Elena
I stand frozen, heart hammering as Luca demands answers. I’m stunned that he knows.
Even as I knew this day was coming, I have no response.
"How did you find out?"
"How did I—" Luca's laugh is bitter. "That's what matters to you? Not that you kept my children from me for six years?"
My legs feel unsteady. “I should have told you.”
"Then why didn’t you? Did you hate me that much?"
"I never hated you." I press my palm against my forehead, trying to organize the thoughts spinning through my mind. "I was afraid."
"Of me?" The hurt in his voice is unbearable.
"Of everything." I meet his gaze directly, although it’s difficult to do.
"My father was arrested, then murdered in prison.
Dom's father made it clear your family was responsible.
What was I supposed to do when I found out I was pregnant?
Run to the Montis, the very family Uncle Aldo wanted vengeance on? "
“Yes! I would have protected you."
"Like you protected my father?" The words slip out before I can stop them, and I immediately regret them. "I'm sorry. That's not fair."
"No, it's not." His jaw tightens. "I loved your father. I loved you. I would have moved heaven and earth for our children."
Our children. My heart is shattering.
“You were in Italy.”
“For fuck’s sake, Elena. I would have come home. Or my father would have helped you come to me.”
I shake my head. “You talk like I could waltz into the Monti home. Do you think your family wouldn’t be suspicious of me? It’s not like they knew about us. And what do you think Uncle Aldo would have done if he knew I was carrying Monti heirs?"
Understanding flickers across Luca's face, but the anger doesn't fade.
"I did what I thought was right to keep us all safe, most of all the kids. Maybe I was wrong, but I was alone and terrified. I still am."
"Mommy? Are you fighting?" Rocco's voice cuts through the tension as he bursts into the living room, his siblings trailing behind him.
Three pairs of eyes stare up at us with innocent concern.
My heart seizes in my chest as I watch Luca take them in with new awareness.
The awe, the love in his eyes is all that I would have wanted, even as it brings on more shame.
"We're just having a grown-up talk." I force a smile that feels like it might crack my face.
Luca softens, his anger receding as he kneels down to the children’s level. "Your mom and I have some important things to discuss. There’s nothing for you to worry about."
Adalina tilts her head. "You look mad."
"I was a little upset," Luca admits, and I'm struck by his honesty with them. "But I'm okay now."
"When I get mad, Mommy says to count to ten," Elio offers helpfully.
A ghost of a smile crosses Luca's face. "That's good advice."
"Why don't you three go play in your room for a bit?" I suggest. "We need to finish our conversation."
"Can you come play with us after?" Rocco asks Luca hopefully.
Luca glances up at me, and I see a quiet assertion of rights I've denied him for years. “Yes, I’ll come play.”
As the children scamper off and I turn my attention back to him, I realize that the man standing in front of me isn’t just Luca, the man I loved, the father of my children, but now he’s Don Monti, with all the power and influence that entails.
He could take my children.
"They're beautiful," he says, watching them leave.
He turns his attention back to me. "They're mine. And you kept them from me."
The hurt in his voice is palpable, but there's something else there now.
Resolve.
He won’t be denied any longer, and what that could mean for me terrifies me.
"They need to know the truth," he says. "I am their father, and I want them to know it."
"Luca, please." I will my panic not to consume me. "We can't just spring this on them. They need time—"
"Time?" He scoffs. "You've had six years of time, Elena. Six years you stole from me, from them."
"That's not fair," I say, even though I know it is. "I was protecting them."
"From what? From knowing their father loves them?" His eyes flash with hurt and determination. "I'm done waiting. I want to be their father in name, in presence, in everything. I want partial custody."
The room seems to tilt beneath my feet. "Custody?"
"Yes, custody." His voice is steel now, the voice of Don Monti making a decree. "And if we can't come to an agreement, I'll pursue legal action."
My blood turns to ice. Gabriella, a lawyer, will probably help him.
The Monti family has unlimited resources, connections in every courthouse.
Dom has taken care of me, but will he want to fight against the Montis?
"You can't do this.” I’m about to drop to my knees to beg. "They barely know you."
