Epilogue
Lindsay
THE SEWING ROOMS that he makes for me in our houses all over the world are ornate and stunning, over the top, and all themed differently.
When I asked him about that he told me it’s because of what I said to him about aesthetics.
That you can tell so much about someone from their design choices.
And so he has made me a brilliant jungle-themed sewing room at the compound, which is now no longer really a compound, but is a sentimental favorite for the children and for us.
He has made me a bright pink one in Rome. One filled with fish in Milan, and one with clean angular lines in New York.
The one in London is Christmas all year round. And this, he tells me, is because I cannot be contained by any one style.
So he has given me as many as he possibly can. To express the multitude of who I am, and how he loves me.
He’s romantic like that, my gangster.
He was just as romantic at our Christmas wedding the Christmas after our daughter Lydia was born. Because he says our Christmases should always be magical, because of how we were denied them for so long.
Every year he gets our children brand-new bikes to ride.
His very favorite thing is teaching them to ride.
Honestly, his favorite thing is to teach them anything.
Watching his strong, tattooed hands treat our children with so much gentleness, the kind that neither of us ever experienced, gives me a surge of joy every time.
Lydia is one of the lights of his life. And so are Clara, Bonnie and our baby boy, Nolan.
It’s a full house, and still I’ve managed to achieve my dreams. It’s about to be an even fuller house, but I haven’t got a chance to tell him yet, because it’s my debut at New York fashion week, and I’ve been too busy running around and then occasionally vomiting from my morning sickness to do so, while he’s been off entertaining the children.
My story has become a favorite one in the fashion world.
But no one really knows our story. Only we do.
Only we know how my best friend and sister-in-law, who is currently sitting in the front row waiting for my show to start with her four children and her husband, tricked me into having a baby with a man I never met, who then came to kidnap me, who then brought down a whole empire and did the most magical thing of all.
Learned how to love in spite of everything.
No one knows that story. But if they were to look closely, I truly believe they would see it in every stitch of every garment I’ve designed.
Because you can tell a lot about a person by their style. I’ve always believed it.
As I walk out onto the stage to start the show, my eyes meet Ciro’s. He’s sitting there in one of his black suits. But his tie is pink and gold, just like my collection, which is inspired by his grandmother’s vintage wardrobe.
You can tell a lot about a person by their style.
But what I can tell by looking at my husband is how much he loves me.
And I know that I am the luckiest girl in all the world.
* * * * *