Sweet On You

Epilogue



Nonna always said the recipe for the perfect Christmas morning was equal parts sweet and bitter, sprinkled with joy and served with hope.

Daniela stood in the window of the kitchen nook and stared at the sunshine streaking across the sky. The sweet was Tony, Marley, and all her new neighborhood friends. The bitter was her grandmother being gone and her parents all the way across the world.

Joy was Nico.

Hope was the future.

Nonna would say this was the perfect Christmas, and Daniela would have to agree.

There was the shuffling of feet. She turned as Nico strode in. His hair was sleep-rumpled, and he wore silk pajama bottoms and a T-shirt. She knew under the pajamas he was completely bare, and the thought made her grin devilishly.

"Your bathroom is atrocious, even in the dark," he said, walking up to her.

"The red velvet walls are unfortunate, but the bathtub rocks."

"I followed the leopard print carpet to the kitchen. It's like some sort of strange African yellow brick road." He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her lightly. "You're up early."

"Christmas breakfast. I'm making my grandmother's pain perdu." Nonna believed all things Italian were the best, but the French did know a thing or two, and their version of French toast was one of them.

"Is that what smells delicious?" Nico nuzzled her neck. "I thought it was you."

"I'm dessert." She slipped her hands under his shirt and sighed. "After presents, of course."

"I gave you your present last night," he whispered against her ear.

She held up her hand, a shiver of excitement shooting through her as she looked at the engagement ring. It was an art deco ring with a ruby, large and bold, surrounded on one side by a spray of sparkly white diamonds in all shapes and sizes. He told her it reminded him of her: fiery passion with a combination of old-fashioned and modern that he found enchanting.

"I still can't believe it," she said, shaking her head. "It's all so fast."

"I told you that when I find what I want, I get it, and I want you." He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. "Forever."

Tony stumbled into the kitchen like a zombie. "Coffee," he moaned. "And please stop mauling each other in my presence."

She grinned at Nico before stepping away to get two coffee mugs out. She poured them each coffee, both black, and handed it to each of her men, who'd sat down at the large table. "You're going to have to get used to Nico mauling me, Tony. He asked me to marry him."

"I know."

"What do you mean, you know?" She frowned. "He only asked me last night."

"I talked to your brother first," Nico said, drawing her down onto his lap.

"Nico has old world sensibilities. Nonna would have approved." Tony sipped his coffee, closing his eyes in bliss. "You're good at cake, Dani, but at coffee you're the best. You're a lucky man, Nico."

Her fiancé smiled like the cat that ate the canary. "I know."

Marley entered the kitchen, bright-eyed and blushing, holding her new man's hand. She wore a silky dark blue robe with yellow Batman symbols that still had creases in it, and her hair was down.

The first time Daniela had seen Brian, she'd liked him instantly. She'd insisted he and Marley join their Christmas breakfast. Marley was family, after all, which made Brian family, too.

"Is Christmas breakfast soon?" Marley asked, taking a seat at the table. "I'm starved."

Tony narrowed his gaze at Brian, who still held the young woman's hand.

"The pain perdu will be ready in half an hour." Daniela put a restraining hand on her brother's shoulder as she refilled his cup. For some reason he bristled at Brian's presence. Maybe he was jealous, because Marley no longer looked at him with fawning adoration.

What he needed was his own woman. She'd talk to Marley's friend Valentine. Tony was going on forty—maybe it was time to bring in the big guns.

Gleeful at the prospect of hiring a matchmaker for her brother, she clapped her hands once. "Passion fruit mimosa, anyone?"

Marley shuddered, but Brian settled his glasses more solidly on his nose as he nodded. "I'd love to try some."

"I knew I liked him." She winked at her former assistant as she pulled out a wine glass.

Nonna had always insisted Christmas was a celebration of family and life and deserved champagne, which she usually mixed with some sort of juice depending on her mood. Pomegranate when she wanted to bring in a more fertile year, bittersweet grapefruit when Nonni had passed away.

Daniela thought passion fruit was the perfect juice to add to the bubbles this year. She poured one for Brian, another for herself, and coffee for Marley. As she raised her glass to offer a toast, the doorbell rang.

She and Tony frowned at each other. "It's barely dawn," he grumbled, getting up from the table. "Did you invite someone else over?"

"Not until later." Lola and Eve, plus their families, were coming over for sweets in the afternoon. Olivia and her husband had been invited, too, but Eve had called last night to say Olivia wouldn't make it—she gave birth to a Christmas Eve baby boy, named Parker after her father.

She settled back onto Nico's lap, nestled happily in his arms. A shiver of anticipation shot through her as she thought about the day they'd have their own kids. A girl and a boy, who'd tease and harass and love each other their whole lives.

He kissed her, looking at her as if he could read her thoughts.

She bet he could. She sighed happily and took a sip of her mimosa. It was sweet, with enough tang and fizz to make it interesting.

"Holy cow." Marley grabbed her hand and gaped at the engagement ring. She turned to Brian and said, "Don't get me wrong. My Batman robe kicks ass, but so does that ring."

Daniela laughed, not able to resist winking at Brian. She knew he had another present for Marley as well—one that kicked ass big time. He rented Marley a studio for a year. Daniela had helped him pick it out. It had a brightly lit area but the back area was completely dark. Marley was going to love it.

Tony rushed into the kitchen, looking wild-eyed and more than a little harassed. Before she could ask what was going on, someone trailed in after him.

The woman was tall, wrapped head-to-toe in black. Blond hair peeked from the edges of the black cap pulled down low over her head. Her cheekbones jutted, making her look so gaunt Daniela had the urge to make a batch of zeppoli stuffed with sweetened ricotta to serve to her.

But it was her face that was most striking: the desperate look in her eyes and her makeup, which ran down her cheeks with her tears.

Something about her was very familiar. Daniela frowned, trying to place the woman. One of Tony's exes?

"Is her face melting?" Marley whispered to Brian.

Nico shifted under her. Mouth close to her ear, he whispered, "Isn't that—"

"This is Sophie Martineau," Tony said, raking a hand through his hair. "She just decided to stop by, I guess."

The woman swallowed a teary hiccup. "It's my birthday, and I want cake."

Daniela looked at her brother.

He shrugged helplessly.

She looked at the famous actress, recognizing her now under the clownish makeup. Nico kissed her shoulder and pushed her to standing and toward the woman. She smiled at him over her shoulder. He already knew her so well.

Then she turned her smile to the actress, hands outstretched. "We don't have cake today, but we have my grandmother's pain perdu, and I guarantee it's even better than my chocolate cake."

She took the woman's icy hands in her own and drew her to the table.

"Lost bread?" Sophie said in her trademark husky voice, which wavered this morning.

"Translated, yes. It's a sort of souffléed French toast." She pulled out a seat from the table and guided Sophie into it. "Sit. I'll get you a mimosa."

The woman nodded, looking dazed.

She went to the refrigerator and pulled out the champagne and juice. As she reached for a glass, Nico's arm snaked around her waist. He lowered his mouth to her ear. "Do I have a lifetime of taking in waifs and strays to look forward to?"

"Do you mind?"

Smiling, he pushed her hair from her face. "No, as long as you're there."

She looked at the table. "Two months ago, I'd never have imagined a Christmas morning like this."

"Me either." He kissed her. And then he kissed her again, holding her face in his hands like it was precious. "It's the sweetest Christmas ever."