"How long until you believe it's real?" I asked Matteo.
"I don't know. Maybe when we actually get sentenced to probation in two weeks. Maybe when I wake up for the hundredth morning in a row and you're still beside me instead of me being in a federal prison cell." He pulled me closer. "Maybe never. Maybe I'll always have this fear in the back of my mind that someone's going to take this away."
"Then I'll remind you every day. It's real. We won. We get to keep this."
Emilio stood up suddenly. His champagne glass still full. "I need a minute."
He walked away toward the back offices. Sandro watched him go with concern clear on his face.
"Go," Elio said to Sandro. "We're fine here. Go make sure he's okay."
Sandro left without argument.
I looked at Elio and Luca. "Are you two okay?"
"Define okay," Luca said. But he was smiling. Genuine relief breaking through. "We're not going to prison. That's more than okay. That's a fucking miracle."
"Diana earned every dollar we paid her," Elio agreed. "I didn't think anyone could find reasonable doubt in that mountain of evidence. But she did. She actually did."
"What happens now?" I asked. "With the convictions on the minor charges?"
"Probation. Fines. Community service, maybe." Elio shrugged. "Nothing that actually impacts our operations significantly. We'll have to be more careful. More legitimate onthe surface. But we're not shut down. We're not in prison. We get to keep building what we've built."
"And you?" Luca looked at me. "What happens with you now that Matteo's not going to prison?"
The question caught me off guard. I'd spent so much time preparing for Matteo to be convicted that I hadn't thought about what came next if he wasn't.
"I stay," I said. "Keep working on the books. Keep being with Matteo. Keep living at Inferno." I paused. "This is home now. That doesn't change just because the threat of prison is gone."
"Good." Luca raised his glass. "You're good for him. For all of us, actually. Matteo's been less of an obsessive control freak since you've been around. That's a win for everyone."
I laughed despite everything. "Less obsessive? He literally increased security so much I couldn't leave the building without an escort."
"That's less obsessive for Matteo, trust me."
We drank. Talked. Slowly let the reality sink in that this was real. That they'd won. That we all got to keep our lives.
Eventually Sandro and Emilio returned. Emilio's eyes were red but he was smiling. Sandro's arm was around his waist—possessive, protective, the same way Matteo touched me.
We celebrated until late. Until the adrenaline finally wore off and exhaustion set in. Until we could actually believe that this was real and not some cruel trick.
***
Back in the apartment, Matteo and I stood in the bedroom just looking at each other.
"We have a future," I said. Breaking the silence. Making it real by speaking it aloud.
"We do." Matteo moved toward me. "An actual future. Years together. Not stolen visits through prison glass. Not letters censored by correctional officers. Just... us. Together. Free."
"I can't stop touching you." I reached for him. "Can't stop needing the physical confirmation that you're here. Real. Free. Not being taken away."
"I know. I feel the same way." He pulled me close. "I need—I need to feel this. Feel that it's real. That we actually won. That I get to keep you."
"You get to keep me." I kissed him. "Forever if you want me that long."
"Forever," he confirmed. "Definitely forever."
We moved to the bed. Stripped each other slowly. Taking time because we had time now. Years of it. Decades if we were lucky.
