Page 110 of Don's Queen
It gets better every goddamn time.
Later,when the club has quieted and the night finally ends, we return home.
The city glows outside the bedroom windows. Inside the house, everything is still. Our children are asleep down the hall. Noah in his room. The twins—both pairs—sprawled across theirs. Bianca curled up like a starfish in her bed.
I pull Izzy close against my chest as we lie in the dark, and draw in a deep breath.
There was a time I didn’t think this life was possible. I say it out loud before I can stop myself. “I thought I was doomed,” I admit quietly. “To destroy everything good.”
The words feel strange in the air. Like something I buried years ago and never expected to say out loud.
Izzy reaches up and cups my face. “You didn’t destroy me, Nico. You saved me.”
A small smile slips through before I can stop it.
Rare.
Real.
“Do you regret it?” I ask her quietly. “Any of it?”
She turns her head toward the hallway where our children sleep.
Then she looks back at me.
“No,” she says. “Never.”
I pull her into my arms. “I love you.”
Her lips part in a smile. “I love you now and forever.”
