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“He saved us both.” She sighed.
“That doesn’t mean you owe him,” Marcello said.
“I don’t owe him. I love him,” she said truthfully.
Drake had transformed into a different man after they married the second time. He was romantic and patient without holding back his affection. Fatherhood came naturally to him. Their daughter, whose hand was so tiny she couldn’t grasp his smallest finger, had him wrapped around hers.
“We’ve both changed so much.”
The rocky beginning of their marriage had been riddled with secrets and lies. Alessandra felt like a bird whose wings had been clipped before being stuffed into a cage. And while she had traded one cage for another, she remained stifled. It wasn’t until she almost lost Drake for good that she realized she might have been the one collared, but it was her husband who had made the greatest sacrifice.
Drake was the man of Alessandra’s dreams. He had helped her break free from her cage and gave her a beautiful set of wings to soar.
* * *
Following the night at the club, Alessandra and Lila moved into Drake’s penthouse. Alessandra breathed life into his gray world again. However, Lila wasn’t as happy to have Drake kick her off the pillow she’d claimed as hers.
Alessandra put her condo on the market the same week Drake listed his penthouse. They bought a large parcel of land and built a home just over the border in Wisconsin. It was close enough for them to commute to the city when they needed or wanted to. Marcello was right about the fresh air doing them some good.
Drake supported his wife’s desire to help people as she became a volunteer for a crisis helpline. She had shed the pain of her past and blossomed into a more confident, empowered woman, leaving him in awe.
Drake’s wedding gift was an ongoing project and would be unveiled in the summer. The park where Alessandra’s mother was murdered had been torn down. He hired a crew to clean the empty lot, secured all the necessary permits, and found a company to build a memorial park bearing their mothers’ names. He couldn’t wait to take their daughter, Ariella.
Drake’s eyes were full of hunger and love as Alessandra walked down the aisle toward him. When she stopped beside him, he wrapped his arm around her and whispered, “I can’t wait to marry you so I can pull you into the bathroom, tear your dress off, and fuck you dirty.”
His parody of the words he said on their first wedding day felt like a lifetime ago. In many ways, it was. There was no denying the dark impulses that lurked beneath the surface, but he’d reconciled that part of himself. Drago Prazza was dead, and his family brought out the best in him.
“It’s your turn, Drake,” Alessandra whispered.
“I do!”
Laughter erupted around them.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride!” Jerry exclaimed with a smile.
“Baciami, Mrs. Walker.”
“Yes, hubby.”
