And now he’s going to stand there in his silk suit, sipping espresso like a goddamn judge? I inhale. A slow, icy drag through my nose, prepping the words—not just words, teeth—to cut him down, to remind him exactly who the fuck he’s dealing with.
But then…
The scent hits me.
Magnolia.
Fuckingmagnolia. The kind Violet likes. The kind Sophia noticed.
Just like that, I see her face in my mind, soft, hopeful, brave. The way she looked at me the first time I let her touch the parts of me no one ever had. And everything shifts.
Two paths unfold.
One ends with my fist buried in Marcello’s smug face. I’d make it clear—crystal fucking clear—who owns the throne, who earned it with blood and fire and ruin. But that path? The chair next to me would be empty. Sophia gone. Not because she’s weak, but because she’s better than this. Better than me.
The other path?
It'll cost me pride. Restraint. Control.
But it might just give me something more.
Real loyalty.
Not fear-based obedience. Not power bought with favors and threats. The kind of loyalty that builds empiresthat last. I have soldiers—Brothers-in-arms. I’ve got Leo and Gray, and yeah, I’ve got others who’d die for me, like Mario did. But none of that means a damn thing if I’m always looking over my shoulder.
And I’m tired ofbeing that man.
So I don’t throw the punch.
I swallow the fire.
And I choose to be something more than just the shadow they all fear.
I choose her.
I step forward. Keeping my voice low and controlled. "You think I don’t know where I came from? Who I am, or what I am not?" I bite the words off, every one dipped in years of grit and hard lessons. "You think I haven’t spent my life knowing exactly where I fall in this world? I’ve never once had the luxury of forgetting it."
I shake my head, clenching my jaw to keep my temper under control. "I met your father. More than once. You see these?" I motion to the jagged lines on my face—scars that never quite healed right. "You don’t have to convince me what kind of piece of shit he was. Iknowmonsters when I meet them. He was one of the worst."
A slow, bitter breath leaves my lungs.
"I might not have had a formal education. I didn’t grow up learning how to fold napkins or negotiate territory over aged scotch. But Idoknow when I meet a woman who’s so far above me, I should be on my knees just for the chance to breathe the same air."
I meet his gaze, unflinching. "But Ididreach her. Somehow. And I’m not about to waste that miracle. You hear me?"
I step closer, voice quiet now—deadly serious.
"I’ll worship the ground she walks on for the rest of my fucking life. Not because I have to. But because it’s the only way I know how to show her how much she’s saved me."
His eyes measure me. Something flickers behind them. He gives me a short nod, "Then we understand each other."
EPILOGUE
A few days later…
Darkness is bleeding in through the windows, thick and heavy like ink. The city glows behind it, electric, alive, and crawling with secrets. Vegas slowed medown. It was the wrong time to be gone from New York. But necessary.
Since then, every hour has been spent on war prep, meetings, decisions, and clean-up. Giovanni and Roberto left behind a legacy of rot. Now it’s my job to burn the rest down and build something stronger. Something smarter.
