Epilogue
Matteo
Four Months Later
Tino pulled through the front gates of the new house we’d purchased only a few streets away from the original estate.
With still no word from Gio, we toyed with the idea of taking over his vacant house, as it was known as the primary residence of the Bellini Don—the same home I’d grown up in and my father before me—but it didn’t feel right.
I wanted to give my girls stability, a new place to create memories—happy memories with a mother and a father who loved them more than life itself.
“Welcome home, sir,” Tino said as he opened the back door for me.
Originally, the plan had been to return tomorrow, but I’d missed Summer and the girls too much to stay away another night. My early arrival was kept a secret, as I hoped to surprise them.
I pushed through the front door, and my ears were instantly assaulted by the high-pitched shrieks that could be used to track my family’s location.
I found them in the kitchen. Bianca was seated atop the island, her hands and face coated in flour, while Serafina stood on a stool contraption that allowed her to reach the countertops and “help.” And between them was the beautiful woman I married, the love of my life.
For a minute, I hung back in the shadows, content to watch them work together as they made a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Domestic life caused Summer to glow from within.
Her smiles were never brighter than when she was with the girls; they lit up her world, the same as they did mine.
While she adored our daughters, they absolutely idolized her.
There was no question this was the family we were always meant to have.
Clearing my throat, I announced my presence as I stepped fully into the room, and three sets of eyes—one blue and two brown that matched my own—snapped up.
“Daddy’s home,” Summer crooned to the girls.
Serafina reached for me, and I scooped her up before placing a kiss on my wife’s cheek. “Hello, bella .”
“Thought you weren’t coming home until tomorrow?” Summer wiped her hands off on a towel.
I shrugged one shoulder. “Couldn’t stand the thought of one more night away, so cut I the trip short.”
She beamed up at me. “You won’t hear me complaining. We missed you.”
It was impossible to resist leaning in to capture her lips, and I murmured against them, “Missed you more.”
“Impossible,” she teased.
“Agree to disagree,” I countered.
“Papa! We’re making cookies!” Bianca chirped, cutting into our private moment.
I turned to my eldest daughter, matching her level of enthusiasm. “I can see that!”
Bianca pursed her little lips. “But Mommy says Cookie can’t have any.”
“No, I suppose she can’t. Human food isn’t healthy for pets.”
Because she had the attention span of a four-year-old, she asked, “Can I go play with my dolls?”
I jerked my chin toward the back stairs. “Go ahead.”
She took off like a shot, racing out of the room.
Hiking Serafina higher onto my hip, I surveyed the mess of dough on the counter. “Any of this edible?”
Summer’s laughter rolled over me. “Don’t worry. This was mostly for fun so that they could help. I have a batch already baked if you’re hungry.”
The thought of something else I was always hungry for caused blood to rush south, and I winced.
My wife eyed me with concern. “What’s wrong?” Then those blue gems widened, and her hands began to roam over my chest. “You weren’t shot again, were you?”
“No, but I do need to talk to you about something.”
Her brows drew down. “Okay . . .”
Sucking in a deep breath, I confessed, “I didn’t go on a business trip.”
Summer processed that information. “You didn’t?”
“I’ve spent the last two nights in a hotel, here in Chicago, recovering from surgery.”
“S-surgery?” she stammered. “What kind of surgery? Are you sick?”
Cupping her face, I shook my head. “Nothing like that, dolcezza . I’m fine. I had my vasectomy reversed.”
My wife stepped back suddenly. “You what?”
Peeking at Serafina, I smiled down at our seventeen-month-old, who was becoming more of a toddler than a baby by the day.
“It wasn’t fair that a decision I made alone, before I even met you, robbed you of the choice to create a family of your own.”
Nodding slowly, Summer mused, “So, you then decided to make another life-altering decision regarding our family planning without consulting me?”
I tugged on the back of my neck because, for some reason, it felt like I fucked up. “Yeah, kinda?”
“If you had asked me”—she stepped closer, running her hands up my chest before looping them around my neck—“I would have told you our family is already complete. Bianca and Serafina are all I’ll ever need.”
“Uh . . .” I stared at her, dumbstruck.
She huffed out a laugh. “It’s a damn shame, if you ask me. I really liked that you could bend me over anytime, anywhere, without worrying about having a condom.”
My eyes slammed shut as the weight of my fuck-up crashed over me.
“Oh shit, when did you get back?” Enzo’s voice sounded from nearby.
Summer lifted Serafina out of my arms. “I’ll let you two boys catch up.”
Enzo’s gaze tracked her progress as she left the room, and when it returned to meet mine, he shot me a look that was all business. “Office.”
