Page 143 of Luca
I cupped her cheek. “I want this life with you and our daughter,” I murmured. “I had so many secrets. I made so many mistakes.”
“Wemade mistakes, Luca,” she rasped. “We both did.”
“I killed your parents. For the past three years, I lived with the conviction that you hated me. That you’d make our daughter hate me.” She didn’t stop me. “I thought I’d lost you, and then you came to save me. Now you’ve lost your brothers. You lost your family.”
“I have you. Our family. You, Penelope, Nonno, and I.” She leaned into my palm, her eyes locked on me. “My brothers are still my brothers. They still love me and their niece. As far as you go, they’ll come around. I know they will. You saved me and I saved you. That’s what we’ll do. We’ll protect our family.”
I pulled her in for a kiss. “Fuck, I should have been honest with you. We wouldn’t have lost all those years.”
“And I should have trusted you,” she croaked. “We both fucked up. No more living in the past. Let’s move forward. For us. For our daughter. From now on, we will stick together. Rain or shine. Rich or poor. Lies or truths. We are stronger together than we are apart.”
Together.That sounded perfect.
“And I’m sorry for shooting you,” she continued. “For being so stubborn.”
My lips twitched. “Don’t be. I decided that night I’d marry you.”
She chuckled softly, shaking her head and her curls bouncing. “Only you would take that as a challenge.”
“I can’t help it. I have loved you for too long.” I still couldn’t believe this. I couldn’t believe that she loved me. That she wanted us together.Forever.“I’ll find a way to break the arrangement with Marchetti,” I said harshly. “I’d rather die than see her with the Marchetti last name attached to her.”
She kissed me fiercely. “We, Luca. We will find a way to protect her.”
I fucked up. We fucked up. I didn’t care where the blame lay as long as my wife and our daughter were mine. I was theirs. I’d make sure never to betray their love and trust again.
And if anyone dared to take my family away from me, I’d show them how far I was willing to go.
I’d show Marchetti how far I’d go to keep my daughter outside his clutches.
* * *
Weeks flewby and Halloween rolled around.
Margaret was busy with Áine, Grace, and my sister baking birthday cakes. Yes, cakes. She got it into her head to celebrate three birthdays in one day. It was my wife’s idea to make up for the lost time.
Penelope’s birthday was today. With Bianca in the kitchen, I was certain we’d have at least one cake we could eat. While my wife became an excellent cook, she struggled with baking.
“You look good,” Cassio remarked as I took my seat on the terrace.
“I am good.”
“How does it feel to run the Sicilian mafia?” Luciano asked. “Makes you sound so badass.”
“Iama badass,” I pointed out.
“Mr. Badass, the one who insisted on only having one night stands, ends up falling the hardest,” Nico taunted. I kept my gaze on my daughter. “I knew you and Sasha would be the biggest suckers. The fucking craziest.”
I shrugged, while Sasha flipped him the middle finger. Truthfully, neither one of us cared, as long as we had our family with us.
Nonno, Luciano’s father, Luciano, Nico, Alessio, the Nikolaev brothers, Raphael - they all came to share the day with us. Family, friends, and the two humans I’d burn this world down for all under one roof. Life was good.
I watched my daughter play with Luciano’s little girl, sharing her gardening toys. The two followed Nonno’s directions, smiling widely, ignoring dirt smears on their clothes. Nico’s twin boys helped too.
My daughter’s eyes lifted and our gazes met. She jumped to her feet, ran to me, and hugged me.
“Hey, princess,” I greeted her. “Ready for the big party?”
Her eyes lit up and she nodded. “You’ll stay, right?”
