Epilogue

ANNA

It had been a couple of days since Dante and I had had sex, and we couldn't get enough of each other, so as we woke early and he made no attempt to touch me, I was suspicious.

Dante had told me the night before when we'd shared a bath that he had something for me today but wouldn't be drawn on it.

He had showered alone, left to take care of some things earlier than usual without returning for breakfast but had asked me to meet him in our place, the treehouse.

Amina remained at home with Maria and Alessandro who had taken her under their wing as their own grandchild and referred to themselves as Nonna and Nonno with Alessandro having suggested again that I should call him Papa which I wasn't opposed to. Now I found myself at the old treehouse and could hear the sound of Dante from inside it. I climbed the steps and remembered the good times we had shared here, although as I breathlessly climbed the last couple of steps I wondered if we should perhaps invest in a summerhouse or a cabin rather than climbing trees.

The sight of Dante sitting in the corner opposite the door caused the biggest of smiles to break across my face, but it was the face sitting in the opposite corner that caused the combination of laughter and tears.

He looked a little older, maybe a little worn. He bore some fading bruises but it was him. Aldo. But he was dead, except he wasn't.

"How? Why?" I wasn't sure who I was addressing as I threw myself into my brother's arms.

Loud sobs sounded around us, mainly mine, and it took some time before any of us were calm enough to speak.

"Would you like me to leave?" Dante looked between me and Aldo.

We shook our heads.

"But how?"

Aldo spoke. "I came back here, in order to entice Dante to take his revenge . . . you got my letter?"

I nodded.

"But it didn't quite work out."

I look to Dante now, despite him having not spoken since asking if he should leave.

"I intended to kill Aldo for what he'd done and would have done had it not been for Papa. He sent for me and Carlo once he discovered we had captured Aldo and brought him back here. He asked that, as a favour for a debt owed to your father, Aldo's life was spared. Carlo agreed, but Aldo could not remain here or we would lose face with our competitors. A family overseas owed us a favour, so Aldo was sent there."

Aldo looked uncomfortable whereas Dante looked guilty. I imagined the sight of us, three fully grown adults squashed in the tiny space of a children's treehouse must be ridiculous.

"When everything came out, it made sense. Papa didn't know any of the details but was adamant that Aldo wouldn't betray us, there had to be a reason for what had happened with Gino."

"I accepted my fate, whatever it would be, but made one request of Dante, one I knew he would be happy to fulfil, to take care of you and Amina, although I didn't tell him about her. Where is my niece? Is she well?"

Tears ran down my face too quickly to brush away. "She is perfect, Aldo, and will be thrilled to see her uncle." Panic set in. "Please tell me you're here to stay, that you're not sending him away again." I directed the final part to Dante.

"If he wants to stay, Aldo is welcome to. The men do not know the details, but they know that your attack on Gino was appropriate and that he was not someone they would want near their families and our rivals have been sent a clear message that they shouldn't mistake the sparing of Aldo's life as any kind of weakness. We may have spun it slightly to suggest that Aldo's death was part of a much larger plan."

"Aldo, will you stay?"

"Perhaps, for a while, to spend time with you and Amina, with family."

Dante moved closer and looking across at Aldo offered him an outstretched hand. "I know you won't ever forget, but please, forgive me."

He shook his head and panic began to rise in me. "There is nothing to forgive, you did what you thought was right using the limited information you had."

"There's something I need to ask you," Dante told Aldo, "Both of you, but you first," again he addressed my brother, "Would you grant me the privilege and honour of marrying your only sister."

Aldo laughed. A sound I never thought I would hear again and it filled my swelling heart with joy. "You almost kill me, ship me off to fuck knows where, then drag me back here with a sorry we made a mistake and now, not only are you the father to my only niece but you want me to bless you marrying my sister?" He sounded incredulous.

"Not quite how I would have put it," Dante replied, sounding slightly uncertain of himself.

Aldo roared now. "Of course you wouldn't have put it that way." Silent seconds ticked by before he spoke again. "I am not my sister's keeper, it is not my permission you need, but hers." Was that a cop out? "But, if she says yes, which she will because it has always been you two, then I will happily drink to that."

I had Dante's undivided attention now. "Anna, would you give me the absolute honour of calling you my wife?"

"Will I still be mia ragazza?"

"Always, perhaps a little more as Anna Caputo."

"Yes!" I squealed, preparing to throw myself into the open arms of Dante who was now on one knee and holding a large diamond ring. "What if I had said no?"

Aldo muttered besides us. "There was never any chance of that, it's always been Anna and Dante forever."

We turned to face him and saw him pointing to the space on the wall next to his head where the phrase he had uttered was scratched into the wood, a little rustic and clearly juvenile, but it was true.

"Now, if nobody else minds, since I have risen from the dead, I would like to get out of here and see my niece." Aldo was already shuffling to the door and preparing his descent.

"Looks like our plan came good."

I grinned. "It did, and now we have forever."

THE END