Epilogue
SERENITY
SIX MONTHS LATER
My hand circles my round belly for the fifth time this morning. I recently learned just how often Nico visited me in Florence. He said he always talked to Madden in my womb. He does the same with this baby. Only difference is I’m not sedated when he does. That man knows no bounds.
I’m happy we’re living under one roof as a family. Twice a week after school, I take Madden to the coffee shop or the Burger Canary.
It’s our special time together. We sit and talk about his day.
Can’t believe he's graduating from kindergarten in a few months. He turns six years old on August twentieth. He’s growing up so fast already.
Madden loves hanging out with the Esposito children.
They had a blast. Just started FaceTiming each other. Like I said, growing up too fast.
Madden bites into the chocolate brownie. His nose and mouth are covered in chocolate frosting.
“Is it good?”
He shakes his head, munching away.
I laugh as I grab several napkins and wipe his face and hands clean.
“Save the rest of the brownie for later. I rather you eat the cake pop.”
He pokes his lip out. “But Mommy, it’s too good.”
I close the brownie container and place it in the bag I have set aside with treats I’ve been craving.
Best Brew ranks as my top coffee spot in town. I sweep my eyes across the café. Guests sit, engaged in conversation. Only three tables remain unoccupied. Customers occasionally look up at the bodyguards stationed at the front and back doors.
“Can I take anything away for you?” A familiar voice asks.
I look up at the man clad in a white short-sleeved shirt, tan khakis, a black Best Brew apron, and a matching black cap.
A thick black beard frames his jaw, and dark hair peeks out from under the cap
“Madden, put your headphones on?”
“Tablet time,” he replies, slipping on his headphones.
“You died years ago,” I say, stunned.
“You like my coffee shop, huh?” he asks.
“It’s not in my name, of course. It’s in a shell company name.”
His hands rest inside his apron pockets.
“Why did you fake your death?” I ask.
“We can’t talk here. We can talk in private.”
“My bodyguards won’t allow me to be alone with you.”
He lifts his left hand just a bit, exposing his fingers resting on a detonator.
Goosebumps prickle along the back of my neck. What the actual fuck?
I visibly swallow. “I’ll come with you. Leave my son.”
His brows lower. “And leave the little prince here. Absolutely not,” he says, venom lacing his words.
“Tell your security detail we’re going for a ride, or everyone dies today. Including your men outside.”
A man peeks up from his phone across the street and smirks. He flashes a row of C4 strapped to his body.
“We’re covered in the back of the building, too,” Rod confirms.
A man enters, pushing a dolly stacked with boxes. Without hesitation, he reaches into the top box, grabbing an AK-47 while simultaneously raising a detonator overhead.
“No one has to die today,” the man yells.
My bodyguards draw their weapons.
Screams erupt throughout the coffee shop.
“They’re after me!” I yell. “Hold your fire!” I command.
Reacher’s eyes widen as I take Maddens hand and rise from the booth.
Rod removes his hand fully from his apron, revealing the detonator.
“Walk out the back door and get into the van,” Rod orders.
My worst fear just came to life. I’m being kidnapped by a man who is my husband’s enemy.
Bets stands near the back door. I can see the wheels turning in his head. I shake my head silently, telling him to stand down.
Once we exit the back door. Madden and I get into the van.
Madden removes one earphone from his ear. “Mommy, where are we going?”
“For a fun ride,” I say.
One of Rod’s men slides the door closed behind Rod, who sits on the floor across from us. His finger is still poised above the button.
The man in the passenger seat tosses zip ties at me. “You know what to do,” he growls.
“Mommy, this isn’t a fun ride. They’re bad men.”
This is what happens when you’re raising a mafia boss in training. Madden has to know about the dark underworld. So he understands what danger looks like.
I zip tie his little wrists. “What makes you say that?”
“He’s got explosives,” Madden confirms.
“You let your husband turn him into a mafioso at a young age?”
“He needs to know that bad men could come after him. Like today.” I smirk as I tighten the zip ties on my wrists.
I don’t cower in front of Rod and the others. I’m not scared because my type of crazy won’t let me be in front of my enemies.
Once we’re away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Newark, Rod drops the detonator into his apron.
“Does anyone have live explosives hooked up?”
“Yes and no. Timmons, who you saw standing across the street, planned to blow the building next door if needed. Which would cause pure chaos.”
Happy there were no casualties of war today.
