Wife. Sister. Partner.
Home.
That night, after the reception had ended and the guests had gone home and Sophie had hugged them both hard enough to bruise, Emma and Luca stood on the balcony overlooking the garden.
“We did it,” Emma said.
“We did.”
“Your grandmother is thrilled.”
“She’s been planning this since the karaoke bar that never happened.”
Emma laughed. “Do you think she knew before we did?”
“Absolutely.”
They stood there in comfortable silence.
“What happens now?” Emma asked.
Luca pulled her closer. “Now we live.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s everything.”
Emma thought about the woman she’d been a year ago. Desperate. Exhausted. Willing to lie to one of the most powerful families in the city because she had no other choice.
She thought about Camille, rotting in prison for crimes that had nothing to do with Emma and everything to do with her own greed.
She thought about Sophie, safe and happy and finally building a life that wasn’t shadowed by fear.
She thought about Teresa, who had engineered this entire love story without either of them realizing until it was too late to turn back.
And she thought about Luca. The man who had hired her to lie and then fallen in love with her truth.
“I’m happy,” Emma said, surprised by how much she meant it.
Luca kissed her temple. “Good.”
“Are you?”
“I married you. I’ve never been happier in my life.”
Emma turned in his arms. “What if it doesn’t last?”
“Then we’ll fight for it.”
“What if we can’t?”
“Then we’ll fight anyway.”
Emma smiled. “You’re relentless.”
“I’m a Moretti. It’s genetic.”
They went inside.
