Page 92 of Silence and Surrender

Clara reached us first, running down the stone steps. “Bella! Uncle Colton! Did you bring me presents?”

“Better than presents,ma petite,” Isabella scooped her up, and my heart clenched at the sight. Soon she’d be holding our child like that. “We brought news.”

Cooper and Allegra approached more slowly, but I could see the tension in my brother’s stance. The hope in Allegra’s eyes.

“Well?” Cooper demanded when we reached them. Always the less patient twin. I was surprised his impatience hadn’t led him to camping outside the clinic.

I looked at Isabella, letting her choose how to tell them. She shifted Clara to her hip and took my hand.

“It seems,” she said carefully, “that Clara’s going to have a little cousin. Another littleMoreau.”

Allegra burst into tears, pulling Isabella and Clara into her arms. Cooper grabbed me in a fierce hug, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like “thank God” in Italian. Then, “You should have called me from the car, jackass.”

“A baby?” Clara looked between us all, confused by the adults’ reaction. “Like my dolls?”

“Better than dolls,” Isabella told her, and I saw fresh tears in her eyes. “A real baby. Your baby cousin.”

“Can I name it?”

“No,” we all answered simultaneously, then laughed.

“Come,” Allegra wiped her eyes. “This calls for a celebration. Clara, help Mama get the special juice for Bella.”

“The sparkly one?” Clara bounced in Isabella’s arms.

“Sparkling cider,” Allegra confirmed. “The good Italian kind.”

They disappeared inside, Clara chattering about baby names and dolls and cousins. Cooper stayed behind, his eyes suspiciously bright.

“A niece or nephew,” he said softly. “Never thought I’d see the day my workaholic twin became a father.”

“Never thought I’d see the day you became a legitimate business owner,” I countered. “Life’s full of surprises.”

He sobered. “The bank—”

“Will still be there.” I watched Isabella through the windows, saw her laugh at something Clara said. “Right now, this is what matters.”

“They’ll come for you both, eventually.”

“Let them.” A wave of hardness entered my voice. “I’ve got more to protect now. More to fight for.”

“We’ve got more to protect,” he corrected. “Family, remember?”

Family. The word felt different now. Bigger. More vital.

Inside, Isabella caught my eye through the window. Her smile could have powered all of Tuscany.

Mine. Ours.

For now, that was enough.

Dusk wrapped around the Tuscan countryside, transforming the vineyard’s terraces into a tapestry of light and shadow. I watched from the kitchen window as Cooper showed Steele the improvements he’d made around the property, their voices carrying up through the warm air. In the three months since we’d arrived here, my brother had fully embraced his role as host. Beside them, Ember and Clara raced through the rows, their laughter echoing off ancient stone walls.

“Your brother is different than I imagined from your stories,” Isabella murmured, sliding her arms around my waist. Her belly pressed against my back, still barely showing but present in a way that made my heart race. “More...settled.”

“Italy changed him.” I covered her hands with mine. “Though I suspect Allegra and Clara had more to do with it than the wine.”

After everything that had happened in London, watching Isabella recover here among the vines had been its own kind of healing. Each day brought back more of her light, her strength returning as our child grew within her.

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