|Epilogue|

•Charlotte•

Five years later.

"Amore." I felt his hands wrap around me from behind. I lifted the spoon up, and he tasted the sauce.

I was learning how to cook for a family of a hundred people. The present ones.

"Hmm. Tastes delicious." I felt his lips on my skin. "Let me taste you." He placed a kiss on my neck, tilting my head to the side. His lips came close to mine just as I heard the door open and someone cooing.

"Baby is here." Calvin crawled on the floor after Amara.

"Maybe we should just sneak off to an island again." Ramon mumbled to me in my ear. I chuckled as he pulled away from me and knelt down on the ground in front of Amara.

"Come to papa." He clapped his hands at her as she excitedly squealed before crawling towards him.

Amara Vitali was our daughter. It was her first birthday today and Ramon wanted everything to be perfect. He had invited every single person in the Vitali Family to the house just like he had done when she was born.

When we had brought her back to the house after being in the hospital for a few days, all I could see were men and women standing around the big house, waiting to see the new member of our family. She was loved by every single one of them.

Lizzie and Calvin had flown back from Paris just to come and see her. Ramon was the perfect dad when it came to Amara. He did everything, wanting to spend every second with her. She would cry when he was in the same room as her and stretch her arms out to him.

Barely one, she had been into more underground family meetings than I had been. She loved being around Alex and Josh. Calvin and Lizzie had moved back recently and she was a little afraid of Calvin but was getting used to him.

"Papa." She clapped her hands as she stopped in front of him and raised her arms. Her white dress was still clean though her white tights were covered in dirt.

Ramon picked her up as Calvin and him stood up. They dusted their clothes as I mixed the sauce. I wanted to make everything myself.

"Where is mom?" Ramon asked Calvin as Amara pulled on his long hair.

I answered him. "She's picking up Mary and bringing her here."

Ramon nodded at me as he started talking to Calvin about the gifts he expected everyone to buy Amara.

She was spoilt by them all and I loved it. Mary came to visit me every week, and I went to see as well, to make sure she was okay. Drew, her son had moved back home. They had bought a better house and it was perfect for them because it was close to our house.

I had moved in with Ramon after six months of moving into my first apartment. He was constantly at my place. We would spend the night doing what we loved the most, and the day would be in school.

We had graduated and all of us had gone to Italy. He had promised me a trip to Italy and a promise to spend a week in a hotel and to never leave. We did exactly that.

I didn't go to college and neither did he. Every second Ramon didn't spend with me, he spent it building his empire. The underground world feared his name while I smiled at it. There was nothing about him that feared me.

"Amore, I'll fix that." Ramon said to me as he handed me Amara and took the spoon off me. She started squeezing my cheeks, kissing my nose. "They'll be here in a minute. We need her to be ready and look like a princess." He grinned at me as I kissed her cheek and she giggled at me.

"Have you invited the neighbours?" I asked Ramon and he nodded adding a little more spice to the sauce.

"All of them, even the little boy who likes to steal our chocolates." He said as Calvin chuckled.

"Nikolai is two, Ramon. Leave him alone." Calvin said, shaking his head just as the door opened. Lizzie walked inside with a big grin on her face as she smiled at Calvin. Josh and Alex followed behind her. Riley sneaked in under Alex's arm and she stretched her arms out at Amara who giggled and hid her face in my neck.

"I don't think she likes me." Riley huffed.

Alex wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Everybody likes you." There was a double meaning under his words as Riley blushed.

"Hands off. She is still my sister." Ramon pointed the wooden spoon at him.

"I'm going to go and get her changed." I said to everyone who nodded and moved out of the way as I walked out of the kitchen.

There was going to be a nice photoshoot for her today, and everything was going to be recorded by Lizzie who didn't want to miss a single detail.

When I had found out I was pregnant with Amara, I was scared to bring her into this life where I was involved with the underworld.

Ramon and I ruled the world together. They all knew his face but they did not know mine. I liked keeping my identity hidden. It gave me a thrill to see them looking at me with fear in their eyes, for underestimating me.

College was not the road for me. Instead, Ramon gave me a job. My first punishment which I had not expected to be,was to work with Kyong. He taught me everything I needed to know on how to run a mafia family.

To earn their trust is to earn their loyalty.

I worked with his mom in the company, helping her launch her makeup brand. I modelled a few times as well, but after having Amara, I was on a leave from everything I ever did for a year.

I will be starting back tomorrow. Ramon liked to call me his Mafia Queen, the one who ruled the underworld and his heart.

I walked up the stairs, waving at Mark and Joe who I spotted in the living room. They had come for her birthday.

"Say mama." I pouted at Amara who clapped her hands at me as I walked into her room.

"Papa." She said, noticing her dolls on the ground. She started to fidget in my arms and I placed her down on the floor. She quickly crawled to her toys as I closed the door behind her.

Walking towards her wardrobe, I opened it to find all her dresses. I picked out her pink dress with silver embroidery that Ramon had bought especially for her birthday.

"Papa!" Amara clapped her hands behind me as she started crawling around her room.

