3

Three days later, Luca brought Lia and Salvatore back to Palermo.

When I got there, Rosa was standing at the front door, waiting.

She was Luca's mother, the widow of the previous Don.

For six years, she'd seen me as the perfect daughter-in-law.

At least, that's what I'd believed, right up until I found out the secret.

Now she was holding Salvatore close and fussing over him.

"Let me get a good look at you, sweetheart. You look more like your father every day."

Lia stood off to the side, her eyes wet.

"Thank you so much. If you hadn't insisted on bringing us back, I honestly don't know what I would have done."

Rosa took her hand.

"After everything you've done for Luca, of course there's a place for you here."

I stood across the entryway and listened.

Not one of them thought they owed me an explanation.

Then Luca turned around.

He spotted me and hurried over.

"Elena."

He reached for my hand out of habit, but I stepped aside.

Luca froze, his hand still out.

"Still mad at me?"

I didn't answer.

Luca frowned slightly, but he quickly composed himself.

"I know you need time to get used to this. Once Salvatore's settled in, let's go to Lake Como for a few days."

He paused, a hint of tenderness in his voice. "Haven't you always wanted to go? No meetings this time, nobody bothering us. Just the two of us."

I remembered how Caruso family business had once buried me so deep I could barely breathe. Luca had held me and made me a promise.

He'd said that every year, he'd take me somewhere that was only ours. No family business, nothing else. Just the two of us.

After that, he pushed it back again and again.

And again and again, I told myself to just wait a little longer.

Even now, he thought a trip would make me forget what he'd done.

"Okay," I said softly.

Luca was clearly caught off guard.

He probably hadn't expected me to say yes so easily.

His face relaxed at last.

"I knew it. You could never really bring yourself to walk away from me."

As he said it, he took my hand.

I didn't pull away. I just watched Lia on the other side of the hall.

She was holding Salvatore's hand while Rosa introduced them around.

A few Caruso elders crowded close, wearing polite, satisfied smiles.

As if they'd been waiting a long, long time for this boy to come home.

That afternoon, Luca called a Caruso family meeting in the private conference room on the estate.

Besides the inner circle of the Caruso family, there were two lawyers and representatives from the other families.

I sat to Luca's right.

I'd sat in that seat for six years.

That day, he slid a document across the table to me.

"I intend to formally acknowledge Salvatore as my son."

His tone was calm, as if this were just another routine decision.

"Starting today, he'll carry the Caruso name. When he's older, I'll have him trained as heir to the Caruso family."

Then he handed me another document.

It was a long-term support agreement for Lia Bianchi and Salvatore.

It also stated that Lia would have no role in running the Caruso family. She would hold no power beyond what the agreement allowed, and she would never threaten my position.

I stared at it. The whole thing was absurd.

Luca had already decided everything I was supposed to accept, and he hadn't even talked to me first.

"Elena, I want you to handle this."

He said it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"I don't trust anyone else with it."

A laugh slipped out of me.

Of course. Even now, he assumed I'd back every decision he made.

He could bring another woman and her child into the Caruso family. He could openly admit he'd betrayed our marriage. He could even demand that everyone go along with it.

And I was still supposed to keep up appearances for him.

"Fine."

I picked up the documents.

"I'll take care of it."

Luca was visibly relieved. He bent down and kissed the back of my hand.

"I knew you'd understand."

After the meeting, I didn't leave right away.

Because that was when Lia and Salvatore came in.

Salvatore wore a little navy suit and a neatly knotted tie.

Luca went over and crouched down to straighten it for him.

"From today on, you get to use Daddy's last name, and you don't have to hide it from anybody."

Salvatore lit up.

"So I can live here now too?"

Luca ruffled his hair.

"Of course."

Lia lowered her head, tears shining in her eyes.

"Thank you, Luca."

Luca took her hand.

"It's only right."

I stood a few steps away and watched them without a word.

Once, I'd dreamed of a moment like this too.

If our baby had lived, would Luca have fixed his collar like that? Would he have stood before the whole Caruso family and proudly called him his son?

But I'd never know.

Because that baby was long gone.

And Luca had already given another child everything he'd once promised ours. The name. The future. Even a father.