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Maria didnothave any difficulty expressing and accepting her emotions. Tears lit up her eyes as she stared at Sofia and then put her head on the younger woman’s shoulder.
“It was never a choice, my darling. You belong with us, and always will.”
And for probably the first time in her life, Sofia really, truly believed that.
They moved insidefor the singing portion of the event, a baby monitor placed on the piano so they could hear if any of the children stirred, down the far end of the villa, and here Sofia sought the sidelines too. She was no longer so heavy hearted though. There was a sense of peace coming over her, an acceptance that thiswasher family after all. That she’d been fighting it for so long, because she’d been so scared that accepting their love meant she might lose it.
And as she contemplated this change, after all these years, she could think of only one reason to suddenly view them differently.
Ares.
He’d done this to her, too.
He’d opened her up and helped her understand that she could take this risk and survive.
He’d changed her. No matter what happened next, she’d always be grateful to him for that.
Gianni played the piano and Maria sung with a beautiful voice that would have been at home in any jazz bar in the world, and Sofia leaned back against the sofa cushions, eyes drifting shut as the familiar sounds surrounded her.
She woke not long after,to the sound of silence first—the piano stopped, the singing stopped, the talk stopped, and then loud exclamations. Happy sounds.
“Ares!”
“Mate!” Dante, from time to time, slipped into Georgia’s Australian vernacular, courtesy of the time he spent with her, as well as her twin brothers.
“Your Highness.” Maria bowed and then laughed, before hugging Ares to her chest.
“What are you doing here?”
Sofia stared across the room at them, a billion thoughts flooding her mind. It was only Portia who knew the significance of this, only Portia who understood, and she came to the sofa and sat beside Sofia, taking her hand and squeezing it for strength, and encouragement.
“I came to speak to Sofia,” he said, eyes on her face, in a way that made her whole body lurch and tingle. “About a matter that cannot wait another moment.”
Silence cloaked the room, as the Santoros all looked from Sofia to Ares and back again as, she was sure of it, comprehension dawned. Sofia’s cheeks flushed pink. So much for secrecy.
“Sofia?” Ares’s voice then was tortured. As if he thought she might refuse to go with him, and she realized that maybe she wasn’t the only one who’d been living in agony this past month.
She stood a little unsteadily, moving towards him, then stopping.
If she touched him, she wouldn’t be able to stop, and they really did need to talk.
“Let’s go outside,” she said, her voice sounding strange to her own ears. And little wonder. She felt as though she were having some kind of out of body experience.
“Outside,” he repeated, nodding. “Good, yes, outside.”
But neither of them moved. They both just stood there, staring at the other, as though they were seeing a human being for the first time.
“For God’s sake, please go and talk,” Dante grunted. “If that’s going to fix whatever is going on with Sofia, then the sooner the better.”
Sofia blinked, startled out of her state of mesmeric shock, by Dante’s big-brother-esque remark. She rolled her eyes in his general direction, then, because she couldn’t resist any longer, reached for Ares’s hand and weaved her fingers with his. They both looked down at their hands and Sofia’s heart thumped.
“Holy shit,” Salvatore whistled. “How did I miss this?”
Sofia’s eyes met Ares’s, and she smiled, but she was still so uncertain. She just knew that this wasright.Like their week in Moricosia, she didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but in this moment, if she suspended her natural state of doubt and worry, she could just be with him, and that was okay.
He strode onto the terrace,where the embers glowed gold in the large, round firepit, and led Sofia towards it, for warmth. He couldn’t feel the cold himself. He couldn’t feel anything butrelief, because after the worst month of his life—and that was saying something—he was here, with Sofia. And she was holding his hand. Which wasn’t exactly a declaration of love and commitment, but it was something, and right now, he’d takeanythingshe’d give him.
“You wanted to talk?” She looked up at him with those wide-set green eyes, her features so delicate and fine, and indelibly burned into his brain.
