Page 93 of Wicked Mafia Sinner

To my side, Rafael settles his hand on Rowan's shoulder and the silence between them carries all the love in the world. He looks down at Svetlana and kisses the top of her head. “She’s beautiful and absolutely perfect.”

Drake and Katriana bring a bottle of whiskey. He holds it up with a half-grin and sets it on the nightstand. "For when you're ready to celebrate."

I smile. "Give me about six weeks and I'll drink the whole thing."

Luca with Ilona, Kon and Onyx and Massimo and Sloane all take their turns.

Massimo lingers longer than the rest. He counts her fingers. Counts her toes. Mutters about college funds and tax-advantaged accounts while his voice gets thicker with every number. He walks out rubbing his eyes with his sleeve, the legal counsel undone by ten tiny toes.

"God, I love our family," I say to my new husband.

"And they love you."

"They love you too. Even if you make them work for it."

Raine is last of the family. She crawls onto the bed beside me, careful around Svetlana, and presses her forehead against my temple. We stay like that for a full minute. Twins who spent months on opposite coasts with nothing but missed calls between them, sharing air and silence and the weight of a new life sleeping on my chest is all we need.

"She's perfect," Raine whispers.

"Obviously. Look at her mother."

Raine snorts against my temple. Kisses the spot where her forehead rested. Climbs off the bed and disappears down the hall. I catch the low rumble of Soren's voice meeting hers as she turns the corner.

Filing that away for later investigation.

The last visitor is someone I have only talked with in passing.

Cristian appears in the doorway after the others have cycled through. Tall, dark-haired, sharp-jawed, younger than the rest. He moves with a quiet ease that reminds me of Kon but looser, like a man who learned stillness as a skill rather than inherited it as a default.

He's carrying a pomegranate. A single fruit, deep red, sitting in his palm.

He crosses to the bed and holds it out. "For my brother Hades and his new wife, Persephone."

I stare at him. Then at the pomegranate. Then at the stone walls around me, the underground rooms, the garden growing on the terrace above. Then at Rowan beside me with our daughter's fist wrapped around his finger.

“Oh my goodness.”

“You never thought once about how you two appear together?”

Cristian’s smile glides easily over his lips.

I think over the past few months. I've been Persephone this entire time.

"You're telling me I've been living a Greek myth this whole time and nobody thought to mention it?"

I take the pomegranate. Hold it against my chest beside Svetlana. The weight of the fruit and the weight of my daughter settle together against my heart.

A ghost of a smile crosses Cristian’s face. He looks down at Svetlana with an expression I can't quite place. Reverence, maybe. Or hunger. A man staring at something he wants and doesn't have.

"She's beautiful." His voice is low. Accented, different from Rowan's. Less gravel. More smoke.

"She gets it from me." I just pushed a human being out of my body. I've earned the right to be insufferable for at least forty-eight hours.

He extends his hand, bends at the waist and places a kiss over the back of my knuckles. “I’ve known Rowan since I was a boy just learning the ropes. You’ve brought a light into his world that does not compare to any other.”

“Thank you.”

Rowan’s eyes are on me as his brother speaks. I can feel the love and admiration roll off of him in waves so warm I’ll never be cold again.