Bones (Bonetti Brothers #1)

EPILOGUE TWO

ATHENA

A whopping ten weeks after our daughter, Lucia was born, I found out I was pregnant, again. My husband was over the moon, to say the least, but I was not. It’s not that I didn’t want another baby, just not so soon. Things have a way of working out though, because as I stare at our almost one-year old daughter and cradle our newborn son, it’s perfect.

I spot Luca crawling into the room, and Lucia squealing with delight as she attempts to walk to him, but she doesn’t quite make it, and resorts back to a fast crawl. He scoops her into his arms and kisses her a thousand times, making her giggle. There is nothing better than the sound of your child’s laughter. On the outside, people might assume that the head of a mafia family might not be capable of being a loving father. They’d be wrong. Luca is not only a wonderful husband, but a doting father. He is gone, working most days, but the second he comes into the room, our daughter’s eyes light up. Of course, our son is younger and his only need beyond a clean diaper is my boob. Yet, I’m sure in time, he will be as obsessed with his dad as his sister is.

I’m still in therapy, dealing with the shit my father did to me. Maybe I will be for the rest of my life. When I get impatient with myself, she reminds me that the damage wasn’t done overnight, and I won’t be completely healed overnight either. It’s a slower process than I’d like, but I’ve come a long way. I can read adult books now, which has quickly become one of my favorite hobbies. And the basement no longer freaks me out. Upon my request, Luca got rid of the cage months ago. The chains still sit attached to the wall, but those don’t bother me as much. I’ve learned a lot about life .

Even the darkest days are preparing us for the beauty that waits for us to appreciate it. I wouldn’t say I am glad for what my father did to me, but it did make me even more grateful for my life now. If I had to, I’d endure it all over again for the family I have now. When Luca found me, I instantly regretted following Manny’s orders, and attempting to steal from a lethal mafia man. I had stolen many things for him, but this was my greatest job, because I gained more than any amount of money could ever provide.

Luca stares at me from the floor, while holding our squirmy daughter in his arms.

“We make really cute babies. We should make another one.”

“Luca,” I scold him, causing him to chuckle.

“Alright, we’ll pretend. I’ll shoot blanks, I promise.”

He crosses his heart like he could really swear to such a thing.

“I don’t think you have blanks.”

The problem is, when he looks at me like he is, with a scorching stare, I know I’m going to lose the fight, because my husband does things to me. At this point, I’m a little concerned I’m going to end up with a hundred kids.

“Grandma is waiting for time with her grandbabies.”

He stands up, scoops our son out of my arms, and winks at me. “I’ll be right back.”

When he comes back, he’s surprised I’m still in the nursery and arches a brow. “What are you doing?”

I giggle. “Trying to figure out where we are going to put baby number three.”

“We’ll knock out the wall and make the room bigger.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Four, Luca. After we have four children, this obsession with getting me pregnant has to end.”

He narrows his gaze at me and says, “Five.”

Blowing out a long breath, I eventually agree. “Five, and you’re done. ”

Walking over to me, he lifts me over his shoulder, making me squeal. “Five, and I’ll get a vasectomy, because I’ll never be done filling this pussy.”

We make it to our bedroom, he kicks the door closed, and walks over to the bed and drops me onto it.

My husband stands staring at me with obvious heat in his expression.

“Beautiful Butterfly, until I can inhale your soul and connect it with mine, this is as close as I can get to you. It’s when our bodies are connected that I feel most at peace. You are my peace. My salvation. My everything.”

Climbing over me, he presses his lips to mine and pushes his tongue into my mouth. To others, he is a violent, lethal man. The one known to break bones to make his enemies suffer. To me, he is my husband, protector, and my greatest love. He was going to kill me, but instead, he saved me. Luca once told me that butterflies were beautiful and free, but I would never be free. I don’t want to be. Like him, I’d rather die than to spend the rest of my days without him.