Blood Orange Christmas

I was meant to live quietly.
Feed strangers. Forget him.
Raise my son beneath the scent of lemons and lies.
But fate has a cruel sense of humor.
A Christmas feast.
A villa drowning in snow and secrets.
And him—
the man I swore I’d never see again.
Dante Accardi.
The underboss who once kissed me between fire and flour,
who tasted my ragu like confession,
and turned my kitchen into a cathedral.
Five years ago, I ran from his world of blood and vows.
Now he’s standing in my doorway—
older, harder, crowned in sin—
and every look says I was never forgotten.
He says I don’t belong here.
But his eyes tell a different story.
One where I’m still his salvation.
His sin.
His unfinished war.
The snow is falling.
The families are gathering.
And one secret could bring his empire to its knees.
Because I didn’t just leave the Don who loved me—
I left him a son.
And this Christmas…
he’s coming to claim us both.