The Secret That Shocked De Santis

‘Always.’

EPILOGUE

PRINCE EDUARDO DE SANTIS cradled the tiny baby in his arms and looked across the room at his sleeping wife. She was pale and she had smudges beneath her eyes, and her hair was swept back in a loose, messy ponytail, but he’d never seen her looking so beautiful.

The bells celebrating the birth had only recently stopped ringing across the city. The bells in his heart were still going strong—reverberating with joy around his body. His wife and daughter were well and happy and safe. And he’d never felt so lucky. Never so grateful.

‘No reason why she couldn’t be a non-commissioned officer if she wanted,’ he said slowly, turning to the older man who stood in the room with him.

A slow smile spread across General Zambrano’s face. ‘No reason. She’d be good at training on the base.’

‘Part-time is possible, eventually?’ Eduardo suggested.

He’d not wanted Stella to work during her pregnancy, and she’d mostly relented in her opposition to that request, accompanying him on outings only when she was feeling well. But now...

He knew she wanted to be the best, most ‘there’ mother she could, and he had no doubt that she would be, but he suspected she missed flexing other muscles as well. Attending art exhibition openings with him wasn’t going to be enough for her. She needed options.

‘Of course. Just one or two classes a week, and she can do them more or less as and when she likes. She was always our fittest female recruit. Beat more than half the men.’

‘The strongest of the lot.’ Eduardo smiled smugly. And the most determined.

‘You know her quite well, then?’ The General actually winked.

‘Getting there.’ He was going to need the rest of his life to really get to know her.

‘Don’t think you’re going to make plans for my future without letting me have a say in it.’

A cool voice from the corner made Eduardo turn back towards the bed. His heart soared when he saw the glint in Stella’s eyes.

‘You’re awake.’ He stated the obvious with the smile she always pulled from him—from the deepest corner of his heart.

‘Of course I am,’ she answered sweetly. ‘I’ve been awake the last five minutes, eavesdropping on you two cooing over our baby.’

Even her father let out a rare laugh. ‘Then you know I’m late getting back to my office already.’

‘Shocking behaviour for a general,’ she admonished him. ‘But utterly appropriate for a father and brand-new grandfather.’

Eduardo glanced at the older man and saw the softness in his eyes. And the concern.

‘Now I’ve seen you awake and well...’ her father began.

‘I’m fine, Dad. Stand down. Go.’ She reassured him and released him, with a smile that held just a hint of vulnerability. ‘I love you,’ she said softly.

‘I love you too,’ her father mumbled, gruff and swift, and he was out of the room before he’d even finished the garbled words.

With a chuckle, Eduardo carried his daughter over to her mother. ‘He’s getting better at it,’ he teased. ‘And so are you.’

That she’d gone through most of her life without being told that she was loved still broke his heart. So he made it his business to tell her every day. Several times a day. And he liked to show her too—every way he could think of.

‘I’m making him practise all the time.’ Stella glanced from the door her father had just walked out of back to him. ‘Eventually it’ll come naturally, right?’

That was his Stella. Brave and honest and always trying so very hard.

‘He dotes on his granddaughter already.’ Eduardo carefully passed their sleeping baby to her. ‘I had to prise her from his arms before.’

‘Really?’

A happy glow lit her eyes, making the blue that touch more vibrant. He could look into those eyes for ever.

‘You’re not just finessing that?’

He shook his head. ‘He adores her. Just as he adores you.’ He kissed her. ‘Just as I adore you.’

He sat back and drank in the sight of Stella cradling their stirring baby. Loved and loving, she was indescribably beautiful.

‘Antonio had to leave a while ago.’ He cleared the huskiness from his throat. ‘An issue has come up.’

‘Of course.’ Stella half-sighed, half-laughed. ‘I wish he wasn’t so alone. It doesn’t seem fair when we have everything.’