"And whose fault is that?" He steps closer, towering over me.
"Luca, you can't take my children from me." My voice breaks. "They're everything I have."
"But it was okay for you to take my children from me?" His words are quiet but cut deeper than any shout. "I didn't even know they existed, Elena. I missed their birth, their first steps, their first words. Everything. And you want me to feel sympathy for you when I’m asking to be a father?”
Every word he speaks brings home just how cruel and selfish I’ve been, even as I feel justified in protecting them.
"I'm sorry."
His jaw is tight, his eyes like steel as he studies me for a moment. "Sorry doesn't give me back those years, but I'm not here to punish you. I'm here for them.”
"Please, Luca. Try to understand what I was facing. Aldo terrified me, he terrified everyone. You know he did. After you left, he wanted to hurt you. He had his men looking for anyone he could use as a pawn against you. I think he killed my father, and so I know he’d have no qualms over killing me or the kids. Surely, you see that.”
His expression remains hard, unmoved by my tears. "Aldo's been dead for years, Elena."
I wrap my arms around myself, unable to meet his gaze.
"I've been coming home every Christmas," he continues. "I've been back permanently for a year. I've spent the last few weeks with you and the children, and still you said nothing. Not a word."
"I wanted to tell you," I whisper, knowing how hollow it sounds.
"When? You spent every Christmas I was home like I was a leper.
And now I know why." He shakes his head.
"I never really knew you, did I? How could I have loved a woman who would do this?
" His hands clench into fists at his sides.
"I was falling for you all over again. I was imagining building a life with you, adopting your children as my own. "
I’m losing here but desperate to find a way to make him understand.
"And all this time," he continues, "you were letting me believe a lie, passing my own flesh and blood off as someone else's children."
“Luca… truly… I was terrified. Even now, there are men loyal to Uncle Aldo.” I step closer, desperate to make him understand. "There are still men loyal to him. Men who hate you. One of them just told me how they’d like to kill you if only Dom would allow it.”
“You think I can’t deal with Gio Sarta or Freddo DiMato?”
The fact that he can name men who might want him dead surprises me.
Perhaps I’ve underestimated how much Luca knows about my uncle and what happened with my father.
“You think I’m still some punk ass kid.” He leans closer to me. “I’ve killed younger, stronger men who had the desire to see me dead more than them. And if you think I’d let them get anywhere near those kids, then you don’t know me at all.”
He shakes his head. "If the Vitale men are a threat to my children, then perhaps they shouldn't be here at all."
My blood turns to ice. "What are you saying?"
"I have a beautiful home in Italy, a huge yard for kids to run. Security better than Fort Knox." His voice is dangerously calm. "If I need to worry about my children's safety from Vitale men, I'll take them to Italy."
"You can't!" Oh, God, he’s going to take them from me. "You can't just take them away from everything they know."
“Let me get this straight. For their safety, you’re willing to lie and deny me my children, but I can’t protect them by taking them away from danger? Do you hear how pathetically hypocritical and selfish you are?”
“Luca—"
"I won't let anyone hurt what's mine." His voice drops to a whisper that sends terror coursing through my blood. "Not Aldo's men. Not even you."
"They're American citizens," I argue desperately. "You can't just—"
"I'm Don Monti now." The finality in his voice silences me. "There's very little I can't do."
The truth of his words is something I can’t deny. He holds all the power and I know it.
"Please," I whisper, my final defense. "They need me."
For a moment, something like the old Luca flickers in his eyes. "Then we figure this out together. But make no mistake, those children will know who their father is, and no one will threaten them again."
Tears spill down my cheeks, but I make no move to wipe them away. I've earned this pain.
"What do you want to do?"
"I want to be their father in every way that matters." His jaw sets with determination. "I want them to know who I am, where they come from. I want time with them, holidays, weekends."
"And me?" The question slips out before I can stop it.
His eyes meet mine, and for a moment, I see a flicker of the love that was there before, but it’s gone quickly, buried beneath layers of hurt and betrayal.
"Whatever was growing between us is gone," he finally says, confirming my worst fears. "I can't trust you, Elena. I don't know if I ever will again."
