His gaze widened, taking in his friends.
‘And to our friends!’ He raised his voice and his glass.
Contentment filled him. Could life be better? He doubted it. He had his beloved wife, his adored son, and his beautiful home—created by his mother, purchased thanks to his father’s business acumen. He had his health and his career—and his friends. And all the guests who would come later that evening.
The Duchessaand her husband would be there, bestowing their approval upon his renewed and so obviously happy marriage. And even Roberto would be there too. He gave a wry smile. They were on good terms now, with Roberto basking in his daughter’s marriage into the aristocracy and Giavanna preening happily with her visconte heir.
‘To friendship!’ Vito echoed Salvatore’s toast.
‘Brava!’cried Steph enthusiastically. ‘And,’ she added, pausing for dramatic effect, to ensure she had all eyes on her, ‘to one thing more!’ She glanced at Luc, who smiled down at her indulgently.
‘Go on,’ he said. ‘You can be the very first to announce this prime morsel of gossip, my treasure!’
Stephanie’s eyes sparkled with delight. ‘Then I shall!’ She took another dramatic breath. ‘I’ve decided, after long consideration, that it’s high time I made an honest man out of Rome’s favourite playboy. So...’ She raised her glass. ‘I hereby announce that Luc Dinardi is being taken out of circulation, to the tears and lamentations of all females everywhere, and is about to become my true and faithful husband. Because...’
She paused again, and exchanged a wicked glance with Laura and with Lana, who both silently gasped, as if they knew exactly what their incorrigible friend was going to announce, and that Luc had absolutely no idea of it.
‘Because he’s going to be a father too!’
A shout of delight broke from both Salvatore and Vito, followed by the back-slapping of a somewhat stunned-looking Luc.
His new fiancée patted him comfortingly on the wrist. ‘Yes, Luc—and, yes, the baby is yours. Would I even dream of having a baby with anyone but you, my own beloved man of mine! How could you ever think such a thing of me?’ she added demurely.
***
Salvatore and Lana exchanged glances and she felt him take her hand in hers, squeezing it. Both of them remembered how Salvatore had, in one heartfelt assurance, declared the extent of his love for her. Lana felt her eyes fill with tears now, at the very memory. How foolish she had been to think she must flee from Salvatore, to think he would not welcome their child! And how glorious had been the realisation of just how much he loved her!
Her fingers tightened on his as she gazed at him, lovelight lambent in her eyes, glowing like the emerald silk of her gown. And for a moment...a timeless, eternal moment...there was no one else in the room, no one else in the whole world except herself—and the man she loved.
For all eternity.
Then, as Salvatore’s mouth swooped down to steal a swift, infinitely tender kiss, the world returned.
Vito was raising his glass. His sweeping gaze encompassing them all. ‘The toast, my friends, is to love, marriage—and babies!’
It was a toast they could all drink to.
So they did.
*****