“I have one piece of advice,” Gavino mutters. She lifts her chin, jutting it forward as she looks up at him standing above her. “Take whatever you can fit in your car. Empty out what’s left in the bank accounts and go back to that remote home with a man who probably treats you a hell of a lot better than that rotto nel culo ever did.”
I watch as she licks her lips, her eyes flicking from each one of us, then landing on Gavino. “He does,” she whispers as she shifts uncomfortably in her seat.
“Do you need someone to go with you? As protection?”
“Am I safe? Are my children safe?”
Gavino dips his chin. “You are safe. No harm will come to you. I’ll send a man with you to gather everything you need, just to be sure, but yes, you’re safe.”
“Thank you,” she whispers as she stands.
She starts to walk away but stops directly in front of me. She lifts her hand, placing her trembling palm in the center of my chest as she tilts her head back and looks up into my eyes.
“I’m sorry all of this happened to you the way that it did.”
“Did you do it?” I ask.
Her eyes widen as a horrified expression crosses her face. “Absolutely not.”
My lips twitch into a small smile, my fingers wrapping around her wrist. “Then there is nothing for you to be sorry for. Go and live a good life, cara. Never think about Brooklyn again, yeah?”
She gulps as I release my hold on her wrist. She nods as her lips turn up into a small smile. “You’re very much in love with your wife?”
“Very much,” I admit.
“I’m glad that it all worked out.”
I grunt, stepping to the side so that she can pass me. We all watch as she makes her way to the office door. Gavino is on the phone calling someone to go with her. Probably Luca if I had to guess. I call out to her, she stops just at the door, looking back at me from over her shoulder.
“It worked out because I worked hard for it to do just that. If you want this new life, with this new man, then you need to work hard to make it what you need.”
She doesn’t say anything else. She leaves the room and with her departure, peace finally comes over my body. Complete and total fucking peace, which I’m sure will only last a second or two until some other shit is thrown my way, but I’ll take the fucking bliss while I’ve got it anyway.
PIPPA
Rosana laughs softly after Massimo walks away. She could be laughing at the way I’m watching him walk, but I don’t care. My husband is hot and eyeing him go is just as sexy as watching him make his way toward me any day.
“What?” I ask when she doesn’t say anything right away.
I feel her head rest on my shoulder as her arm wraps around my waist from behind me. Turning my head, I tilt and place my cheek on the top of her head. She isn’t much shorter than me, maybe an inch or two. Lifting my arm, I slide it around her shoulder and hold her close to me.
“If it wasn’t for you and Massimo…” Her words trail off. “I hated him for a long time.”
“And now?” I ask.
She laughs softly, her arm squeezing around my waist. “I see the way he looks at you. Hear the way you talk about him. He is falling in love with you and you, my sister, you fell in love with him a long time ago.”
She’s right of course. Saying it aloud, though, makes my heart squeeze. I want that. I want love, it’s what I’ve always wanted. He’s said the words to me, but to hear Rosana say that she sees it in his eyes, it means even more than just the words said aloud.
“I’m really proud of you,” I whisper, changing the subject.
“I’m really proud of you, too, Pippa.”
We don’t say anything else. We watch the people around us enjoy the party, well, the women anyway. Most of the men have left to take care of business.
It doesn’t matter.
These women, they are the glue of the famiglia. They are the ones who hold your hand when everything turns to shit and they’re the ones cheering the loudest when something amazing happens in your life.
My life is better than I ever could have imagined that it would be. It’s because of these women, my sister, and the love of Massimo.
A love that I never thought that I could have for myself.
A love that I wasn’t sure I truly deserved.
A love that is bigger than I ever thought possible.
A love that I now know that I do deserve.
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About the Author
As an only child, Hayley Faiman had to entertain herself somehow. She started writing stories at the age of six and never really stopped.
Born in California, she met her now husband at the age of sixteen and married him at the age of twenty in 2004. After all of these years together, he’s still the love of her life.
Hayley’s husband joined the military and they lived in Oregon, where he was stationed with the US Coast Guard. They moved back to California in 2006, where they had two little boys. Recently, the four of them moved out to the Hill Country of Texas, where they adopted a new family member, a chocolate lab named Optimus Prime.
Most of Hayley’s days are spent taking care of her two boys, going to the baseball fields for practice, or helping them with homework. Her evenings are spent with her husband and her nights—those are spent creating alpha book boyfriends.
Acknowledgments
I always say a special thank you to my husband, my best friend, he is the man who supports every single dream of mine and works to
