Page 84 of Texting My Mafia Boss

Sylvie walks in. Mara chuckles and winks at her. “That was a long bathroom break. Did I hear you sneaking around upstairs?”

Sylvie smiles cutely. She’s got her hands behind her back. “There’s a couple things,” she murmurs, in an adorable combination of shy and excited.

“Well, show us,” I say, smiling. “Don’t be shy.”

Sylvie walks forward and brings a folder forward, with a piece of paper on top. My breath catches when I look at the piece ofpaper. It’s a drawing of me, except this time, I’m surrounded by starlight and little suns and happy faces.

“Do you like it?” she asks.

I reach over and bring her into a hug, sitting her on my knee. “I love it, Sylvie. I love you.”

She beams. “And that’s for you.” She gestures at the folder and Mara.

“What is it?” Mara asks.

“I’m—sorry,” Sylvie stutters.

Mara furrows her eyebrows, already prepared to understand. She’s so patient with Sylvie, so good. “You don’t need to apologize,” she says.

“I went looking for good hide-and-go-seek places, just in case. And I found the secret closet with these inside.”

“The secret closet?” Mara asks, confused.

“In my bedroom, there’s a little door inside the closet.”

Mara shakes her head slowly. “I had no idea.” She glances at me.

I know what she’s thinking. If her aunt was paranoid about the Calvis rushing in here, she would’ve wanted a place to hide things.

“There was an old dress, and I think there’s some money, but I didn’t want to check. The envelope felt like there was money inside.”

“Okay, angel,” Mara says.

Sylvie takes a breath. She motions as if to adjust her sleeves, then stops. My heart catches at that. That was always a nervous habit of hers. But she doesn’t need it anymore.

“I only read the first one,” Sylvie says. “It’s a letter to you from your aunt.”

Mara’s eyes immediately tear up. “Really?”

“She says she’s sorry she couldn’t be there and that your mommy and daddy loved you and that if things would have been different, she would have been a mommy to you. I only readone, Mara. I’m s?—”

“No apologies,” Mara says, grinning even as her eyes glisten. She walks around the table and pulls Sylvie into a hug. “You beautiful, wonderful girl. You don’t have any idea how much this means to me.”

Sylvie clings to her tightly. “I’m happy you’re happy,” she says.

Livia looks at me, a tear in her eye too. I smile, knowing this is it, knowing we’ve made it.

EPILOGUE

MARA

A Few Months Later

Isit with my hand in Ettore’s, glowing with love and pride as we watch Sylvie at her latest ballet recital. I can feel people looking at us – Ettore wasn’t wrong when he said people would – but I don’t care. I’ve only got eyes for the little girl onstage. She beams with pride as she performs her moves flawlessly. During the bow, she looks directly at us, her eyes twinkling with joy.

I feel the same joy bubbling in me more and more every day. Life has slipped into a steady, beautiful routine I never could’ve expected when I first arrived at the Bellandi estate. The streets are quiet. The police have moved on. The other Families have agreed to let the past be the past. The Calvis – without any actual Calvis running them – are a shadow of their former selves.

Most importantly,weare different from our former selves. Reading through my aunt’s letters, all the love there, the dozens of stories about my parents’ and her life, the regret at not being able to be with me… it changed something in me. It wokesomething up. Before, I wanted a family. Then, suddenly, I needed one.