Chapter 12 - THE NEW ESTATE
I stared at Luca, my heart pounding in my chest.
“Bring it back to life?” I echoed.
Luca nodded.
He stepped back and looked at me with profound respect.
“I don’t want you to be a housekeeper anymore, Julia. You are far overqualified, and this family owes yours a debt we can never repay.”
He gestured to the massive room.
“I want to hire you as the Head Estate Manager. I want you to run this house. I want you to restore these gardens to exactly how your grandfather designed them.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“Mr. Moretti… I don’t have a degree in botany.”
“You have his journals,” Luca smiled softly. “And you have the budget of the entire Moretti trust. Hire whoever you need. Build whatever you want.”
He stepped closer, closing the distance between us until I could smell the faint scent of sandalwood and rain on his sweater.
“But mostly,” Luca said, his voice turning incredibly soft, “I just want you to stay.”
I looked up into his eyes.
The walls he had built around himself for eighteen years were completely gone. I wasn’t looking at the feared mafia boss. I was looking at a man who deeply loved his family, and who finally recognized someone who understood that kind of love.
“I want to stay,” I whispered.
Luca’s eyes darkened with an emotion that made my breath hitch.
Before he could say anything else, the sound of little feet pattering against the stone floor echoed into the greenhouse.
“Uncle Luca!”
Leo ran through the glass doors, holding a brightly colored plastic watering can.
Aunt Teresa was walking behind him, leaning on her cane, a wide, beautiful smile on her face.
“Auntie Teresa said I can help water the dirt!” Leo beamed, running up to me and tugging on my apron. “Can I help, Julia? Please?”
I looked down at the little boy with Luca’s eyes.
Then I looked at Teresa, who was finally home, exactly where she belonged.
I smiled, wiping the last tear from my face.
“Yes, Leo,” I laughed, taking the heavy brass key and slipping it into my pocket. “You can absolutely help.”
Luca watched us.
He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the doorway of the restored greenhouse.
He watched his nephew laughing. He watched his aunt sitting peacefully on a wrought-iron bench.
And then, his eyes met mine.
He didn’t say a word.
He didn’t have to.
The storm was over. The ghosts of the past had finally been laid to rest.
May you like
The Moretti family was whole again.
And as the morning sun poured through the glass ceiling, warming the earth waiting to be replanted, I knew my life was just beginning.
