”
I place my hand on my stomach. “Right now.”
“Can I feel?” He reaches out tentatively.
“Of course, baby.”
He places his small hand on my belly, his face scrunched up in concentration. “I can’t feel anything.”
“The baby is still very tiny,” Cristiano explains. “Smaller than my thumb. But in a few months, you’ll be able to feel them kick.”
“Kick?” Leon’s face lights up. “The baby’s going to kick Mama?”
“From the inside,” I say. “To say hello.”
“That’s so cool.” Leon looks at Cristiano. “Did I do that too?”
“You did.” I smile at the memory. “You kicked all the time. Especially at night.”
Leon grins and turns back to his trucks. “I’m going to teach the baby to play trucks. And dinosaurs. And we can share my T-rex sometimes, but not all the time because he’s my favorite.”
Cristiano reaches over and squeezes my hand.
He’s smiling wider than I’ve ever seen, and there’s relief and happiness swirling in my heart.
That went better than I expected. I still have to tell Mom and Rosa, and that’s going to be difficult seeing as I just fled from Cristiano yet again, but in time, I hope they can accept us as family.
Then there are all the dangerous problems because of Cristiano’s profession.
The Lucania Vendetta. The torched Diamond Grand.
Those are not problems that can be easily solved.
But for now, I just let myself be happy. Truly happy for the first time in a very long time. Leon is calling Cristiano Papa. We have another baby on the way, and all of us are together. It doesn’t get much better than this.
“Thank you,” he mouths silently.
I squeeze his hand back, tears wetting my lashes and hope in my heart.
We sit there on the floor with Leon between us, building a city out of trucks, and it feels like everything is the way it should be.