Chapter 10 - The Horizon of Our Forever
Six months later, the spring breeze blowing off Lake Michigan carried the scent of blooming lilacs and salt water.
I stood on the expansive private balcony of the Vitali estate, wearing a flowing white sundress that gently draped over my noticeably rounded belly. I was seven months pregnant now, glowing with a health and peace I hadn't felt since I was a little girl in Ohio. The name Emma Miller was a distant ghost, a discarded skin I no longer needed to wear. I was Elizabeth Carter—soon to be Elizabeth Vitali—and the world no longer felt like a place I had to hide from.
Footsteps echoed softly behind me on the stone patio, followed by strong, warm arms wrapping around my waist from behind. Alessandro rested his chin gently on my shoulder, his large hand coming to rest flat against my stomach, where our baby gave a sudden, energetic kick against his palm.
A soft, genuine smile broke across Alessandro’s face—the kind of warm, relaxed smile that the rest of Chicago never got to see.
"He's going to be a soccer player," Alessandro murmured, pressing a soft kiss to the crook of my neck. "Or a corporate litigator. Either way, God help whoever tries to break his heart."
I leaned back against his chest, sighing happily as I covered his hand with mine. "He's going to be safe. That's all that matters."
"Always," Alessandro promised fiercely, turning me around in his arms so he could look down into my eyes. His amber gaze was filled with a depth of devotion that still occasionally took my breath away. "Julian was sentenced to life without parole yesterday. The federal investigation into Meridian Bio is fully closed, and your parents' names have been officially cleared of all false corporate allegations. A public memorial scholarship has been established in their honor in Ohio."
Tears pricked my eyes, but they were tears of profound, weightless relief. The ghosts of the past were finally laid to rest.
"You know," I teased softly, raising an eyebrow at him, "when you handed me that hotel key card in Room 1520 six months ago, I thought my life was over."
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Alessandro chuckled, a rich, resonant sound that vibrated against my ribs, and pulled me flush against his body. "When I handed you that key card, Elizabeth, I thought I was just looking for a distraction from a lonely night. But looking back... it was the exact moment my real life finally began."
He leaned down, capturing my lips in a deep, tender kiss that tasted of forever, while the warm Chicago sun rose high above the lake, bathing our future in an unbroken wash of golden light.
