31. Epilogue

Epilogue

Isabella Bianchi

One Year Later

After another great day at the village market, I come back home with all the ingredients for dinner and a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I even got dessert—a gelato that Giussepe and Maria named in our honor: miscela perfetta , or perfect blend. That's what they say Gabo and I are, the perfect blend, and I couldn't agree more. He's my anchor, and I'm his muse.

After everything that went down last year, I decided to focus my energy on the gallery instead of going back to finish the modern art class. I will officially open my gallery next week, and I'm so excited about it.

After a lot of back and forth, I decided to take Gabo up on his offer to design the perfect gallery for me. When he finished the palace design for the sheikh, he began working on my dream gallery. Not only did he create different spaces for me, but he also designed it to flow effortlessly. The transition from one area to the next creates opportunities to see more art. It starts with new artists, giving them the chance to wow potential clients first. Deeper into the gallery, the work of more seasoned artists is on display.

On the second floor, I decided to have a studio for when I work in the city or if a piece is too big for my home studio at the villa. This is also a multipurpose space where I plan to offer summer classes for kids and provide a venue for meetings or art clubs to meet and share ideas.

The first exhibit will feature all the art I've created since moving to Italy. It will include the paintings I made for Gabo, all the pieces inspired by my time in captivity, and the happier, more colorful art that came after. This exhibit is called Origins . It's a story of new beginnings and self-discovery.

The entire family is expected to attend the inauguration, and I couldn't be happier to have everyone in the same city—something that doesn't happen often.

Gio is coming in from the States with his partner, Vicente from London with his family, and Cata and Matías are even coming from Spain. They've been living there for about six months since Cata became a player for the Bears, and I've loved having her only an hour and a half away—by jet, of course.

Luca, Karina, and Enzo are coming from Chile. It'll be my nephew's first trip across the ocean. We went to meet him last Christmas, and I think Gabo and I got baby fever, though we haven't discussed it.

Even Gabo's parents are scheduled to come; they've welcomed me into their family with open arms.

"Principessa," Gabo greets me as I enter the kitchen, my hands full of bags and flowers. I kiss him when he gets closer to take the bags out of my hands.

"Hey, G. Are you done with work for the day?" He smiles as he takes all the ingredients from the bags and places them on the counter.

"Yes, I'm all yours."

I smirk at him. "You're always mine." I put one of my hands on my waist and cock an eyebrow.

"Touché."

"Do you feel like cooking with me?" I ask him as he wraps his arms around my back and starts slow-dancing with me.

"I feel like doing many things with you," he whispers in my ear.

"Oh, yeah? Like what?" I ask him as I nibble and kiss his jaw—it's my favorite thing to do while we're this close and playful.

"Like making a baby."

I stop dancing. My eyes grow big.

"Sorry, I brought it up so abruptly. It's just something I've been thinking about nonstop lately."

"Maybe since we met Enzo?" I ask him, wanting to know if we've been in tune all this time.

"Yeah," he says with a sigh. "Just the thought of you growing our baby, seeing your belly swell with the seed of our love, and creating a new life with you makes me feral," he says as he lifts me and takes me to the patio.

I giggle all the way there.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it, too. And honestly I don't see why we should wait. I have plenty of things lined up for the gallery, and I can always hire people if I feel it's becoming too overwhelming." I share my thoughts with him.

His face lights up. "Should we get engaged first? Fuck, I should have brought the ring with me."

I raise my eyebrows.

"Do you really think I don't have a ring for you already? I've just been patiently waiting for you to tell me you're ready," he says, his voice shaking.

"Gabo Godoy, are you nervous?"

He chuckles as he exhales a deep breath. "Well, yeah. Marrying you is another thing I'd love to do with you."

And now is when I truly feel bad.

"Gabo, why do we need to get married? That's just a paper to confirm what we already know. You are my partner, my lover, my best friend, the only man I've ever felt this way for." I try to make him understand that I really don't need anything else other than what we already have.

"You're right. We're bound in all the ways that count," he says.

I breathe a little easier.

"Now let's go make a baby," he says as he takes me to the couch. There, under the stars, we add one more member to our family.