Adriano and Eva watch as Mirabella chases butterflies, while Eva holds their nearly two-year-old son, Niccolo.
Luca is in the pool with his nine-year-old son, Enzo, while Katerina sits on the pool’s step splashing water with their three-year-old daughter, Allessia.
And there, under the shade of the old oak tree, is my Isabella, our one-year-old son, Elio, pulling up grass.
We are together. The Dantes are whole.
Two years have passed since I executed Marco and Enrico Vitale.
Two years of peace after what felt like an eternity of bloodshed.
The business flourishes beyond anything my father achieved, our territories secure, our enemies either dead or pledging loyalty.
Even Luca, who once maintained distance in Chicago, now visits regularly, bringing his family to strengthen the Dante bonds.
I’ll admit, I never thought my life would be like this. I was so focused on fulfilling the duties my father passed on to me that I nearly missed what truly makes life worth living.
The stability I fought so desperately to maintain never came from fear or violence, which is not to say that fear and violence don’t have their place.
But for me, loyalty and love are truly where my stability comes from.
I glance over at Isabella and Elio, who is now toddling along with his cousin Mirabella and chasing butterflies.
At fifteen months, he's already showing hints of the man he'll become.
Stubborn and curious, with his mother's sharp intelligence.
Isabella laughs as he giggles gleefully when a butterfly lands on his shoe.
I remember like yesterday the night he was born.
It was the longest night of my life.
I’m a man who faced down enemies but was reduced to a nervous wreck the night Isabella went into labor.
When the doctor finally placed him in my arms, I understood what true fear was.
Not the fear of losing power or territory, but the terror of failing to protect something so precious.
Across the lawn, Mrs. Vitale sits on the edge of the pool near Katerina, laughing at something my sister-in-law has said.
The change in Isabella's mother is the most surprising transformation of all.
Free from Marco's shadow and with time and counseling, she’s blossomed into the doting grandmother and supportive mother Isabella always wanted.
Isabella rises and scoops up Elio, coming to stand where I’m surveying my kingdom. “You look so serious up here. Everything okay?”
I take Elio from her, holding him over my head until he laughs and drools on me. “Everything is perfect.”
I lean over and kiss her temple.
“Hey, look who’s here. The big, bad man himself,” Valentina says when she spots me.
“That’s Don Big, Bad Man to you,” I tease back.
She snorts. “Yeah, no.” She takes Matteo’s hand and guides him to Cristian. "Everyone! We have news."
The family quiets, all eyes turning to them.