One word, and he was moving in that direction, expecting me to trail after him like I was the one who followed his orders instead of it being the other way around.
I ran a hand through my hair. What now?
The Russians had quickly realized they were outmanned and outgunned and gone underground around the same time as Summer’s return, months ago. Those who were left alive anyway, and that number wasn’t large. I had no doubt they would rebuild, but they wouldn’t be a threat anytime soon.
Shutting the office door, I fell onto the leather couch.
“How are your balls?” Enzo snickered.
“Sore,” I muttered. “What’s so important you had to drag me away from my wife and daughters the minute I got home?”
My cousin poured himself a drink, draining the three fingers of scotch in a single swallow. “We have a problem. Commissioner Logan paid off his debt and closed his account at the casino.”
I sat up, roaring, “What?” Racking my brain, I asked, “How is that even possible? Isn’t he in a hole a little north of five hundred grand?”
“Five-fifty, to be exact,” Enzo supplied.
“Where the hell did he manage to get that kinda cash?”
This time, he took a swig straight from the bottle. “Had Nico do a little digging. There was a wire transfer from a bank in Moscow.”
“Double crossing son of a bitch,” I seethed.
“That’s not the best part.”
I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”
“The amount of the transfer was exactly six hundred thousand dollars.”
It hit me suddenly, and I shoved to my feet. “They paid him with our money!”
“Yeah . . .” Enzo grimaced. “And there’s one more thing.”
“Why do I have a feeling whatever you’re about to say is going to give me a stroke?”
“Because it very likely will. We finally were able to get some of the backup from those missing CCTV tapes from the ambush on Allegra’s SUV, the day—“
“I know what fucking day.” The words came out through clenched teeth.
“Logan was there.”
“Motherfucker!” All this time, the man responsible for my first wife’s death had been sitting inside my casino, hiding in plain sight.
“I’ve got him strung up at the warehouse by Midway. Just been waiting for you.”
I was already halfway out the door. The moment seventeen months in the making had finally arrived.
Chair legs scraped on concrete as I took a seat before the man hanging from a metal hook in the middle of an empty warehouse.
“Fancy meeting you here, Commissioner.”
The bastard looked me dead in the eye. “Our business relationship has concluded. Paid off my debt.”
I tsked. “You’re not as smart as you think you are.”
He thrashed against the chains holding his arms over his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, a smart man would have paid off their debt gradually. But instead, you decided to clear it off the books in one lump sum. Hell, that amount would have been enough to raise red flags even at a federally insured bank, because people just don’t have that kind of cash lying around.
“ I twirled my finger. “See where I’m going with this?”
“Not particularly,” he huffed, refusing to give anything away. Unfortunately for him, we already had him dead to rights.
“You see, that led to us doing a little digging. Imagine my surprise when we uncovered a wire transfer from a Russian bank totaling the exact same amount that was stolen from the casino last year.”
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“Maybe not on its own,” I conceded, rising to my feet and circling his stretched-out form.
“But then we came across a little video footage. And wouldn’t you know it”—I snapped—“that footage placed you at the scene of the crash, and subsequent shoot out, that resulted in my late wife’s life.
From the looks of it, you weren’t calling for help. No, you were in on the action.”
“It was supposed to be Gio!” he screamed.
I gripped him by the throat, watching as his face turned red. “But it wasn’t! It was a defenseless pregnant woman, you son of a bitch!”
When I released him suddenly, he sucked in gasping breaths. “I swear I didn’t know. And when I found out . . .”
“What?” I threw my arms out wide. “You suddenly felt guilty for plotting a murder? Guess I shouldn’t expect anything less from a dirty cop.”
He had the good grace to flinch when I hit the nail on the head.
Enzo stepped up to my side. “How do you want to do this?”
For over a year, I’d imagined all the ways I would torture Allegra’s killer. I pictured drawing it out for days, relishing the sound of them begging for death and not granting mercy.
Now, I had Summer in my life, the girls were happy, and our family was whole again.
There was no hard-and-fast rule that said the life we took in exchange for Allegra’s had to be his, and an idea came to mind that would cause this man agony for years to come.
Lifting my gaze, I mused, “You have a daughter, don’t you, Commissioner?”
The color drained from his face. “Y-yes.”
An evil smirk crept onto my lips. “Well, as it just so happens, Enzo is in the market for a wife. Isn’t that right, cousin?”
For an extended epilogue, featuring a new addition to the Bellini family, you can find it here .
Curious to find out about Enzo’s mystery bride? His story, Bellini Bound , comes next!
Missed out on Enzo’s sister Gemma’s story? You can catch up with her and the NHL goalie she flipped out on at the DMV in Goalie Goal.