Chapter 44
The Answer
LaSalle
Eight months later …
My gaze moves around the room, and a smile comes to my lips. This peace and happiness was hard won, but I wouldn’t change anything that has happened in the last eight months.
Everyone has found their normal and their happiness. Were there losses? Yes, that seems to be unavoidable.
However, we have been there for our family. Family … Logan, Uri, and Misha have become more like my brothers than my friends or business partners. What happened after that fake wedding could only happen with the support and understanding of family.
Tonight, we celebrate as a unit. Cole and Deja deserve this. In two days, they will be getting married for real. No enemies plotting and threatening their happiness and no more threats against our sons.
Most of all, everything is out in the open. No more secrets. No more lies.
Sammy was right to stick to his instincts. Lovie has gained all our respect on a new level. The Bellas have proved they can bend, but they are never to be broken.
“Aye, come have a drink with me.” Logan comes over with a grin on his face and a bottle in his hand.
“I thought you weren’t going to drink too much tonight. What happened?”
“Ach, apparently our wedding wasn’t enough. She wants another wedding.”
I roar with laughter. “You already caved, didn’t you?”
“Aye, she and your wife are going to start planning when we get back to New York. They have my black card.”
“Da, I think they planned this,” Misha grumbles as he comes over with a bottle of vodka in his hand.
“Ach, wouldn’t put it past any of them.”
Misha snorts. “Milanie want to be flower girl. How can I tell them both no?”
I laugh. “A house in New York and a wedding—sounds like your wife has you by the balls.”
“Aye, that she does,” Logan chuckles.
“Da, laugh now. When she wants to shop, whose wives will she call?”
I shrug. “I let my wife shop. I love the fashion shows I get after. I never complain.”
“Aye, this is true. After what they have done for the Alliance, I wouldn’t deny her a thing. Ach, I’m looking forward to our wedding.”
“Da, I didn’t do enough first time. I owe her more,” Misha says thoughtfully.
“Aye, from what I heard, you’re lucky she’s married to ya at all,” Logan laughs.
I turn and move for the table we were sitting at earlier. “Come, let’s toast,” I call over my shoulder.
Uri and Micheal appear and have a seat with us. Not even a full minute later, Czar, Vlad, and Alexei join us as well. Lively banter surrounds the table and my heart swells.
We were put to the test and made it out of the fire, not even smelling of smoke. My smile widens when my son comes over and takes a seat beside me. Sammy is the sharpest dressed twelve-year-old I know. His tailored three-piece suit looks good on him.
The kid has his own personal tailor now. I shake my head as that thought enters my head. Val has designed a shoe collection just for him.
The S-Locatelli does well too. I’m proud of my boy. I’m proud of all my sons.
Paulie has gotten better. However, I know it’s only because he’s gotten wiser and doesn’t allow himself to get caught. I’m not going to punish him for being smart.
At this point, I can only teach him right from wrong and hope someday he grows into an honorable man. My daughters amaze me each day as well. I’m a very proud father.
There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t think about my youngest, Lucia.
I wish I had more time with her. As my heart begins to ache, I wrap an arm around Sammy’s shoulders and tug him into me. He looks up at me and gives me a smile. I tighten my hold and smile back down at him.
“Are you having fun?”
“Yeah, I’m having a great time. All my family is happy and safe. You can relax, Dad. I’ve got it from here.”
I wink at him and chuckle as his words sink in. Something deep within tells me I can hold on to his words. I kiss the top of his head then give him a tighter squeeze.
When I look up, I find my wife on the dance floor having a good time with a smile on her face. This is what I do it all for. My family is everything to me.
Tasha
Have you ever been so happy, having such a good time you don’t want to sit down, even though your feet hurt? That’s me as I’m out on this dance floor with my girls.
Deja looks so happy, and Brooklyn looks over the moon. This isn’t even the wedding, but the knowledge that business has been handled and we can finally close that door is what has everyone in such a good mood.
The DJ begins to blend “Crush On You” by Lil’ Kim and Lil’ Cease into “Before I Let Go” by Maze and Frankie Beverly and the crew goes wild. Joe and Cass come right back to the dance floor, only having walked off a moment ago.
Val has Uri in her arms and Misha is even out here with his wife as he smiles down at her. I nod to myself. My friend is going to be okay.
We’ve got him. I look at my brother as he dances with his wife and baby boy in his arms. My heart is so full for him.
I get choked up as I think of how we almost lost him. Czar is always there for me and my family. Finding out how he fit into all the secrets didn’t surprise me as much as I thought it would.
That’s classic Czar. I’m just happy he’s getting a happy ending. Not how he wanted or when. Heck, not even what he wanted, but in the end, he got what was best for him and what he needed.
Looking around, my gaze falls on Sammy watching Brooklyn and Deja. I lock in on the look on his face. His brows are drawn, and his expression is perplexed.
His gaze seems to then find Joe and Cass, and then, after a moment, he turns to Val and Uri. Lastly, he zones in on me as his father walks up behind me and wraps me in his embrace, burying his face in my neck.
The look on his face doesn’t seem to change. It’s not the look he has when he’s in a vision. It’s more like the focus he has when he’s locked in and observing.
This is his look for when he’s learning. I look back to the scene on the dance floor as LaSalle sways me in his arms. Tilting my head to the side, I take it in as a twelve-year-old boy would. Ellen’s words from the letter Sammy let me and LaSalle read last year come back to me.
Stop worrying about whether your deeds will make you unworthy of love. Look around you.
Then there were Sammy’s own words to me once LaSalle left the room that day. My brain was already overloaded with everything, so I didn’t process them fully in the moment. He looked me in the eyes with his soft-spoken words.
“Mo-mo, I saw something else about my life.”
“What was that, baby?” I had asked.
“I saw my wife. I mean, I saw her silhouette standing by me. I haven’t seen her face, but I’ve seen her.
“I have to get this right for her. She will be important to me. I breathe because of her.
“I can’t fail her because I know she will never fail me. I don’t know who she is yet, but I already know I want to keep her safe. I will train harder, and I’ll be more focused.
“I will learn … I will learn to be … I don’t want her to feel like my gift or what I need to do is more important than her. She is my peace.”
Oh my God. He needs more from us than to learn how to be a killer. He needs to understand love—how to love and how it’s received.
That’s what my baby needs from me. Not my instinct to kill but my heart to love. Sammy needs to understand both sides of the coin.
This I can do. Even Misha can give him this. We’re all lethal, but we’re all fierce lovers. I know exactly how LaSalle and I can help our son.
What he needs is already surrounding him. “Thank you, Ellen. I’ve got him from here,” I whisper.