Epilogue

Three years later

“How is she?” Dion sat on the arm of the couch, hands knotted tightly as his wife padded barefoot out of the bedroom. Sophia had been checking on her mother constantly since her arrival. “Did she finally get off to sleep?”

Sophia sighed, interlacing her fingers underneath the growing bump that pressed against the flowing cotton dress. “Yeah. Took a lot of reassuring her, but she got there.”

Tears glimmered in his wife’s eyes, but her shoulders were back, her chin up. Her lip trembled only for a second before she reigned it all in, strong as a warrior. She’d made that promise to herself before her mother came: she would be the rock Dorothy needed. And Dion had no doubt in his mind that she could do exactly that.

All of this stress couldn’t be good for the baby. He stretched his arms out, and Sophia came straight to him, without hesitation, like she did every day. There was nothing between them now, no holding back. No reluctance to being vulnerable.

He stroked her hair and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. They stayed like that for a while, finding comfort in each other. The day wasn’t over yet, but it already felt like they’d crammed a year’s worth of worry into it.

That was why they’d come to the cottage. It had been Dion’s first wedding anniversary gift to Sophia—perhaps a little bigger than she’d envisaged, with its sprawling open-plan living space and multiple bedrooms. But it had all the things she wanted: trees for miles around; space for a vegetable garden, which was now teaming with ripe, red strawberries and zucchini and beans. Birds chirped, and sunlight slanted in at the perfect angle, dappled and shifting. It was the place they came to get away from it all—from Precision Investments and Sophia’s growing virtual-assistant business, which now had staff and more clients than she’d ever dreamed possible.

This was their haven. Their safe place. Their private place.

Now, they’d brought Sophia’s mother here in the hopes it might help her heal the way this place had helped to heal them.

“Apparently, Dad told her that if she came to see me, she wouldn’t have a marriage to come home to.” Sophia looked up at him, her eyes red-rimmed. “He threatened to change the locks. He even tossed some of her clothes out of the bedroom window. She’s devastated, Dion. I didn’t know what to say to her.”

Dion had to fight the instinct to roar. Cyrus Andreou was a bully the likes of which he’d never seen, and it had only gotten worse once he lost his control over Sophia. But his anger wouldn’t help her or her mother now. There was no point in being angry over the past—that was the lesson Sophia had taught Dion. “Maybe this is exactly what needed to happen. Maybe now she’ll see.”

“You think?” Her hope sliced right through his chest.

“I do. And when our little girl arrives, your mother will have even more joy to help her through the pain.” Dion tucked her hair behind her ears. “There’s so much love in this house, she’ll want to be part of it.”

“I hope so.” She rested her cheek against his chest. “Thank you for letting me take her in.”

“You don’t need to thank me for that. She’s family. There will be a bed for her here as long as she wants it, and one back at the house, too.” He kissed the top of her head.

“Are you nervous about the baby coming?”

“Yes.” Sometimes when she asked him these important questions, he still found there was a shadow inside him that wanted to shy away. Like muscle memory that kicked in whenever he was asked to open up. But he never gave in to it. “I’m nervous about not sleeping again for the next eighteen years.”

She laughed. “Me, too.”

“But it will be worth every second of sleep deprivation. I can’t wait to see what a wonderful mother you’ll be.” He knew she needed to hear it—over and over and over. There were parts of his wife that still doubted herself, doubted that she’d know how to be a good mother, since her own was so imperfect. She loved Dorothy with all her heart, but she didn’t want to repeat her mistakes. “I have so much confidence in you, and our little girl is going to be fierce and loyal and powerful, like her mother.”

“We need to settle on a name soon.” Sophia placed a hand over her bump.

“I know.” It was such a big decision. They’d gone back and forth, crossing off names as quickly as they wrote them down. But he’d been toying with one that felt right. “Elia is a pretty name.”

He hadn’t wanted to push the idea on Sophia, but the more he thought about it, the better it felt. It had been three years without his mentor, now. But Dion still thought of him daily. And now that he was about to have a child of his own, he missed the man even more.

“That’s beautiful.” Sophia’s face broke into a serene smile as she looked up at him. “And I think the baby likes it, too. She’s kicking up a storm.”

She grabbed his hand and pressed it to her belly. Sure enough, the flutter of strong, tiny feet vibrated against his palm.

“Elia,” she said. “We can’t wait to meet you.”

“Everybody who loves you is going to be there.” He pressed a kiss to her belly. “You’re going to have a whole room of people so excited for you to join our family.”

“Our family.” Sophia pulled her husband close and pushed up onto her toes to try and kiss him, which was difficult with her belly in the way. “I never thought I’d love that word so much.”

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