He waves a wand over our bodies, searching for tracking devices.
He picks up the signal in my wedding ring and Madden’s belt.
The passenger places the items in a small satchel and tosses our belongings out the window.
Probably has someone coming to pick up the items. My ring is worth too much not to cash in.
Once we reach our destination, Rod’s men shove Madden and me inside a modern warehouse on a compound. I stumble but regain my footing.
“Don’t push my mommy,” Madden yells.
“I’m okay, Madden.”
“My daddy’s going to come for you,” he warns.
I don’t want the men to hurt my son.
The two men laugh as they tie us to the two chairs in the center of the room.
“Your daddy ain’t coming for you,” the blond chuckles.
The guy standing beside me laughs harder.
“By the time your daddy finds you, you’ll be scattered across the Atlantic,” the blond barks out.
“How dare you talk to my son like that,” I bite out.
He grips my face. His thumbnails dig painfully into my skin. “Rod has no need for your children. You’re who he wants. Pretty sure he has a doctor coming to remove the baby from your stomach.”
Bile rises in my throat.
It takes everything in me not to stand in this chair, knock him to the ground, and sit on him with the legs of the chair poking into his intestines.
The men walk away.
Rod came back for me. Shit, he plans to steal me from Nico.
For years I only kept him alive because I was getting back at Nico. Not letting him take him out. Had no idea how obsessed he was with me. Turns out I should’ve let Nico kill him.
“Sweetheart, it’s so good to see you again.” Rod claps his hands as he walks toward me. He’s dressed in an expensive gray suit. His black hair combed nicely.
“Rod, I’m married to Nico.”
He leans over me, his cologne overpowering. “Why would you get pregnant by that gangster?”
“It seems you forgot, I’m a gangster, too.” I grin.
“Gangster life is over. Serenity, we’re heading far, far away—to a private island. Over the years, my partner helped me build a fortune.”
The door swings open to my right. My jaw slacks as I take in the man dressed impeccably in a navy suit. His jet-black hair is flawlessly styled.
“Well, if it isn’t my ex-girlfriend,” he mutters with bitterness.
His inky-black hair is perfectly styled.
“Well, if it isn’t my ex-girlfriend,” he says bitterly.
“Can’t say I’m happy to see you, Serenity. You invited me to your family’s home only to marry that scum of the earth, Nico Pitucco.”
“Don’t talk about my daddy.”
I cut my eyes to my son. “Madden, that’s enough. First thing you have to learn is you don’t lose your composure in front of your enemies.”
“Oh, so we’re your enemies?” Kobe asks.
I lift my chin. “I’m Serenity Pitucco. Any enemy of my husband is an enemy of mine.”
Kobe squeezes my jaw roughly. “You’re a fucking cunt.”
He releases me and spits phlegm on my cheek.
“Figures you have no respect for women. After all, you grabbed my private area roughly in my office that day.”
“You’re only job was to keep an eye on her while she was in Italy,” Rod says.
“She’s mine,” Rod growls as he takes a handkerchief and wipes my face clean.
“I told you to take the children. Sell them on the black market, for all I care.”
My stomach twists. “Rod, what happened to you?”
“Nico had no right entering the bet. You belonged to me.”
I say nothing at the moment because I can see the craziness in Kobe’s eyes. What the fuck is this guy’s problem?
“You sell children, Kobe?”
“Yes, I do. I’m the richest man in Italy. But I’m returning to the States. It’s time to wipe out the mafia on the East Coast.”
“The five families have ties all over the East Coast. They will stop you.”
I wasn’t supposed to set this motherfucker off.
Kobe crouches in front of me. “You stole everything from me.”
I stare at him, blinking. “We hadn’t known each other long. I hadn’t taken anything from you.”
His brows furrow. “You slit my brother’s throat.”
Before shock can set into my bones, he jumps to his feet and curls his hands around my throat.
Realization dawns on me. He’s Gioele Vero’s brother.
“What’s…your…real first…name, Vero?” I choke out.
Rod is pulling at his arm, trying to get him off me.
“Ignazio.”
Rod and his men finally get him to release my neck.
I cough uncontrollably. He’s Ettore’s and Gioele’s little brother. He must’ve been living in Italy since he was very young. Because we knew nothing about him.
“Cool out, Kobe,” Rod says while straightening his suit jacket.
A sick smirk plays on his lips. “Call me Ignazio. It’s time for Serenity Pitucco to die.”