Six nurses had quit in five days before I walked into Dominic Rossi’s bedroom and found blood soaking through Egyptian cotton sheets. Everyone warned me the wounded mafia boss was determined to bleed himself to death, but with rent due Monday and almost nothing left in my bank account, fear had become a luxury I could no longer afford.

The wedding reception lasted well into the midnight hours.

Music filled the illuminated gardens of the estate. Guests danced beneath twinkling string lights strung between old oak trees, champagne flowed freely, and laughter echoed where silence had once ruled for decades.

I stood on the stone balcony overlooking the lawn, holding a glass of sparkling cider, watching the crowd below.

Dominic stepped up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling my back flush against his chest. He rested his chin on my shoulder, breathing in the scent of jasmine from my hair.

“Tired?” he asked softly.

“A little,” I admitted, leaning back against his solid chest. “But I don't want tonight to end.”

“It’s not ending, Nora,” Dominic said, his hand resting over my stomach. “It’s just beginning. Everything we built... it’s all yours.”

I turned around in his arms, wrapping my hands around his neck. “What about the Morettis? The Commission? Are you sure the peace will hold?”

Dominic smiled—a confident, easy smile that held zero trace of the haunted, feverish man I had found bleeding on Egyptian cotton sheets a year ago.

“Don Antonio Moretti called me this afternoon from his villa in Sicily,” Dominic revealed casually. “He sent a gift. A hundred-year-old bottle of wine and a formal agreement transferring his remaining dock shares to our foundation.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Moretti gave up his shares?”

“Moretti understands that a man who fights for money is dangerous,” Dominic whispered, leaning down to kiss my jawline, “but a man who fights to protect his wife and child is immortal.”

I froze, my breath catching in my throat.

I pulled back slightly, looking up at his face in total shock. “What... what did you just say?”

Dominic’s smile widened, his dark eyes shining with an overwhelming, tender joy. He placed both of his hands gently over my flat stomach.

“I saw the lab results on Dr. Vance’s desk this morning, Nora,” Dominic murmured, his voice rich with emotion. “You thought you could hide a positive pregnancy test from Leo?”

Tears sprang to my eyes once again—not tears of fear or stress, but pure, unadulterated happiness.

“I was going to tell you tonight,” I laughed, throwing my arms around his neck, burying my face in his chest. “I wanted it to be a surprise!”

Dominic lifted me off my feet, spinning me around on the balcony under the moonlight, his deep, rumbling laugh echoing through the clear night air.

“A Rossi heir,” Dominic whispered, setting me down gently, his hands trembling slightly as he cupped my face. “A child born into the light. Raised by the strongest woman in the world.”

I looked out over the estate—the blooming flowers, the bright lights, the music floating on the breeze, and the man who held my heart in his hands.