Chapter 11 - THE BRICK AND THE HEART
Six months later.
The air was crisp with early autumn chill. The leaves on the massive oak trees lining the Moretti estate had turned brilliant shades of gold and crimson.
I stood in the driveway, wearing a tailored navy wool coat, holding a clipboard.
I wasn’t a maid anymore.
I was the director of the Antonio Moretti Foundation, a charity fully funded by Luca’s legitimate businesses, dedicated to protecting witnesses of domestic violence.
My father was living in a beautiful, secure condo overlooking Lake Michigan, his heart condition monitored by the best doctors in the city.
Life was safe. It was purposeful.
But it was also deeply intertwined with the man standing next to me.
Luca wore a dark charcoal suit, holding a steaming cup of coffee, looking at the construction crew finishing their work.
The old coach house was gone.
In its place stood a brand-new, beautiful brick building.
It wasn't a garage. It was a community youth center.
“They did good work,” Luca said, taking a sip of his coffee.
“They did,” I smiled. “Leo is already asking if he can have the first basketball game on the indoor court.”
Luca laughed, a warm, rich sound that I had come to love over the past six months.
The danger was gone. Carlo Bellini was serving a life sentence. Matteo was locked in a supermax facility. Vanessa had taken a plea deal for conspiracy and vanished into obscurity.
We had won.
But there was still one piece of the past left to settle.
Luca set his coffee cup on the hood of his car and turned to face me.
“Anna.”
His voice was lower now. Softer.
I looked up from my clipboard, my heart doing that familiar flutter it always did when he looked at me like that.
“Yes?”
He reached into his coat pocket.
He pulled out a piece of polished wood.
It was the broken half of the Moretti & Son sign that Leo had rescued from the burn pile.
But Luca had sanded away the char. He had polished the oak until it gleamed.
“I never showed you what was carved on the back of this,” Luca said quietly.
Answer one. Open two.
I stared at the wood.
“I thought it was just hollowed out to hold the key,” I said.
“It was,” Luca nodded. “But my father carved something into the inside panel before he sealed it.”
He turned the piece of wood over and handed it to me.
I traced my fingers over the deep, jagged letters carved into the oak.
It was in Italian.
Il sangue ci lega, ma l'amore ci salva.
I looked up at him.
“What does it mean?” I whispered.
Luca stepped closer, completely invading my personal space. The scent of his cedar cologne wrapped around me.
“It means, 'Blood binds us, but love saves us,'” Luca translated softly.
He reached up and gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
“My father knew the mob life would eventually destroy his family. He hid the truth about your mother to save you. And in doing so, he brought you to me.”
My breath caught in my throat.
“I spent my whole life trying to protect this estate, Anna,” Luca murmured, his dark eyes searching mine. “But I didn’t realize until that night in the coach house that the only thing worth protecting was standing right in front of me.”
He slowly cupped my face in his hands.
“I don’t want you to just run my foundation,” he whispered.
“What do you want, Luca?” I breathed.
“I want you,” he said firmly. “I want you to be my partner. In everything. For the rest of my life.”
He leaned in, and his lips met mine.
It wasn’t a hesitant kiss. It was deep, consuming, and full of the fierce, unyielding protection that defined who he was.
I dropped the clipboard, wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling him closer.
For twenty-nine years, my life had been dictated by fear, by secrets, by running from shadows I didn’t even know existed.
But standing here, wrapped in the arms of the most powerful man in Chicago, I knew I would never have to run again.
We finally pulled away, resting our foreheads together.
Luca smiled, glancing over my shoulder at the new building.
“So,” he whispered. “Do you think Leo will let me play in that basketball game?”
I laughed, tears of pure joy pricking my eyes.
“Only if you don’t wear the suit.”
May you like
We walked hand in hand toward the new center, the past finally buried, and our future built on a foundation stronger than brick or blood.
Love had saved us.
