Epilogue
LUCA
Papà signed the last of the documents that transferred his empire to me. He shoved the papers and pen away, then stood up, not entirely at peace with his decision.
“I’m proud of you,” he murmured. “Your mother informs me I don’t say that enough.” My head jerked up so I could meet his eyes. “I fucked up with Ginevra, and I fucked up with Sofia, and I suppose I fucked up with you too.”
I’d waited my entire life to hear those words from him, and now that I had, I didn’t know what to say.
When I didn’t say anything, he shoved the pen at me. “Take control of your empire, son.”
A gentle hand in the small of my back jolted me back to the present, Ana’s sweet scent filling me with love and longing. I scribbled my name before turning to the next stack of documents, signing over both the Costa and Russo empires to Ana.
My wife.
Her round belly made bending over the desk harder than expected, until Angelo shoved a chair under her.
Our polycule was already so tangled up legally we’d never get free from one another, exactly how we wanted it. But this? This was Ana’s, and we weren’t going to touch her legacy without her permission.
She reached for the documents and signed them, one by one, accepting responsibility for both empires and merging them into one.
“Wife,” I rasped, when she was done. “Congratulations.”
Angelo was less restrained, sweeping her up into his arms and peppering her face with kisses that quickly turned into a steamy kiss that had Valentin and I rapt and everyone else in the room profoundly uncomfortable.
“And now the third set,” she said.
Olivia Gaines, the lawyer who’d served my family faithfully for years, shoved a stack of papers in front of Ana, and she quickly signed.
“Trusts,” she said, when my father narrowed his eyes at her. “For our future children. So they’re never dependent on the goodwill of a parent for their financial survival.”
My father’s eyes widened slightly. She passed the stack to me, and I signed then moved away, ceding my place to Angelo, who did the same. Valentin took his place beside her and signed, then nuzzled his nose in her hair.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to seeing this imposing man melt for our wife.
“Our children deserve better than we got,” Valentin said softly.
Tony Russo nodded sharply. “On that, at least, we can agree.”
He moved away from the desk and offered his arm to his wife, whose expression softened as he moved toward her.
“Congratulations,” she said.
He grunted, but already his shoulders were higher and his step bounced, where it’d fallen like lead before.
“I’m looking forward to retirement,” he said, taking her hand from his elbow so he could wrap his arm around her waist and draw her to him in the easiest affection I’d ever seen from him.
The lawyers and onlookers slowly made their way out of his study, leaving only Ana, Angelo, Valentin, and myself behind.
I poured three glasses of whiskey, plus a glass of sparkling water for Ana.
She watched with love in her eyes as I handed my family their glasses.
“To the future,” she said, raising hers.
“To the future,” we repeated.
And it was so fucking bright, I couldn’t wait.