Page 79 of Sicilian Savior

Luca stretched and unbuckled his seat belt, then hopped out and ran through the yard. I sat with Knox in the car and watched him.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” I asked, watching Luca running around in circles.

Knox reached over and slid a hand along my thigh. “He’s gonna be okay. He’s been through a lot. I’m sure he’s going to need some help working through the trauma, and maybe a good therapist is in order, but he seems to be handling it all fine. He’s young. Resilient. And we’re gonna surround him with so much love and protection he’ll get through this okay.”

His hand moved up to my face, and I pressed my cheek into his palm. “Thank you, Knox. Thank you for everything. For helping me find him. For building us a home. For rescuing us. For loving us.”

Shaking his head, he chuckled. “Baby, loving you wasn’t a choice. I loved you both the minute I laid eyes on you. Trying to ignore my feelings for you was as pointless as wrestling the ocean. You and I were meant to be. And Luca...” His gaze drifted to Luca, who kicked a soccer ball across the yard. “I know he’s not mine, but I’ll always love him like my own. As far as I’m concerned, that’s my kid out there.”

Hearing him say those words only drove the overwhelming love I had for him deeper into my heart. I unbuckled my seatbelt and leaned over. Our lips connected, and those butterflies exploded inside my stomach.

“I love you,” he whispered against my lips.

“I love you more,” I whispered back.

“Impossible.” He deepened our kiss, then Luca called out his name.

“Knox! You wanna kick the ball with me?”

“Gotta go, baby. See you in the house.”

A quick peck on the lips made me sigh, then I watched him jog across the yard, swiping the ball from Luca with his feet.

The deep rumble of a Harley came up from behind me, and I turned back as Piper steered Axel up the drive. When she’d landed in the States, and we’d already been safe, Knox had convinced her to drive his bike back while we’d taken a scenic road trip home.

In a car. With airbags and seatbelts.

I hopped out and waved. She pulled off her helmet, shaking out her dark hair, and smiled. I had to chuckle thinking, if Wes was watching, he’d have made some funny comment like she moved in slow motion or something. And hell, she practically did.

“Hey, Piper!” I called “Thanks so much for doing that. Knox would have been beside himself without his bike here.”

“No thanks needed.” She patted the handlebars. “I’ll drive a Harley cross country any day of the week.”

“Aunty Piper!” Luca waved and started running over.

“What’s up, kiddo? Miss me?” she asked as she kneeled down and scooped him up for a hug.

“How did Axel handle?” Knox asked, stepping to my side and slinging an arm around my waist.

“Like a fucking dream.”

Luca’s mouth dropped. “Mom! She said fucking!”

Piper sucked the air through her teeth. “Oops. Sorry.”

I laughed and shook my head. “At this point, Knox has already put enough in the swear jar to pay for our new house he’s building. What’s one more little F-bomb between friends.”

We laughed, and I invited her into the house. After fixing a pot of coffee, we all sat down on the porch. Luca crawled into Knox’s lap and promptly fell asleep.

We sat on the porch talking and laughing, and then another car pulled up the drive. At first, my heart sunk, the old fear I’d grown so accustomed to causing me to assume the worst. Then I remembered Victor was gone, and the threat no longer existed. Not to mention two of the deadliest people on the planet flanked my sides.

“You start without me?” Marcus called as he got out of the car.

“Marcus!” Piper grinned. “I thought you didn’t get on the plane because Knox already rescued Lucia and Luca!”

He strode toward us, wearing a smile. “I already had the ticket, and Irene told me to get up here and get some fresh mountain air before she locks me back up on diaper duty for the foreseeable future.

When Marcus reached our porch, Piper and I got up and gave him a hug.