Page 79 of Satin Empire

“Congrats,” Maddie says, giving me a tight hug. “I just want to make it clear that this was my idea and he tried to talk me out of it.”

“I know. I love you, Mads.”

“Love you too, Lana.”

I get passed from hand to hand. Everyone’s here: Allegra, Molly, all four brothers, all the kids, plus my mom, Orsino, Noah, several prominent Milano and Rossi Capos, a bunch of soldiers, and even Stefania gives me a big hug.

“You know they never threw a party for me after my first semester,” she says, pretending to fix my hair. “But we’re all proud of you.”

“Thanks, Stef. You should’ve gotten a party though. Want mine?”

“Nah, I’m good. Although I don’t mind the open bar. Want something?”

“Please,” I say and she heads off to procure the much needed alcohol.

I end up at a high top with Noah and Stefania. He keeps going on about all the design influences and decisions he made, and Stefania’s listening politely but she keeps rolling her eyes at him, and I have to finally elbow him to get the message. He beams, not really caring that he’s going on too much, because he’s proud of what he did in here. And really, I’m proud of him too.

“Carlo says he couldn’t have done all this with you, you know,” I tell him even though it’s a bad idea inflating his ego even more.

“Did he really? I mean, obviously, I’m amazing.”

I punch his arm and he laughs, and for a second I feel like it’s the old days and we’re sitting on the couch watching Bravo together, hiding out from the rest of our awful family and trying to feel at peace. Except for once, I really am at peace, or at least as close to it as I think I’ll ever get.

Midway through the gathering, Carlo pulls me aside. I refuse to go upstairs to the VIP area—too many bad memories—and instead he takes me to a quiet corner near the DJ booth.

“I have one more surprise for you,” he says and presses his forehead to mine. “I love you, you know that? More than anything in the world.”

“I love you too. Are you about to offer me a kidney or something?”

“No, better than that. You have enough kidneys. Don’t be greedy.” He takes a ring box from his pocket and flips it open. “I should’ve given you one of these a long time ago, but I’ve been looking for the right one.”

I stare, my mouth hanging open. It’s an Art Deco engagement ring with intricate lacework done in platinum and a European cut diamond glittering in the center. My hands fly to my mouth, but he pries one away and slips it down my finger.

“Perfect,” he murmurs. “I agonized over the sizing.”

“You did good.” I hold it up to the light, my stomach doing flips. “You did really good.”

“You deserve everything, baby.”

I hug my husband and kiss him hard, and promise to pay him back for this ring once we get home with extremely explicit sexual favors. That seems to make him happy.

But for now, we have family, and we rejoin the party to lots of excited squeals from the girls as they check out the new jewelry. I keep throwing looks Carlo’s way, and he keeps smirking at me like he can’t help himself, and I’m sure deep in the walls of my heart that I’m exactly where I need to be.

Epilogue: Stefania

Renzo definitely does not normally call me into his office in the middle of the day, and I’m feeling a little nervous as I knock on his door.

The office is for Famiglia Stuff, all of which is Outside My Purview, as I’ve learned the hard way multiple times. And fine, whatever, my protective older brothers don’t want to implicate me in crimes. I guess that’s really nice of them, but sometimes it feels like they haven’t noticed how I’ve distanced myself from them lately. I got a decent job working for a Famiglia-related law firm and a nice apartment all by myself in Old City, and I’m practically a strong, independent lady these days that don’t need no mobster Famiglia.

Except now I fee like just little Steffy all over again, the youngest child of the Rossi family, the surprise Whoopsie Baby that nobody really wanted. It’s fine, I’m over it, my brothers were great growing up and Renzo was like a second father to me, but I can’t pretend like there isn’t just a teeny, tiny bit of resentment there.

“Come in, Stef.” Renzo beckons me from the interior and I picture myself wading into the jungle like in Heart of Darkness, halfway expecting to find Renzo waiting in some crumbling temple, a half-mad cult leader. That’s not too far off, although he’s in a fancy suit and sitting behind an expensive desk, but the Famiglia is sort of like a cult, and he’s definitely the head of it all.

“What’s up, big brother?” I try to put a confident grin on my face, even if I don’t feel it at all, and casually sit in the chair across from him. Renzo doesn’t return the smile, although that’s not unusual these days. The old happy Renzo is long gone, replaced by the Don of the Famiglia, a guy with a thousand demands on his time and too much weight on his shoulders.

“You haven’t been coming around much lately.” He leans back and gives me that disappointed-yet-not-surprised glare of his and it still works, even after all these years.

I melt a little, feeling guilty. “You noticed, huh?”

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