She was a living witness to the murder of a Mafia Boss's only heir.
And now… she's a dead witness.
She doesn'tneedme anymore.
But in this same moment, she leans into my chest. "Thank you, my King."
She doesn't realize it yet, but this is only the beginning—there will be countless chances ahead for her to reconsider, to slip away, to decide this life isn't what she wants after all.
Lorcan pushes off the doorframe, his expression shifting from amused to calculating. "Wait—hold on. Ya walked in there, confessed to killin' his heir, and Luca just...let ya walk out?"
"Essentially."
"Bollocks." Lorcan's eyes narrow. "Luca LaRiccia doesn't let people who murder his son just stroll back to their Lamborghinis. What did ya trade?"
I don't answer immediately.
"Giovanni." Lorcan's voice drops. "What did ya give him?"
I glance down at Emmaleen, then back at Lorcan.
"Something he wanted more than revenge."
Jino crosses his arms. "Which was?"
"A better son."
The words land hard.
Lorcan stares at me. "You're jokin'."
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
"Ya offered yerself? To Luca LaRiccia? As what—his fuckin'heir?"
I meet Lorcan's eyes.
"I told him what we both already knew."
Jino shifts his weight. "Which was?"
"That Rico was a disappointment. A liability. A walking disaster wrapped in cocaine and daddy issues." I pause. "And that Luca deserved better."
Lorcan's expression shifts to something like horror. "Jesus Christ, G."
"I told him he built an empire that required precision, discipline, vision—and Rico had none of it. That his son was going to destroy everything Luca spent forty years constructing. I told him the truth. Rico died doing exactly what he always did—acting on impulse, crossing lines, creating messes other people had to clean up."
"And he just... accepted that?" Jino asks quietly.
"No." I touch the split in my lip. "He put a gun to my head first."
Emmaleen makes a small sound against my chest.
"But then I told him something else. I told Luca that he represents everything I wishedmy fatherhad been. Ruthless, yes. But competent. Focused. Actually deserving of the empire he controls."
"Giovanni—" Jino starts.
"And that I represent everything he wished Rico had become."
