Chapter 9 - THE TRUTH SETS US FREE
"I'm not Leo," I whispered, stumbling backward. "Leo is a boy. He's your brother."
"Leo was a boy," Ruth said gently, stepping toward me with outstretched hands. "He was a terrified, fragile boy who never felt right in his own skin. When your father found out Leo wanted to live as a girl, he beat him. He threw him out on the street to die."
The memories hit me like a physical blow. Flashes of a dark room. A booming, angry voice. A heavy hand striking my face. I had always thought those were nightmares. I thought my childhood trauma was from growing up poor.
"Mary took you in," Ruth continued, tears streaming down her face. "She helped you transition. She helped you become Hannah. She gave you the life you were meant to have."
I looked down at my hands. I looked at Nico. The terrifying mafia boss was staring at me, not with anger, but with an overwhelming, shattered love.
"Hannah," Nico choked out, taking a step toward me. "Is it true?"
"I... I don't remember," I sobbed. "I blocked it all out. I just remember my mom. Mary. She loved me."
"She did," Ruth smiled softly. "And she gave Matteo the bracelet yesterday because she knew it was time. She knew your father was gone, and Nico was safe. She knew it was time for you to go home."
Nico closed the distance between us. He didn't ask. He just wrapped his massive arms around me, pulling me into a crushing, desperate hug.
"I looked for you," Nico sobbed into my shoulder. "For fifteen years, I looked for you. I thought he killed you."
I buried my face in his chest, the final pieces of the puzzle snapping into place. The reason I had always felt drawn to this house. The reason Nico's grocery deliveries to the South Side had felt so familiar. We were family.
"I'm here," I cried, holding my brother for the first time in a decade and a half. "I'm right here."
We stood there for a long time, the broken family finally pieced back together in the ruins of the engagement dinner.
When Nico finally pulled back, he looked around the room. Elena was smiling, holding Matteo's hand. Ruth was wiping her eyes.
"Victoria is gone," Nico said, his voice firm, the mafia boss returning, but this time, fueled by love instead of duty. "The Sterlings are bankrupt, and they will never set foot in Chicago again. Marcus is going to prison."
He looked at me, a soft smile breaking through his tears.
"You're not a maid anymore, Hannah. You're a DeLuca. You own half of everything I have."
I wiped my eyes, laughing through the shock of it all. "I don't know how to run a mafia empire, Nico."
"We're not running a mafia empire anymore," Nico said, looking at Matteo. "We're running a family."
He turned to Ruth. "And you. You are moving into the east wing tomorrow. You are the grandmother of this family, and you will never wear a faded dress again unless you want to."
Ruth smiled, pressing a hand to her chest. "Thank you, Nicholas."
Matteo tugged on Nico's tuxedo pants. "Are we going to live here now?"
Nico knelt down, scooping the boy into his arms. "Yes, little one. We're all going to live here. And you never have to hide again."
The nightmare was over. The secrets were out in the light.
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As I looked around the grand dining room, at my brother, my nephew, my sister, and the woman who saved us all, I finally felt something I hadn't felt in fifteen years.
I was home.
