Chapter 10 - The New Dawn of the Bellini House
Six months later, the black iron gates of the Bellini mansion opened not for guards or mafia soldiers, but for a yellow school bus.
Luca stepped down from the bus, his backpack bouncing against his shoulders as he ran up the stone driveway. He didn't look afraid of the mansion anymore. To him, it was just the place where his aunt worked—and the place where the big, quiet man lived who always bought him the best comic books in the city.
I stood on the front porch, watching him run toward me. But before he could reach me, a tall figure stepped out from the shadows of the double doors.
Nico caught Luca in the air, swinging him around once before setting him down on his feet. "Did you finish your math test, champion?" Nico asked, a genuine, warm smile on his face.
"I got an A, Nico!" Luca bragged, holding up a crumpled piece of paper. "Can we go see Donna Elena now? She promised to teach me the sign for 'dragon' today!"
"Go ahead, kiddo. She’s waiting in the garden," Nico said, patting his back.
As Luca ran through the house toward the courtyard, Nico walked over to where I stood. The cold, ruthless Don who had destroyed two major syndicates in a single weekend was gone. In his place was a man who looked at me with an intensity that still made my knees weak.
He reached out, his long fingers tangling with mine, pulling me gently against his chest.
"My mother signed something to me this morning, Clara," Nico murmured, his grey eyes locked onto mine.
"Oh? What did she say?" I asked, a playful smile touching my lips.
Nico leaned down, his lips brushing against my ear, his breath warm and comforting.
"She said that for thirty years, she prayed for a woman who could understand her silence," he whispered. "But she never expected that woman would also teach her son how to love."
He pulled back just enough to look into my eyes, reaching into his pocket to extract a simple, elegant platinum ring—an honest ring, devoid of the flashy diamonds Bianca had craved.
"Clara Romano," Nico said, his voice thick with emotion. "You protected my mother. You saved my life. Will you let me spend the rest of mine protecting you and Luca? Will you be my queen?"
I looked past him toward the garden, where Donna Elena was sitting in the sunlight, laughing silently as Luca showed her his math test, her fingers moving in quick, joyous patterns. The family that had once been built on blood and terror had finally found its heart.
May you like
"Yes, Nico," I whispered, tears of happiness filling my eyes as he slid the ring onto my finger. "Yes. A thousand times, yes."
He leaned down and kissed me, a deep, possessive, and beautiful kiss that sealed our promise under the warm autumn sun—a promise born in silence, but shouted to the world.
