Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 113710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Carmela and Anna played me like a fucking fiddle, but I can’t change the past. I can only clean up the mess and strive not to make the same mistakes.
The cleanup after the truth came out was brutal and efficient. Carmela’s body will never be found, and Edoardo sealed his fate long before the day he took his final breath.
Even before he took his own life, too cowardly to face my brothers’ wrath after we discovered he hired the mole who infiltrated our security system, he was already the coward of the Cosa Nostra.
He left behind no legacy and no honor. His name isn’t even worth mentioning. It only comes up while discussing the one good thing he left behind: his son, Gabriele, the child he had with Anna.
Anna was forced to do Carmela’s dirty work the past four years because she, too, broke the rules that fateful night. According to Carmela, Anna’s sin was far less consequential since she had seduced someone in the Cosa Nostra. Her bait snagged a fish from the bottom of the pond, but for years, Carmela believed it was one step better than what Lucia had hooked.
She had no clue that one smile secured Lucia permanent access to the cream of the crop when it comes to mafia royalty.
It’s been a long six weeks unraveling the vault of lies we were told. Edoardo, Anna, and Carmela didn’t solely center around Lucia and me. They dragged the entire mafia realm into the web of deception, which featured a falsified marriage certificate, birth records, and illegitimate claims of ties to sanctions long voided.
I’m exhausted, but today will finally slot the final piece of the puzzle where it belongs. It’s a giant step toward a stable, loving life I was confident I was getting when I snuck into an unlocked storage room on Lucia’s heel.
Gabriele sits in the corner of the boardroom. His composure is wary, and his hands are folded in his lap as he braces for more bad news. It’s been one knock after another for the shy four-year-old over the past six weeks. He lost his mother, father, and grandmother on the same day.
He has no one left—no one but us.
Gabriele’s teeth rake his lower lip when Lucia kneels before him. Her movements are subtle. She’s mindful he might bolt if she breathes too loudly. He has a lot of the same frightened impulses Camille had when she first entered my life.
Today is the first time Lucia is seeing him in person. Even though he isn’t her biological son, the way she looks at him—with that fierce protectiveness her eyes have always held for Camille—displays a depth that proves you don’t need to be related by blood to be loved without fear of expectations.
After clearing my throat, I step forward, coming shoulder to shoulder with a man who is seconds from shaping my destiny. Henry Gottle Sr. is the boss of bosses. He’s stern when he needs to be, merciless when left no other option, but also compassionate.
His nodded approval for me to kill Anna without consequence occurred seconds before I took my shot.
His understanding that day means I’m still a part of the Cosa Nostra, but if he denies Lucia’s every wish this morning, I’ll once again be forced to take matters into my own hands.
There’s no rule I won’t break to love and protect Lucia how she deserves. I owe her the world when she saved me from being the villain of our daughter’s story and made me the hero instead. Camille’s eyes were far from the carnage since she had Lucia in her sights, and that is the sole reason I took my shot.
I return my focus to the conference room when Gabriele’s shakes vibrate the viewing glass separating the conference room from a child protection officer’s office. Despite the government’s beliefs, Gabriele’s adoption was never going to be handled by family court. The child in question has ties to a man who once belonged to our world. His placement on the bottom rung of the ladder has no effect on the decision being made today.
Only two people are capable of swinging this verdict in my favor. One is standing next to me, watching my soulmate interact with the little boy she’ll always love. The other is doing everything he can not to fall in love with my wife-to-be on sight.
I wish him luck, because it’s not something I’ve ever been able to do, further proving I should have known there was more to my instant obsession with Lucia. She broke an almost five-year abstinence with one twirl around a pole.
The only other time I’ve been that immediately smitten was the night I believed I was with Anna.
I wet my lips to ensure my words come out crisp. “Even without him being hers by birth, she protects him like he is. She loves him. That’s enough for me to do everything in my power to make him a permanent part of our lives.”