I’ve felt pain in the past, but what I feel now is an anguish made worse knowing that I brought it on myself.
Why had all my justifications made sense at the time?
Why didn’t I trust Luca to take care of me and the kids?
"You're their mother," he says simply. "We'll figure out how to co-parent. But anything more than that…" He shakes his head. "I don't see how."
The finality in his voice breaks something inside me. I've lost him, truly lost him, and I have no one to blame but myself.
"You need to tell them the truth now," Luca says, his voice leaving no room for argument. "Then I'm going to play with them as promised. And shortly, if they're comfortable with it, I'll have them over to my house."
The walls seem to close in around me.
Everything is happening too fast.
My world crumbles around me.
Desperate to hold onto something, I blurt, "And what happens when you get bored of playing Daddy? When La Corona business takes precedence?"
The minute the words leave my mouth, I know I’ve made a mistake.
If things weren’t over between us already, they would be now.
“Don’t ever question what I would do for my family. And let me be clear, Elena, in case you get any ideas, if you try to take them again or decide to send Vitale men after me, there will be problems."
My mouth falls open in shock. "Send men after you? You think I'd try to have you killed?"
"You've kept my children from me for six years," he says flatly. "I don't know what you're capable of anymore."
I stare at him in shock and indignation. "I should be more afraid of that from you, Don Monti. You're the one with an army at your disposal."
Luca's eyes flash, not with anger but a deep, wounded disappointment that surprises me. "That comment is proof again that you never really knew how much I loved you. I would have died for you, Elena. For them."
For the first time, I truly see what I've done. I’ve not just kept the children from their father, but I betrayed the love of a good man who would have protected us with his life.
"I’m sorry." The words are inadequate, but they’re all I can think of to say now.
“Let’s talk to the kids.”
My legs feel like lead as we walk down the hallway to the kids' room.
What are they going to think when they learn the truth?
Will they be angry with me?
Hate me?
Want to go live with Luca full-time?
The triplets are playing on the floor with their Lego sets, building what looks like a castle with a moat. They look up when we enter.
"Are you done talking?" Rocco asks, already scrambling to his feet. "Can you play now?"
I sink to my knees on the carpet, motioning for them to gather around me.
Luca kneels beside me, close enough that I can feel the warmth radiating from him, but not touching.
"I need to tell you something very important," I begin. "Something I should have told you a long time ago."
Adalina's brow furrows. "Are we in trouble?"
"No, sweetheart, not at all." I take a deep breath. "It's about your daddy."
Three pairs of eyes widen simultaneously. We've had this conversation before, why they don't have a daddy when other kids do. I've always told them their father lived far away and couldn't be with us.
"Your daddy isn't far away anymore," I continue, my throat tight. "He's right here."
I gesture to Luca, whose eyes were so filled with anger and hurt moments ago and are now filled with love and hope.
Elio looks between us, confused. "He’s our daddy?"
Luca nods. "Yes, I am."
“Where’ve you been?” Rocco demands, his little face scrunched in confusion.
"That's my fault," I admit. "Your daddy didn't know about you. He was living in Italy, and I… I didn't tell him."
"Why not?" Adalina asks.
"It's complicated, sweetheart," I say, not ready to burden them with the full truth. "But what matters is that he knows now, and he's here."
Luca reaches out, his hands gentle as he takes one of theirs in each of his. "I've missed so much of your lives already. But if you'll let me, I want to be your dad now. I want to know everything about you, to watch you grow up, to love you the way I've always wanted to."
For a moment, the room is silent.
I’m holding my breath and as I look over at Luca, I see he is too.
He’s worried they’ll reject him, I realize, and the guilt I didn’t think could get any worse does.
Then Adalina launches herself into Luca's arms, followed quickly by her brothers. Luca's arms wrap around them, holding them close as tears fill his eyes.
I watch them, my heart breaking and healing all at once.
I’m not sure the young, scared woman I was seven years ago would have changed anything I did back then.
But I know now that I should have done something, said something sooner.
I’ve lost Luca’s love and trust forever, but the wrong I did is now right.
Luca has children, and my children have their father.
That will have to be enough.