Ally tilted her head to the side. Then that damn stunning look she always beamed at me when I needed her to calm me down drifted across her face. “They adored it, querido. Your brothers… they were blown away by your talent, as always.” I closed my eyes as Ally added, “They are so proud of you.”
Opening my eyes, I exhaled a relieved breath and held out my hand. Ally placed her hand in mine. Chiara went to Ally’s side and Violeta came to my side, wrapping her arm around my waist.
I had to pause for second. I just had to take a moment to fucking breathe.
Listening to the impressed voices on the other side of that wall, fucking bowled over by my work, I stood here proudly, my wife and two beautiful girls by my side. I couldn’t believe this was my life. I had a woman who loved me more than I deserved. For as long as I lived, it would never make sense to me. And I had two daughters who adored me... Two beautiful bright, happy daughters I adored right back.
A squeeze on my waist made me look down. Violeta’s concerned tanned face was staring up at me. “Are you okay, Papa?”
Clearing my throat, I nodded my head. “Never better, mia cara. Never better.”
*****
“You booked out the whole place?” I asked Ally as we walked into the empty New York restaurant.
Ally shrugged. “You don’t like crowds, and everyone flew here for the exhibition. I wanted it to be special. So I booked the whole place.”
Shaking my head at my wife, I took her outstretched hand. Chiara and Violeta walked into the restaurant first. Ally and me quickly followed behind.
Entering the rustic traditional Italian restaurant, our friends and family stopped their conversations and turned to face us. When Ally waved her arms, they got to their feet and started clapping.
Every single one of them...
I couldn’t move.
Cassie, seeing I wasn’t dealing so well with their congratulations, slid out of her chair and stood up. “Well if you ain’t gonna move, I’ll friggin’ come to you!”
She barreled forward. Before I had a chance to do anything, she wrapped her hands around my neck. “You kicked ass, darlin’!” she yelled and pressed a kiss on my cheek.
JD wasn’t too far behind her, along with their five kids... all boys, who lined up to congratulate me on my show. Molly and Rome Prince came next. Molly hugged me tightly, Rome holding his hand out for me to shake.
“Hell of a show you put together,” he said and we shook hands. Before I knew it, Rome had pulled me to his chest and patted me twice on the back. “You did good, Axe, real damn good.”
He immediately stepped back as their four kids came over and gave me hugs and kisses. I stood there fucking dumbstruck. Rome and me? Although we were okay, we’d never been close. I stared at him as he walked away... then he looked over his shoulder and gave me a proud nod.
I had no fucking clue what to do with that shit.
Feeling a hand on my arm, I looked to my side to see Levi with this wife, Elsie. They each held hands with one of their five year old twins; a boy, Jackson, and a girl, Penelope. Shaking his head, Levi held me tightly in his big arms. The Seahawk’s number one ranked Wide Receiver squeezed me so hard I stopped breathing. Stepping back, I watched him swallow hard as he fought to speak through his tight throat.
Patting him on his cheek, I kissed his forehead. “Grazie, fratellino,” I rasped, not needing any words to see how proud of me he was. As Levi stepped back, Elsie stepped forward and kissed me on the cheek, before wrapping her arm around Levi’s waist.
Austin came next. Without a word he brought me to his chest. “Shit, Axe,” he said through a clogged throat, “I got no fucking words. I’m just so fucking proud,” he said and tears filled my eyes.
“Grazie, fratello,” I struggled to say.
Austin pulled back, his dark eyes met mine. He shook his head. “I can’t believe all this...”
“Same here, kid,” I agreed.
“Can I get a kiss?” a voice asked from behind Austin. A second later, Lexi pushed through, making Austin laugh.
“Hey, Lex,” I said on a laugh as she reached up to wrap me in her arms.
“It’s beautiful, Axel, truly. There wasn’t a dry eye in that gallery as all of us looked at those sculptures.”
“Thanks, Lex,” I said, just as Dante came to stand next to his papa. Dante was nearly eighteen and the double of Austin… shit, the double of me.
Slapping my hand, he pulled me closer and tapped my back. “Zio, it’s incredible. Always knew it would be.”
Throwing my arm around his shoulders, I clapped my hand on his chest. “It’ll be you one day, kid.”
“You think so?” he asked. Austin and Lexi nodded their heads in agreement and beamed with pride.
Ally leaned over me to kiss Dante’s cheek. “Sure will.” She adored our nephew. She adored that he wanted to be a sculptor like me. He was always at our place back in Seattle, watching me work.