MY HUSBAND BROUGHT HIS MISTRESS TO SUNDAY DINNER

The estate was quiet when we returned. The chaos of the night had vanished, replaced by the soft glow of morning light filtering through the windows.

Leo was asleep upstairs in the main guest room, tucked safely under my mother's quilt. Luca had refused to leave his side, sitting in a chair by the bed, watching his son breathe.

I stood in the kitchen, making coffee, my hands still trembling slightly from the adrenaline of the night.

The core conflict was over. Dominic was dead. The Commission had recognized Leo as Luca's true blood. Vivian had vanished, chased out of the city by the fear of the very men she had tried to manipulate.

But the victory felt heavy.

I carried two mugs of coffee upstairs. Luca looked up as I entered, taking the mug with a tired, grateful smile.

"He hasn't woken up once," Luca whispered, brushing a dark curl from Leo's forehead.

"He feels safe," I said softly, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Because of you." Luca set the coffee down and took both of my hands in his. "You walked into a room full of monsters and saved us both. I don't deserve you, Rose. I never have."

"You made terrible choices, Luca," I said, holding his gaze. "You hurt me. You let Vivian humiliate me."

"I was terrified," he admitted, his voice breaking. "If I pushed her away, she promised to give Leo to Dominic. I thought if I gave her the east wing, she would stay quiet long enough for me to find a way out."

"You should have trusted me."

"I know." He kissed my knuckles, his tears wetting my skin. "I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. If you'll let me."

I looked at the sleeping boy. My sister's son. My nephew.

"I'm not leaving him," I said. "And I'm not leaving you. But things change now, Luca. No more secrets. No more mistresses at Sunday dinner."

"Never again," he swore.

A quiet knock on the bedroom door interrupted us.

It was one of the estate guards. He looked uncomfortable.

"Boss," the guard said quietly. "It's your grandmother. She's downstairs. She says she won't leave until she speaks to your wife."

Luca's face hardened. "Tell her to get off my property before I throw her off."

"No," I said, standing up. "I'll talk to her."

I walked downstairs. Adelaide was standing in the grand foyer, leaning heavily on her cane. She looked older than she had twelve hours ago. The imposing matriarch was gone, replaced by a frail, defeated woman.

"You won," Adelaide said, her voice raspy.

"This wasn't a game, Nonna," I said coldly. "You almost got my nephew killed."

"I did what I thought was right for the family," she said, though there was no fire left in her words. "Dominic was ruthless. The family needs a ruthless leader. Luca is too governed by his heart."

"Which is exactly why he is a better man than Dominic ever was."

Adelaide reached into her purse. Her hand shook as she pulled out a thick, sealed envelope.

"The Commission has stripped me of my protections," Adelaide said softly. "I have nothing left. No influence. No men."

She held the envelope out to me.

"What is this?" I asked, not taking it.

"Deeds," Adelaide said. "To the legitimate businesses. The real estate, the shipping companies, the holding groups. They are all in my name."

I frowned. "Why are you giving them to me?"

"Because Luca is a marked man," she said, a reversal I hadn't expected. "Dominic had loyalists. They will come for Luca eventually. The only way he survives, the only way that boy survives, is if Luca steps down as Boss."

My heart pounded. "The Commission will never let him walk away."

"They will," Adelaide said, "if you buy his freedom. Use these deeds, Rose. Transition the family's assets. Clean the money. Make Luca a civilian."

She placed the envelope on the entryway table.

"You are stronger than I was, Rose," Adelaide whispered. "I let this life turn me to stone. Do not let it do the same to you."

She turned and walked out the front doors, a solitary figure disappearing into the morning mist.