Chapter 10 - THE LETTER
I carefully broke the wax seal on the envelope, my fingers trembling slightly. The paper inside was thick and yellowed with age.
I unfolded it and began to read.
Emma,
If you are reading this, it means my son Luca has finally found the strength to walk away from the darkness I built. It also means you have grown into the woman I always knew you would become.
You don't remember me. You were only three years old when your father died. The official police report said he was killed in a random robbery at the docks. That was a lie.
Your father was my accountant. He was a brilliant, honest man who tried to keep my business as legitimate as possible. When a rival family ordered a hit on me, your father stepped in the way of the bullet. He saved my life, and in doing so, he lost his own.
I stopped reading, my breath catching in my throat. I looked up at Luca.
“My father didn't abandon us?” I whispered, the decades-old wound in my heart suddenly aching. “My mother always told me he ran away because he couldn't handle the debt.”
“She lied to protect you,” Luca said gently. “She didn't want you to grow up hating the mafia, or seeking revenge. She just wanted you to be normal.”
I looked back down at the letter, tears blurring my vision.
I could never replace the man I took from you, Emma. But I promised your father, as he was dying in my arms, that his family would always be provided for. That is why I hired your mother. That is why I secretly deeded the Door County vineyard to her—so that one day, you and she could live in peace, funded by the only clean money I ever made.
But I have one final request.
Luca is a good man, Emma. He plays the monster because it is the only way he knows how to survive in this world. But he has a heart that is desperate for the light. If you are reading this alongside him, I ask only this: Do not let him walk into the light alone.
With deepest regrets and eternal gratitude,
Silvio Moretti.
I folded the letter, pressing it against my chest. A sob escaped my lips, a release of twenty years of feeling like I wasn't enough, that my father hadn't loved me enough to stay.
He had been a hero.
Luca moved closer on the leather sofa. He reached out, wrapping his strong arms around me, pulling me against his chest. I buried my face in his shirt, letting the tears fall, and he just held me, a silent, immovable pillar of strength.
“I didn't know,” Luca whispered into my hair. “I swear to you, Emma, I didn't know your father died for mine.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said, pulling back slightly to look into his dark, beautiful eyes. “You were just a kid, too.”
Luca gently wiped a tear from my cheek with his thumb.
“Tomorrow,” Luca said, his voice firm and absolute. “I am calling a meeting with the Commission. I am stepping down as the head of the family. I am handing the territory over to the lieutenants.”
I stared at him in shock. “You can’t just walk away. They won’t let you.”
“They will,” Luca said with a dangerous smile. “Because I have the ledgers. If they try to stop me, I burn them all down. I am done with the blood, Emma. I am done with the violence.”
He looked toward the ceiling, where Leo was sleeping three floors above us.
“I am taking my nephew. I am taking my dog. And I am going to Door County to grow grapes and live a quiet life.”
He looked back at me, his gaze so intense it made my heart stop.
“The only question is,” Luca whispered, leaning in closer, “are you and your mother coming with me?”
I looked at his lips, then up into his eyes.
“Someone has to make sure you don't burn the vineyard down,” I murmured.
Luca smiled, a real, breathtaking smile, before leaning in and pressing his lips to mine. The kiss was gentle at first, full of hesitant hope, before deepening into something fierce and undeniable. It felt like coming home.
But as we pulled apart, the heavy mahogany doors of the library creaked open.
May you like
My mother stood in the doorway, wearing a silk robe, holding a small, velvet jewelry box in her hands.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said softly, though she was smiling. “But there is one more thing Silvio wanted you to have, Emma. Something he asked me to keep safe until you were ready to leave Chicago.”
