Alessandro DeLuca

CHAPTER NINETEEN – ALESSANDRO (1 Year Later)

On this mountaintop, we stand, looking down on the property we own. Just a small portion of the empire that we’ve come to rule.

Turning to face her once again, I pull her close.

“Everything that I own now belongs to you also, Tesoro,” I say.

Slowly we sway in the sea’s breeze to the strains of the violins playing all around us.

“Each day, I wake up and ask myself if I’m crazy,” Mila says.

My eyebrows tilt just a little.

“Crazy to let you convince me to walk into a life that is an entirely different world than what I’ve known. But then…I turn over in my bed and look into your eyes, knowing I’m not crazy. I’ve done the best thing ever, the only thing that makes sense, Ales. I never thought that I would love or be loved again. But you’ve given me a life I cannot imagine not having. Here in your arms with…our daughter by our sides, danger, or no danger, I know that this is the life for me,” Mila breathes.

We had a large wedding today with all the DeLucas in attendance from Italy and some from America. Mila’s parents, whom we finally convinced to relocate to Italy after six months, are also in attendance, along with her ex-husband’s family, the Santoros.

Bones and Sabrina are here, and I’m thankful she and Sabrina are good friends.

While it took a while for her cousin, Paola, to warm up to me and for her uncle Alfonso to trust me, they finally came around. Her aunt Leona, cousin Dario, and his wife and I hit it off immediately. The only person in her life not in attendance is her cousin Carmine.

I was not playing when I told her I would never share her with another. It was clear that he had a thing for his cousin’s widowed wife. When Mila returned to Florence to visit that side of her family, Carmine did a lot to try to convince her not to trust me until I paid him a little visit.

My life is not uncomplicated, and there are a lot of expectations on me that I will always have to live up to. There are tasks that I must perform that don’t always leave me happy, but they’re necessary.

Despite the danger that always surrounds us, I don’t worry because I have chosen the only life for me. With this woman and my daughter by my side, they make the price I pay in this life well worth it. They understand the safeguards we must take to protect them and don’t mind.

And there’s nothing that I withhold from either of them. I will give them the world if they simply ask. And yet, I’m contemplating a different lifestyle for them. A decision that I haven’t discussed with anyone except for Antonio.

Not long after Colombo and The Enforcer were murdered in my home, I had a new villa on a larger property constructed for our family. We sold the old property and started over fresh.

“Papà! May I have this dance?” Bianca asks, popping up by our side.

She’s been playing with the other kids since our wedding reception began.

“Sí, mio caro,” I say.

Shaking her head as her mother steps back, she says, “No, I want to dance with you both.”

Mila holds one hand out to our daughter while I hold out a hand. The three of us dance slowly together.

“Sooo, can we talk about when I can have a little brother or sister?” she asks, smiling mischievously.

Laughing, I say, “I don’t know about all that. It’s a tall order.”

“Well, if I promise to clean my room, don’t ask to spend the night out, and if I promise to help Serena clean the kitchen, then can we make a deal?” she asks, her sparkling eyes widening.

I smile and lean down to kiss her forehead. “You’re quite the negotiator there. Think I might have a special spot for you in my empire.”

“Well,” Mila begins, looking at me with a conspiratorial wink. “We’ve already started working on it.”

“Yeah?” Bianca asks. “When will we know if we’ve got a baby?”

Mila and I exchange another glance. “Well, your little brother will be here in another six months.”

Bianca’s smile drops and then makes another dazzling appearance. “For real? Like for real, we’re gonna have a baby?”

“Yes, a brother,” Mila says. “He’s already on the way,” she says, rubbing her belly.