Extended Epilogue
Alessandro
I watch Isabella Vitale from across the ballroom.
Her dark curls cascade down her back as she laughs with my sister, Valentina.
She's stunning, no doubt.
And she’s my future wife whether either of us wants it or not.
It feels criminal. I’m thirty-three years old, perfectly happy to be a bachelor.
My siblings are married and procreating all around me. I don’t need to join in.
And yet here I am at my engagement party, about to marry a woman who’s only eighteen.
I swirl the amber liquid in my glass as I reflect on how I got here.
Eighteen months of hell, and this is where we've landed.
A marriage alliance with the same family that plotted our destruction with the Bratva.
"You look like you're planning a murder rather than a marriage," Adriano says, appearing at my side. My younger brother has changed since finding Eva and learning about Mirabella. The edge is still there, but there's something softer too. Fatherhood suits him.
"Maybe I am," I mutter, taking another drink.
"She's beautiful," he observes, nodding toward Isabella.
"She's a child."
"She's eighteen. Same age Eva was when I met her."
“And you weren’t much older. I’m fucking ancient compared to her.”
He laughs. “Your dick not working anymore? I hear there are drugs for that—”
“Fuck you, Adriano.”
I love my brother, but happiness has made him way too prone to razzing me. I don’t like it.
I don’t see happiness as a goal. Power. Money. Security. Protection. Loyalty. That’s all a man needs. As Don, I bear the weight of every decision, every consequence. I can’t let something sappy like love fog my brain, as it has with my brothers.
“You know, you might grow to love her. She seems like a sweet person.”
"This isn't about love," I remind him. "It's strategy. The Vitales tried to destroy us, and now they’re trying to make peace. Somehow, that means I'm supposed to welcome their daughter into my bed."
"Don't punish her for sins she had no part in."
My gaze shifts back to Isabella.
She catches me watching and holds my stare with unexpected boldness before turning away.
For some fucked up reason, I find that compelling.
"Alessandro." Eva approaches with Mirabella in tow. My niece is the spitting image of Adriano but has Eva's gentle spirit. "Congratulations. She seems lovely."
"She's the enemy's daughter," I reply, but without heat. Eva understands better than most the complexities of family loyalty.
"So was I, once," she reminds me.
I nod, acknowledging her point.
After all, I once threatened to kill Eva myself.
Now she's family.
Not only Adriano’s wife, but the mother of his daughter, with another one on the way.
I scan the room, taking inventory. Valentina and Cristian, inseparable as always.
Luca and Katerina, the same.
Everyone paired off while I've been rebuilding what our father lost.
His death was unexpected, a bomb set by the Bratva, escalating the war between us. I tried diplomacy.
Hell, I even agreed to allow Maksim to marry my sister.
Thank fuck that never happened.
But it’s that experience that makes this situation with the Vitales such a waste.
I’d rather him get on his knees and kiss my ring than tie myself down to his daughter.
"We need you," Don Vitale had said when proposing this alliance. "You need us."
“I’ve heard that before. In fact, it turns out you made the same deal with the Bratva.”
That’s when he offered his daughter as proof of his commitment to stay loyal to the Dante family.
I said no.
My brothers said it was the best way to ensure peace as we rebuild after the Bratva fiasco.
I drain my glass, setting it on a passing tray. Isabella is moving toward the terrace alone.
"Excuse me," I tell Adriano and Eva.
As I cross the room, I catch whispers of speculation about whether this is truly a love match, whether Isabella knows what she's getting into with me.
They have no idea that neither of us had a choice.
Her even less so than me, something that weighs heavily on me.
I’m not going to be able to give her a fairy tale, but I’ll do my best to make sure she’s not miserable.
This is part of what being Don means.
Sacrificing personal desires for family survival.
My siblings found love.
I'll settle for power, and hopefully, peace.
I follow Isabella onto the terrace.
She stands with her back to me, hands braced against the railing.
Her profile is illuminated by moonlight in a way that makes her seem like she’s not from this world.
"Your family seems happy," she says without turning. "I wasn't expecting that."
"Appearances can be deceiving."
She glances over her shoulder. "Not always. Your brother Adriano looks at Eva like she hung the moon. It's refreshing."
I move beside her, maintaining a proper distance. "They earned their happiness the hard way."
"By surviving you, you mean?" Her bluntness startles me. "I’m told you threatened to kill your sister-in-law.”
I can't help the small smile that forms. "She wasn’t my sister-in-law at the time.” I study her. “You've been gathering intelligence."
"Wouldn't you?" She turns fully toward me now. "I'm marrying the most dangerous man in New York in three weeks. I'd be a fool not to learn what I can."
Her honesty disarms me. Most people, my brothers excluded, walk on eggshells around me. Not Isabella Vitale.
"Walk with me," she says suddenly, taking my arm and pulling me away from the open doors. "Somewhere my brother can't see us."
I allow myself to be led toward the garden path even as I know it’s a bad idea. Propriety dictates that she and I are never alone until our wedding night. "Should I be concerned you're luring me into an ambush?"
"If I wanted you dead, Alessandro, I wouldn't waste a perfectly good Valentino gown doing it."
I glance at her, not sure what to make of her.
We reach a stone bench partially hidden by a flowering trellis. She sits, arranging her flowing skirt.
"Your father and brother know we're out here alone?" I ask.
"They don’t own me." She pats the space beside her. "Neither will you."
I sit, intrigued by her boldness. "Is that what concerns you about our arrangement? That I'll treat you as property?"
"Isn't that what I am? A payment in your alliance?"
“You're more than a transaction." I don’t know why I say that because she is a payment, or more accurately, collateral. A way to make sure Marco Vitale doesn’t fuck with me again.
"Am I?" Her eyes harden. "Tell me something real. One thing that isn't strategy or obligation."
"I miss my father every day, but I'm terrified of becoming him." The confession surprises me. I've never admitted that to anyone.
"Eva said you're nothing like him." Her voice softens. "She said you're better. Harder to read, but with more humanity beneath the surface."
"Eva is being kind. Probably to keep you from getting too scared.”
“I’m not scared of you, although I guess I should be.” Isabella shifts closer. "Your siblings adore you. I watched them tonight. They admire and respect you. Even Adriano, who seems like he'd sooner punch someone than hug them."
I laugh despite myself. "Accurate assessment." Except, of course, when he’s around his wife and daughter. Then he’s a total sap.
"I want what they have," she admits quietly. "Not just security or status. I want what your siblings found."
"Love?" I get a sinking feeling. I can give her a great deal, but I can’t give her love.
"Connection." Her hand finds mine, and for reasons I can’t explain, I wrap my fingers around hers. "I've been raised to be someone's wife my whole life. A perfect, silent ornament that can serve tea and run fundraisers. But I'm more than that."
Looking at her, I see a woman with fire in her eyes. Not a mindless beauty, but someone with depth and intelligence.
"I think you are," I agree.
Her lips curve into a genuine smile, the first I've seen directed at me. Something shifts between us. It feels like I’ve stuck my finger in a light socket. Electricity crackles through my veins. The urge to taste her becomes impossible to resist.
I lean forward. Her eyes flutter closed…
"Isabella?" Her brother's voice shatters the moment. "What the hell is this?"
To be continued.
Read Alessadro and Isabella’s story here.