THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME SERVE HIS ENGAGEMENT DINNER

Six months later, the Moretti estate looked entirely different.

The dark, imposing furniture Vanessa had picked out was gone, replaced by bright, comfortable pieces. The sterile silence of the hallways was replaced by the constant sound of Leo running around, usually chased by the new golden retriever puppy Luca had bought him for his seventh birthday.

It was Sunday afternoon.

I was sitting in the library, going over the quarterly shipping manifests. I still had a lot to learn, but I was getting the hang of it. I had my own office, my own bank account, and, most importantly, my own voice.

“Aunt Kate!”

Leo burst into the library, skidding on the hardwood floor in his socks. He was holding a large, framed photograph.

“Look! It came in the mail!”

I put my pen down and took the frame from him.

It was the professional portrait we had taken in the garden a few weeks ago.

In the center sat my mother and Dorothy, looking like two queens presiding over their kingdom. Leo was perched on Luca’s shoulders, laughing hysterically. And I was standing right beside Luca, smiling brighter than I ever had in my life.

No one was hiding. No one was a secret.

Luca walked into the library a moment later, holding two mugs of coffee. He set one down on my desk and leaned over to look at the photo.

“Not a bad-looking group,” he mused, taking a sip of his coffee.

“It’s perfect,” I said softly.

I looked up at him. The feared Mafia boss was wearing a faded college sweatshirt and had a smudge of dirt on his cheek from planting tomatoes in the garden with Leo.

He caught me looking and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Nothing,” I smiled, picking up my pen. “Just thinking about how much I love this family.”

Luca smiled back, his eyes warm and completely at peace.

“Me too, Kate,” he said. “Me too.”

He ruffled Leo’s hair and walked back out into the hallway, leaving the door open behind him.

I looked back down at the photograph.

For twenty-nine years, I had thought I was nobody. A maid. A burden. A girl with no father and no future.

But as I looked at the faces smiling back at me, I realized something.

My father’s legacy wasn't the violence. It wasn't the money or the dark secrets hidden in safety deposit boxes.

His legacy was the brother who had saved my life.

And the family we had finally built together.