THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME SERVE HIS ENGAGEMENT DINNER WITH MY BLACK UNIFORM SOAKED FROM THE WAIST DOWN—

Three days passed.

The estate felt entirely different. The oppressive tension that Vanessa had brought into every room evaporated with her arrest.

My mother was thriving at the private clinic. I visited her every afternoon, and the relief in her eyes when she realized our financial nightmare was over was something I would never forget.

Leo was adjusting beautifully.

He followed Maria around the kitchen like a shadow, learning to knead dough and demanding extra chocolate chips.

And me?

I was living in the East Wing suite, feeling entirely out of place in the massive, luxurious bed, wearing silk pajamas that Mrs. Carter had insisted I take from the unused guest wardrobes.

I wasn't a maid anymore. But I didn't know what I was.

On Thursday evening, Luca asked me to meet him in the guest house.

The same guest house Vanessa had lived in.

I walked across the damp lawn, pulling a heavy wool cardigan around my shoulders.

The front door was open.

Inside, the living room had been stripped bare of Vanessa’s expensive, gaudy decorations. It looked clean. Empty.

Luca was standing by the fireplace, holding a small leather-bound book.

"Rachel," he said, turning as I entered.

"You wanted to see me?"

He nodded, walking over to an armchair and gesturing for me to sit on the sofa opposite him.

"The police finished their final sweep of the property this morning," he said. "They found this tucked behind the drywall in the master closet."

He handed me the book.

It was a ledger.

I opened it. The pages were filled with names, dates, and bank account numbers.

"She wasn't just planning to steal Antonio's trust," Luca explained, his voice tight. "She had been funneling money out of the Moretti charity foundations for five years. She was building an empire to rival mine."

"She would have destroyed everything," I whispered.

"Yes." Luca leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "But she missed one detail."

"What?"

"The properties she bought with the stolen money. They were all purchased under dummy corporations." Luca looked deeply into my eyes. "Corporations that Salvatore had set up."

I frowned. "But Salvatore is in jail."

"Exactly. The feds seized everything. Which means the money is being returned to the estate."

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a thick envelope. He placed it on the coffee table between us.

"What is this?" I asked.

"It's a deed," Luca said softly. "To a brownstone in Lincoln Park."

My breath hitched. "Luca..."

"It's in your name, Rachel. And your mother's name. It's fully paid for. Taxes covered for the next twenty years. It has a ground-floor suite that is perfectly accessible for her wheelchair."

I stared at the envelope, paralyzed.

"I can't accept this," I said, shaking my head. "It's a house. It's millions of dollars. I just... I can't."

"You can. And you will." Luca's voice was firm, but his eyes were incredibly tender. "You saved my nephew's life. You saved my family's legacy. A house is nothing compared to what you gave me."

Tears pricked my eyes.

"Thank you," I choked out.

Luca smiled. "There's just one problem."

"What?"

He stood up, walking slowly around the coffee table until he was standing right in front of me.

He reached down and gently took my hands, pulling me to my feet.

"If you move to Lincoln Park," he murmured, stepping so close I could smell the bergamot and cedar of his cologne, "who is going to read Leo his bedtime stories?"

My heart hammered against my ribs.

"Mrs. Carter?" I breathed.

Luca shook his head, his thumb gently tracing the back of my hand.

"He doesn't want Mrs. Carter. He wants you."

He leaned in, his forehead resting gently against mine.