Alejandro
Six months later
I gaze outat the beach at children playing in the sand.
Everyone is here again. It seems that Brazil has become the hub of enjoyment. I get it.
It’s paradise to them, and it should be.
Especially on days like this.
It’s our wedding anniversary. Lucia and I thought we’d hire out Camburi Beach for everyone to stay for the week and celebrate with us. Because today is the actual day we’re having a party.
I went inside our beach house to get some drinks, but the view of everyone in the perfect picture of happiness made me stop and stare.
There’s Massimo and his brothers talking it up as usual. Those three are always the life of anything. Aiden watches them with that thoughtful stare. I can always tell when the talk is something crazy because he looks like that. Next to him are Eric, Maksim, Cristiano, Marcus, and Lucia’s father, sipping on their beers while they listen.
The wives and girlfriend—Cristiano’s girlfriend—sit together laughing, and the children playing are ours.
The couple here without kids yet are Eric and Summer. We call them the Peter Pan couple but give them time. They’re just having their fun.
There are twelve children playing in the sand. All a mixture of ages from three to ten. Mia is one of the youngest, but she’s as bossy as the older ones.
Watching them is nice. I remember the dark days of my life when everything seemed so hopeless. Everything.
Until her.
I look at my girl, my Lucia, six months pregnant, and she looks absolutely beautiful in the circle of laughing women.
Every time I look at her, I find myself in a daze because I can’t believe I have her. She’s mine and will always be mine.
She was the angel who healed my heart and saved me from myself. She loved me enough to sacrifice herself to keep saving me, and her love continues to do so. I will never forget how we began, nor the fact that there is no end to us. She’s my forever, and I am hers.
Feeling my gaze on her, she looks at me and waves.
I wave back also catching Eric’s attention.
He walks over to me and takes one of the crates of drinks from me.
He follows my gaze and smiles.
“Nice, isn’t it?” he states.
“It is.”
“You know what’s even better?”
“What?”
“Knowing that the only thing that happens next can only get better, and if anything bad happens, we have each other.” His smile brightens. “We’re not just the Syndicate; we’re a group of friends who can trust each other. We have each other’s backs, and we’d fight to the death to protect the women and children we love. We’d fight to protect this.”
“I couldn’t agree more, amigo.” I nod with conviction.
“Nor I.”