EPILOGUE : LOVE WINS

" Papa, you’re supposed to catch me!” the small boy exclaimed, toddling toward his father’s long form stretched on the grass.

Nicholas smiled lazily at the dark-haired child who stood above him. Named Raphael, their son possessed an unending supply of energy and a vocabulary that far outstripped the average three-year-old. Young Raphael loved to talk, which was hardly a surprise when one considered his parentage. “Son, I’ve spent the better part of an hour playing chase with you,” Nicholas said. “Let an old man have a few minutes of rest.”

“But I’m not finished yet!”

With a sudden laugh, Nicholas seized the boy and pulled him down for a game of roll-and-tickle.

Lifting her gaze from the papers in her lap, Loveth watched the pair play.Daniel and Daniella played with bubbles a little bit far away . They were spending the hottest part of the summer at her inherited estate, a place so exquisitely landscaped that it could have been the subject of a painting by Rubens. All it