Page 120 of The Fall Affair

Later, I rested my head on his chest, thinking about how my life had changed. Matteo must’ve sensed I’d gone somewhere else.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

I tilted my head to look up at him. “Just how much has changed in the last few months—quitting the job that had been my world, moving to a new country, finding a sister I didn’t know existed, and falling in love. It’s…scary.”

He rolled us so I was on my side, facing him, nose to nose. “It is, but we’re both here. That’s what’s important. I know now that real love isn’t about being fearless; it’s about choosing to stay when we’re afraid.”

“I like that.” I smiled and dropped a kiss over his heart. “I’m choosing to stay. For me. For us. Forever, Matteo.”

Epilogue

Allegra

18 months later

“IT LOOKS SO beautiful.” I looked out at the vineyard, and tears threatened at my eyes. The sun had set, slipping behind the Tuscan hills and leaving behind a sky brushed in violet and orange. Next door, graceful rows of vines spread across the field—twice as many as there had been when I first arrived a little less than two years ago. Matteo and I had turned his house into a working winery, installing everything he needed to produce his own bottles. Off to one side, where the garage once stood, was now a beautiful stone-and-wood loggia for wine tastings. But tonight, it had been transformed. Strings of tiny lights crisscrossed overhead, glowing like fireflies, and lanterns hung from the olive trees that bordered the large square. Long wooden tables draped in white linens blew softly in the evening breeze, each one lined with a garland of branches and hundreds of flickering white candles.

It looked like a dream. And it was—my dream wedding.

“You better not cry.” Camilla lifted a tissue to her eyes. “Because if you start, I’ll start, eh? Then my mascara will run, and I just met a silver fox out there who has my name written all over him.”

“What silver fox?”

“His name is Antonio.”

“That’s Matteo’s uncle. He’s handsome, but probably close to fifty.”

She grinned. “So if he and I marry, I will be your sister and your aunt, yes?”

I laughed and a breeze blew, carrying the faint scent of wine and lavender. Today couldn’t be any more perfect. My amazing sister was going to be my maid of honor. The last two years had given me more than I ever imagined possible when I’d first gone to see her pretending to be someone else. Camilla wasn’t just my sister now—she was my best friend, the person I could always count on, and hopefully soon, my business partner. I’d recently taken the Italian bar exam, and if all went well, we were going to open a practice together.

It’s funny, when I was little, every time I argued with my father, he would smile and say I was going to make one hell of a lawyer and that he could already see it: Bianchi and Bianchi. Now it was about to come true, just not with the Bianchi any of us had expected.

Yes, things were perfect now. Well, almost. Because my nonna wasn’t here.

Cassie walked in, her hand resting on her five-months-pregnant belly. “They’re ready for us, whenever you are.”

“Have you seen Luciana?” I asked.

“I saw her over by where the guests are seated a few minutes ago. Matteo’s little helper Tomasso had her hand. It looked like he was flirting with her. The guy she came with didn’t look happy about it.”

I smiled. “That’s Lorenzo. It’s okay. That’s…kind of his thing.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.” I laughed.

Cassie squinted at me. “I think you have something in your hair. Come here.”

“It’s glitter. I put it there.”

She shrugged. “Whatever. It’s your day. By the way, I’m proud of you. When you showed me your dress, I was a little nervous about the strapless neckline. But you’re about to walk down the aisle, and I don’t see a single red blotch or a nervous bump.”

“That’s because I have nothing to be nervous about. I’m marrying the man I was meant to marry.”

Luciana walked in with her dad. “You ready?”

“I am.”