Owned by the mafia boss

SIX MONTHS LATER

“It’s my turn! I wanna play-”

“No, it’s my Nintendo. Carmela got it for me.” Mariette flashed her younger brother a superior grin. “Carmela, tell him it’s mine.”

Carmela sipped her virgin cocktail. “Let him play. You’ve had it all morning.”

“Told you so,” Matteo gloated.

Mariette sulked as he took the video game controller and bounced on the couch, mashing its buttons. Carmela prepared a salami board as I rolled prosciutto di parma with goat cheese. The moment she told me she’d bought a half-pound of this shit, I knew who it was for.

“Alessio’s coming over?”

“Yeah.” Carmela returned to her task, swallowing hard. “It’s the six-month anniversary of his disappearance.”

Anthony was still missing.

When she’d revealed everything that happened in that twenty-four hours, I didn’t sleep for weeks. I wished Crash was still alive so I could kill him again.

Poor bastard.

He’d taken a knife for Carmela. Now that was bravery. If he hadn’t been there to stall Crash… who knows?

I owed him. I wanted to get him back, but leads were thin on the ground. We’d tracked down Crash’s trafficking ring on the dark web. It was how he was able to pay off so many people. He had a network of buyers who’d deleted their accounts when he died.

Carmela cried when she discovered what I’d done to Julian. She insisted on checking in on Julian’s kid, who seemed like she was doing well with her mom. Once Carmela realized the kid was fine, she relaxed.

I washed my hands at the sink and wandered down the hall.

Pictures of Carmela and the children covered the walls. A photo of Serena hung in each of the kids’ rooms. Carmela encouraged me to release my anger, and I was trying. But there was one thing left to do.

I found my daughter in the library, where she’d stalked after handing over the Nintendo. She smiled as I sat next to her, which was a significant improvement from “Go away.”

“Hey, honey. I need to talk to you.”All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Mariette paused, setting down the pencil. “About what?”

I grabbed Serena’s wedding ring from my pocket. “This was your mother’s.”

Mariette plucked it from my hand, her blue eyes widening with awe. She slipped it on her finger.

“It’s too big for you but I’ll give it to you when you’re older.” I stroked her beautiful hair, admiring how the light made it shine. “Your mother and I didn’t get along, but that doesn’t mean I never cared about her. One day, I hope you’ll understand. Just know that I love you. Always.”

“I love you, too.”

I took the jewelry and ruffled her head. A glow of pride balled in my chest as she gave up on coloring within the lines and scribbled over the page. Then I headed out.

Carmela leaned on the threshold, beaming at me. “That was nice of you.”

“You and that word.” I hooked her waist and dragged her into an empty room. “I’m not nice.”

“You are, though. You didn’t scowl when I mentioned Alessio.”

“He is my brother-in-law-”

“And you let me name our baby after Anthony.”

“Luke Anthony Costa. It’s his middle name, and I only agreed because he will find the whole thing so hilarious.”

“Bullshit. You said yes because you love me. You don’t complain when Alessio comes over. You do everything to make my happy, all the time, and you never ask for anything.”

“You’re all I’ll ever need, Carmela.”

I didn’t want to forgive Alessio, but I would anyway because I would always bend over backward for her.

I wasn’t a good man.

No doubt about that.

My impulses were just as dark as they were when we first married, but she’d softened me to people in our lives. She showed me that marriage wasn’t supposed to be a constant battle of wills. That it was okay to disagree without disrespecting each other. Giving her the world seemed like a fair trade because I’d found peace.

I’d found her.

~~~

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