I chuckled at her just as the door opened and Lizzie walked in. "Hey." She said as Amara started clapping her hands at Lizzie. "Ramon is calling you. He said it's urgent." She said to me and I nodded as she walked to Amara.

I walked out of the room, noticing a paper attached to the door of our room. Frowning, I walked towards it just as a pen rolled out from under the door.

Can we pretend it is yesterday? Write yes and I will open the door.

The words were written on the paper. I smiled as I bent down and picked up the pen. Writing yes on the paper I pulled it away from the door and slid it under the door.

The door opened instantly to a dark room with candles lit everywhere. There were on the bookshelf, and the bedside tables along with being placed in front of the TV. I walked inside the room and he closed the door behind me.

I whirled around to see him standing there, still wearing a red apron with a Christmas hat on it as he grinned at me. "What was supposed to happen yesterday?" I asked him.

He walked towards me and pushed me back slowly, making me stand in the middle of the room. He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Keep it PG, amore. We're being recorded."

Ramon took a step back from me, and I watched him get down on one knee. A grin found its place on my face as he pulled out a black velvet box from his apron pocket.

"I was supposed to do this yesterday, but you fell asleep early." He chuckled at me. "Charlotte Woods soon to be Vitali, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You have made me the happiest and most whipped guy in this family but I wouldn't have it any other way." He reached out to hold my hand. "My mom has been on my case to marry you from the first day she saw you." He chuckled as I smiled at him. "We've been healing, together and that is the best thing I could have asked for in life, other than Amara and you." He winked at me. "Will you marry me, amore? I want the world to know you're taken every time we sneak off to a club."

I nodded and he grinned as he stood up, and pushed the diamond ring on my finger.

I heard cheers outside of the room but he had locked it. I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

We had healed each other. Days after killing Logan, I thought I was officially lost and it was the first time I had tasted fear. I thought I would spend the rest of my life in prison. I had gone to my parents grave and told them I was happy that I had done it. There was no regret.

Some scars take longer to heal and that is okay.

Ramon had found me and promised me that nothing would happen to me. He was there with me forever, holding my hand and loving me for the rest of my life. His men had cleaned up everything, getting rid of the body and the blood and making the house sparkle.

I pulled away from the hug and leaned up. "I love you." I whispered to him.

"I love you too." He leaned down to kiss me just as we heard the knocking on the door.

"Papa."

"Ignore it." He muttered as I pulled back from him as she called out to him again.

"Keep it PG, Ramon." I grinned at him as amusement lit up in his eyes.

I walked towards the door and opened it just as light flashed on my face. I could already tell it was Lizzie as I saw Amara raise her arms to me from Calvin's arms.

I picked her up as everyone entered the room, congratulating us.

We were happy.

***

"Baby!" Nikolai ran towards Amara who was sitting on the floor on her white background. She was having her pictures take by Riley.

"Hi." He laid down on the ground and looked up at her as she glanced down at him and started squeezing his cheeks, as he giggled.

"I don't like him. He is the only one that can take her out of my arms." Ramon said besides me, as we watched them.

"No more threatening people." I told him and he chuckled as he turned to look at me.

"You and I are going to destroy this world one day, amore." He chuckled softly.

"With what?"

"With love, with peace, with happiness." He smiled.

Something we both craved and had found in each other.

"Shall we take a week off from being parents and get wild on an island?" He asked, reaching out to hold my hand.

"Private island, you and I alone?" I asked as he pulled my hands around his neck as our song played in the back. Come away with me.

"For a whole week. I want to worship you." He leaned down, placing his head on my shoulder, as we swayed side to side in the corner of the room.

"You already do." I answered him.

Ramon made me feel alive more than I had ever done in my whole life. Every day he came home, from working at one of his companies,and would wrap his arms around me, saying how much he loved me. There were days where he was extremely tired and would walk upstairs to our room and just sleep.

I would pick up Amara and we would walk into the room and just lay with him. He loved it.

"Hmm." He didn't think he ever did enough for me but he was so wrong.

"How about I take you somewhere?" I asked him, whispering in his ear the one place he always wanted to visit.

"Yes yes yes." He answered immediately, a grin on his face.

"Now?" I asked him and he nodded his head eagerly.

"Cake time!" I heard Riley shouting just as Mary and Ramon's mom walked into the room with a big cake. All the little kids started jumping up and down excitedly as they saw the cake.

I watched as Nikolai made Amara sit up properly as the cake was placed in front of her. She tried to reach out to it but he put her hands down. "No baby. We want pictures." He said to her with a smile on his face.

I held Ramon's hand and we walked out of the corner and towards Amara. I sat down on the ground besides Nikolai who grinned at me and quickly stood up. He walked towards his mom as Ramon picked up Amara and placed her in between us.

"Come on." He told Mary and his mom. I called out to our friends and family to stand behind us. They grinned as they all stood behind us, Riley joining us as one of the kid's parents snapped a picture of us.

This was my family. We were happy. Finally at peace.

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Officially ended!

I loved writing this book even if it took over my life.