Chapter 12 - THE FAMILY HEIRLOOM
I stared at the velvet box in Luca's hand.
I slowly reached out and opened it.
Resting on a bed of white satin was a heavy gold signet ring.
It was carved with the crest of the Moretti family—a lion holding a shield.
"The family ring," I whispered.
"It's the matriarch's ring," Luca corrected softly. "My mother wore it. And before she died, she deeded the entirely of her personal fortune—the legitimate businesses, the properties, everything that wasn't tied to the syndicate—to the rightful heir."
He smiled, a true, bright smile.
"You aren't a maid, Grace. You're the majority shareholder of the Moretti Trust. You and Leo."
I looked at the ring, the weight of my entire past shifting, settling into something beautiful and solid.
I wasn't a lost orphan anymore. I was a mother, a widow of a hero, and a daughter of a family that had fought through hell to protect me.
"Mommy!"
Leo came running into the kitchen, holding a wooden chess piece.
"Mommy, Uncle Antonio says I beat him, but I think he let me win."
I laughed, tears streaming down my face as I scooped my son into my arms.
"He probably did, baby," I kissed his cheek. "But you're still very smart."
Luca watched us, his hands in his pockets, looking more at peace than I had ever seen him.
"We're having dinner in ten minutes," I told Leo. "Go wash your hands."
"Okay!" Leo scurried off toward the bathroom.
I looked at Luca.
"What happens now?" I asked.
"Now?" Luca said, walking over to the stove and stirring the pot of sauce I had left simmering. "Now, we live. We go to Leo's soccer games. We argue about who does the dishes. We be a family."
I took the gold signet ring out of the velvet box.
I slid it onto my right hand. It fit perfectly.
I walked over to the counter and picked up the wooden rosary Luca had given me in the car. I pressed it to my heart.
The Moretti empire was dead.
May you like
But the family had survived.
And as I stood in the warm kitchen, listening to my son laugh in the other room and watching my cousin cook dinner, I knew, for the very first time in my life, I was finally, truly home.
