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He’d been right all along.
“You’re mine, too,” I said instead.
Ty pulled me close and smirked. “I know. But you're not getting out of your punishment for not telling me you were goddamn pregnant this morning.”
“I knew you wouldn’t let me come,” I protested.
“Damn right,” Ty said and stood; yanking me with him. “You’re lucky I love you.”
“So are you,” I shot back.
Ty kissed me again and murmured, “There’s not a luckier bastard in Boston, trust me.” He wrapped his arms around me. “I love you.”
“I love you,” I said and pulled away. “But to get to those happy days ahead, we have to get you to a hospital.”
To my surprise, Ty laughed and slung an arm around me. “You know, I kind of like this bossy side of yours.”
As we walked outside, I held up a hand to where his men were waiting for us and Daniel was smoking a cigarette, rolling his eyes to the sky.
Ty kissed the side of my head, then called me a badass in front of his men, crediting their victory to me.
In that moment, I knew I’d found my path.
The right path would always be the one that led me home to the man I loved.
EPILOGUE
Lia
Two and a half years later.
The spring day had passed in the best of blurs.
Now, the evening had come and gone, and lights twinkled out across the sweep of the Mediterranean coastline that I could see from the bridal suite. It took up half of the second floor of one of the three villas that Ty had rented out for our wedding.
Down in the garden, lights twinkled on strings of bulbs crisscrossing the path to the flower-strewn alter; illuminating the white figures of statues strewn here and there. I heard the sweet notes of a violin being practiced and drew in a deep breath.
How can this day already be here?
Over a year ago, Ty had proposed. Of course, I had accepted. But I’d been less sure when he’d broached the idea of waiting a year or so until it was completely safe for us to wed. By then, Ty had wanted to clean up his act as much as possible, and for our child to have been born. Then he’d proposed another idea: a destination wedding in Italy in a little coast town where his grandparents were from.
I hadn’t wanted to wait, but Ty had too many wicked ways of persuading me.
Now, nothing had felt more right.
“Lia, come on, we have to get your veil on,” Sara ordered from behind me and I turned around. She blinked away tears and shook her head; beaming at me. “Oh, you look so beautiful. Thank God my makeup is waterproof because I'm already a damn mess.”
I laughed and went to the mirror, three other bridesmaids fluttering around. Two were friends from art school while the third I’d met through Ty. They were all wonderful friends to have dropped everything to come here — but they weren’t Sara, the sister of my heart. My best friend carefully pinned my veil in place and then conferred with the attendant in flawless Italian.
Next, Flora popped in with Mario on her hip and he waved at me, looking darling in his little tux. My heart melted as I peppered his round cheeks with kisses; loving the way he laughed and how his dark hair fell into his bright, hazel eyes.
The perfect combination of me and Ty, the absolute best of the both of us.Our son brimmed over with love and sweetness but mischief and fun too. I could have never imagined how much I would come to love him – how it would bring me closer to memories of my mother, and to Ty. We’d named him after Ty’s grandfather and, already, we were talking about when we’d try for another child.
Flora and the rest of my friends clustered around us, exclaiming over Mario’s cuteness as I smiled. I knew he probably would be too young to remember this but at least he would be in our pictures. That was another reason Ty had wanted to wait a year to marry.
Before I knew it, we were being ushered down the stairs; the bridesmaids hurrying ahead, laughing as they picked up their pretty blue gowns and holding their bouquets of white flowers glinting with silver strands of ribbon. Sara lingered and gave me a reassuring smile then blew a kiss.
Standing at the back of the garden, waiting for my cue, I wished my mother would have been there with me. I’d refused to have anyone walk me down the aisle — my father still off twisting in the wind, though he stayed far away, thanks to Ty and Danny.
