My angel.
My wife.
The other bosses are already here, mingling with their seconds, offering nods of respect and a few smirks of amusement. Everyone expected me to marry for interest. They never expectedthis.
True love.
The kind that sneaks up on you when you're not looking. That disarms the monster inside you and makes you want more than blood and revenge. She changed me in ways I didn’t know I could be changed. Not just softened me, but reshaped me. Made me feel like a man, not just a name whispered in fear.
With Erin, I see something I never saw for myself.
Peace. Family. A future.
And today, I'm marrying her not because it’s smart, or political, or useful.
But because I cannot imagine a single goddamn day without her beside me.
“Christ, you’re getting soft,” Alberto mutters behind me, flopping down onto the leather couch like we’re not thirty minutes from the ceremony. “What happened to the guy who nearly broke my wrist over a mislabeled shipment?”
“He met someone who makes him want to use his words,” Valerio quips, deadpan.
Riccardo chuckles. “No, no, he just finally got laid properly.”
I turn and level them all with a stare.
“Careful,” I say dryly. “I’m still armed.”
Valerio smirks. “Don’t worry. We all brought backup suits in case someone bleeds.”
“You’re lucky Erin made him a nicer man,” Alberto adds. “The old Luca would’ve had you buried for that joke.”
I shrug, adjusting my cufflinks again. “I still might.”
“Hell yeah,” Alberto grins, raising his glass. “'Cause now you’re terrifyingandin love!”
And somehow, he says it like that’s even more dangerous.
Before we head out into the garden, I find Jack and pull him aside.
He’s cleaned up. Hair trimmed. Wearing a borrowed suit that doesn’t quite fit, but at least he tried. He looks nervous—like he expects me to break him in two for breathing.
“Walk with me,” I say.
He follows me into the study, hands in his pockets, twitchy.
“I’ve got something for you.”
His eyes widen when I pull out the envelope.
“It’s enough to pay off everything. All the debts. Plus a spot in a rehab program—private. Best doctors, best counselors. No press. No cops.”
His mouth opens. Closes.
“Why?” he asks.
“Because Erin wants you in her life,” I say. “And I respect that. But you need toearnyour place. You prove to her you’re worth keeping around.”
He swallows hard. “I—I will. I swear. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, Luca. I never meant for her to get hurt.”
