THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE ORDERED ME TO THROW HIS DEAD MOTHER’S WEDDING DRESS IN THE TRASH—BUT WHEN I CARRIED IT INTO THEIR ENGAGEMENT PHOTOGRAPHS, HE DROPPED TO HIS KNEES AND BEGGED ME NOT TO PUT IT DOWN.

I didn’t wait for morning.

I didn’t ask Luca.

I walked straight back downstairs, holding the photograph in my hand.

I wasn’t going to let Vanessa’s poison fester. If my mother had a secret, I wanted it out in the open, in front of the man who mattered most.

I pushed open the study doors.

Luca, Isabella, Leo, and my mother were still sitting by the fire, drinking tea.

They all looked up.

I walked directly to my mother and handed her the photograph.

“Mom,” I said, my voice shaking. “Vanessa just called me. She slipped this into my pocket. She said you were Victor’s mistress. She said you hid Leo for money.”

The room went dead silent.

Luca stood up, his jaw clenching.

My mother looked at the photograph.

Instead of panicking, instead of crying, she just let out a long, exhausted sigh.

She handed the photograph to Luca.

“She’s half right,” my mother said quietly.

I felt the floor drop out from beneath me. “Mom...”

“I was never his mistress,” my mother said firmly, looking directly at Luca. “But Victor Bellini was obsessed with me before I met your father, Emma. He wouldn’t leave me alone. That photograph was taken at a company picnic. He grabbed me. I pushed him away right after the flash.”

She looked at the fire.

“When Maria got pregnant, Victor found out. He cornered me. He offered me two million dollars to steal the baby and hand it over to him. He said he would kill Arthur if I refused.”

“So you took the money?” Luca asked softly.

“I took the money,” my mother nodded, tears filling her eyes. “And then I went straight to Maria. I told her everything.”

Luca’s eyes widened.

“Maria and I set it up,” my mother explained. “We used Victor’s own money to fake the baby’s death. I took Leo and ran. We put the remaining money into a blind trust in Geneva—the vault key you hold now. Maria said it was for Emma and Leo, for when they grew up.”

My mother looked at me, her eyes shining with pure love.

“I didn’t betray Maria, Emma. We betrayed Victor. And we used his own arrogance to fund Leo’s safety.”

Luca stared at my mother in absolute awe.

He walked over to her. He didn’t shake her hand. He pulled my mother into a deep, crushing hug.

“Thank you,” Luca whispered, his voice cracking. “Thank you for everything.”

The heavy weight in my chest completely vanished.

Vanessa had tried one last time to destroy us, and she had failed spectacularly.

The next few hours were a blur of healing.

Luca called his private tailors in the middle of the night. They arrived at 3 AM. Together with my mother, they carefully unstitched the ruined hem of Maria’s wedding dress. They cleaned it, repaired the lace, and restored it to its breathtaking glory.

Isabella cried when she held it up against her body. It fit her perfectly.

As the sun began to rise over the Chicago skyline, casting a golden light through the mansion windows, I stood in the kitchen making a fresh pot of coffee.

I was wearing a comfortable sweater Isabella had given me. My maid’s uniform was in the trash.

Luca walked into the kitchen.

He leaned against the counter, watching me. He looked exhausted, but the hard, terrifying mafia boss exterior was completely gone.

He was just a man who finally had his family back.

“You make terrible coffee, you know,” Luca smiled softly.

I laughed, feeling a blush rise to my cheeks. “I’m a seamstress’s daughter. Not a barista.”

Luca stepped closer. He gently took the coffee pot from my hands and set it down.

He reached out and took both of my hands in his.

“You’re not a maid anymore, Emma. You’re family.” He looked deeply into my eyes. “But I’m hoping, in time, you’ll let me be more than just family.”

My heart fluttered wildly. I squeezed his hands back.