EPILOGUE ONE
Luca
Six Months Later
I found Liana in the kitchen, flour dusting her nose as she pulled a tray of cookies out of the oven.
"Smells amazing," I said, wrapping my arms around her from behind.
She leaned back into me, smiling. "They're for Ginny. She's been craving chocolate chip."
"How is she?"
"Glowing. Pregnancy suits her."
Ginny and Deangelo were expecting their first child. They were over the moon.
"And how are you?" I asked, kissing Liana's temple.
"Good. Really good."
And she was. The nightmares had lessened. She smiled more. Laughed more.
She'd started taking baking classes and was talking about opening her own bakery.
She was building a life. Our life.
"I have something for you," I said.
"Oh?"
I pulled a small box out of my pocket and handed it to her.
She opened it and gasped.
Inside was a ring. Simple, elegant, with a single diamond.
"Luca—"
"Marry me," I said. "I know it's fast. I know we've been through hell. But I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Tears filled her eyes. "Yes. God, yes."
I slipped the ring on her finger and kissed her, pouring everything I felt into it.
When we pulled apart, she was smiling through her tears.
"I love you," she said.
"I love you too."
We stood there in the kitchen, holding each other, and I felt complete.
She'd been broken when I found her. Shattered into pieces.
But together, we'd put those pieces back together.
And we'd created something beautiful.
Something whole.
Something worth fighting for.