Page 56 of Modern Romance March 2025 (5-8)

The nurses and the midwife and the doctor—having heard her shameless comment, turned away with twitching lips.

His nostrils flaring, he bent down to kiss her mouth. The kiss was so tender, so sweet and so painfully raw that she clung to him even when he pulled away. “Then I will control my greedy impulses,cara mia. I would not see you in so much pain again.”

“Wait, Adriano,” she said, tugging him closer. “I was joking. Not another set of twins, but maybe we could have a boy. That way, we get to experience both.”

“You amaze me every day, Nyra Cavalieri. Andsi, a son, or another daughter, if that’s what happens. I want whatever brings you joy. I have so much love to give,bella. It is a wonder in itself since it is all consumed by you.”

She blinked at the raw emotion swimming in his eyes. “I love you too.”

“I have another piece of good news for you,” he said, searching her eyes.

“Yeah?”

“Last week, that overnight trip, I went to see Nadia.”

A sob kicked up in Nyra’s chest and she held it off by pressing her hand to her mouth. She’d held on to so much hope, but in this moment, it felt threadbare. She swallowed again to speak past the lump of ache in her throat. “How is she?”

“She’s doing very well. That relapse two months ago…someone from your past contacted her after they saw your profile in the news. It sent her into a spiral. She said it was the reason she was so angry with me. She thought it leaked because of me.”

Tears swam in Nyra’s eyes. “I…I was the cause then.”

“No,” Adriano said firmly. “She said you’d say that, and I’m to tell you that she will be very angry with you if you blame yourself for any of this. That you’ve had your journey back to yourself, and she’s starting her own. With you by her side.” A soft smile broke through his somber expression. “I finally saw the glimpses of the girl you talk about so much, Nyra. I saw the Nadia you love.”

A soft cry escaped Nyra at his potent, sweet words. “What else, Adriano?”

He held her hand tightly, his gaze tracing her tears as if they hurt him physically. “She said she feels like she’s been through the final obstacle. From what I could tell, she’s doing really well.”

“Oh, Adriano,” Nyra said, laughing and crying. “That’s such good news. Do you think she…might want to see me sometime in the future?”

“She promised to come see you and her nieces in a couple of months. She asked me to tell you to hold on for her, just a little bit longer. She even kissed me on the cheek and said I better look after you properly.”

“You went to see her for me.” Wonder fizzed through her at the lengths this man would go to for her. “You’ve been visiting her regularly from the beginning,si?”

He nodded. “She’s your sister. And that means she’s family. When I couldn’t, Bruno has been going. I think they’ve become…frenemies, as he called it.”

Nyra laughed so hard that she thought she might expire from sheer joy. Reaching up, she clasped Adriano’s cheek and pulled him down for a kiss. “I don’t know how to say thank you, Adriano. I’m…humbled and grateful and…”

“I don’t want your thanks,bella. Only your love.”

“It is all yours, my love.”

His gaze filled with fresh tears. “Everything I have to give is all yours,mia cara. And now, theirs.”

Before she could steal another kiss from her husband, the hungry, angry wails of her daughters had them jerking to alertness.

Nyra took Maya, her oldest, and held her to her breast, while Adriano cradled Mia.

And seeing his proud eyes full of tears, his large, powerful arms cradling that tiny bundle, made her heart overwhelmingly full. She had everything she had ever wanted in her life.

Nyra kissed this man who knew every inch of her heart, knowing that she and her daughters would be treasured for the rest of their lives.

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