My phone buzzes. Viktor, wondering where I am for our meeting. I text back that I’ll be there in five minutes, but I don’t move from the window yet.
Two years.
Almost three years since I first laid eyes on her in that warehouse. Two years since we married again in the chapel. Two years of learning how to be a husband, a father, a man who builds instead of destroys.
It hasn’t been perfect. God, no it hasn’t. We’ve had fights—real ones, where Gigi doesn’t back down and I have to learn that loving someone means sometimes admitting you’re wrong. There have been many sleepless nights with a colicky baby, arguments about my business dealings, and moments when the violence of my world threatened to touch our family.
But we’ve made it work. More than that, we’vethrived.
The businesses have evolved. Danny runs most of the day-to-day operations now, while I focus on the legitimate enterprises. Real estate, investments, a private security firm that’s become one of the most respected in the city. There are still elements of the old world—you don’t walk away from this life completely—but the territorial wars have ended. The constant violence has ceased.
I’m building now instead of destroying. Creating instead of taking.
Marco taught me that. The moment they placed him in my arms, screaming and red-faced and perfect, I understood what my own father never did: that real power comes from protecting what you love, not controlling it through fear.
The office door opens and Marco barrels in, his face streaked with dirt and pure joy.
“Daddy! Daddy, Mommy fixed the butterfly! She put a tiny splint on its wing and said it needs to rest but then it can fly again!” He launches himself at me, and I catch him, lifting him up even though he’s getting too big for this.
My mouth drops open. “That’s amazing, buddy. Your mommy is pretty special, huh?”
“Yes!” He wraps his arms around my neck, and I breathe in the scent of him—grass and sunshine and that baby smell that still lingers on him. “Can we go see it? Please?”
“In a minute. I have a meeting first.”
His face falls. “But Daddy,” he starts to whine.
“Marco Marchetti, are you bothering your father while he’s working?” Gigi appears in the doorway, one hand on her belly, trying to look stern but failing completely.
“No,” Marco says, entirely unconvincing.
She quirks an eyebrow. “Uh-huh.” She holds out her hand. “Come on. Let’s give Daddy some space to finish his work, and then maybe we can all have dinner together.”
“Promise?” Marco looks at me with those big brown eyes that are exactly like his mother’s.
“Promise.” I kiss his forehead and set him down. “I’ll be done in an hour.”
He runs to Gigi, taking her hand, and I watch as she takes him back toward the main part of the house. Before she leaves, she glances back at me, and the smile she gives me is warm and real and everything I never thought I’d have.
I love you, she mouths.
I love you too, I mouth back.
The meeting with Viktor is quick and productive. We’re expanding into commercial real estate, using the legitimatemoney to buy properties that will generate clean income for years to come. It’s not as exciting as the old days, no adrenaline or danger, but it’s sustainable. It’s something I can pass down to Marco someday without the bloodstains.
“You’ve gone soft,” Viktor observes as we’re finishing up, but there’s no judgment in his voice. Just amusement.
“I prefer the term ‘evolved,’” I counter.
“Domesticated, then.” He’s smirking now. “Two years ago, you would have taken someone’s head off for suggesting a twenty percent split on this deal. Now you’re agreeing to it because it’s ‘fair and equitable for all parties.’”
I shrug. “Two years ago, I didn’t have a family to think about.” I lean back in my chair. “Priorities change.”
“They do.” Viktor’s expression softens slightly. “For what it’s worth, Marchetti, the change suits you. You’re not as much of a raging asshole anymore.”
I raise an eyebrow. “High praise coming from you.”
He laughs and stands to leave. “Tell Giuliana I’ll send over those contacts at the wildlife rehabilitation center. She mentioned wanting to expand her rescue work.”
