Luca #2
"Put them on speaker," she says softly.
I hold the phone out as the kids crowd around it.
"Mommy, my room is huge but there's scary noises," Adalina says immediately.
"And monsters," Elio adds.
"I told them it's just trees," Rocco interjects, clearly wanting to appear brave.
Elena's laugh flows through the speaker and it strangely lessens the tension I’m feeling.
I guess I expected her to demand I bring them home for failing them.
"Well, old houses do make funny sounds, don't they? But you know what I always tell you about shadows…"
"They can't hurt you," the triplets recite in unison.
"That's right. And you're extra-safe because your dad is there."
I feel a surge of gratitude at her words.
She could have easily undermined me, but instead she's reinforcing their trust in me.
"Now, close your eyes and imagine you're floating on clouds," Elena continues, her voice dropping to a soothing cadence. "Soft, fluffy clouds that carry you up, up into the stars…"
“There are stars on my ceiling,” Adalina says with a voice growing soft with sleep.
Elena continues her gentle visualization, weaving a world of safety and comfort with just her voice.
The kids’ eyelids grow heavy, small bodies relaxing into the mattress. Within minutes, all three are breathing deeply, faces peaceful in sleep.
"They're out," I whisper into the phone, carefully extracting myself from the tangle of small limbs.
"They'll sleep through now."
"Elena…" I step into the hallway, lowering my voice further. "Thank you. For helping. For…"
For not making me feel like the failure I am, I want to say.
“Of course. Despite everything, I want this for them. For all of you.”
It’s difficult to believe considering the great lengths she went through to keep them from me, but I don’t say that.
“Luca?”
“Yeah.”
“I… ah… I want to let you know that the FBI agent approached me tonight. At the grocery store after I left your place."
My blood turns to ice, then immediately boils. "What did you tell him?"
"Nothing, but Luca, he knows about the kids being yours."
"What the fuck, Elena?" I hiss, moving farther down the hall. "You went to the FBI about this?” For a minute, I truly felt like we’d be able to navigate co-parenting without fighting.
“No! I didn't tell him anything!" Her voice rises defensively. "He already knew. That's what I'm trying to tell you."
I press my palm to my forehead, trying to calm the rage coursing through me. "You'd better not be playing games with me.”
“God, Luca… Blackwood approached me, offering to 'help' me keep custody. Said he could get us away from the 'mafia life'.”
I remind myself that this isn’t the first time Blackwood has reached out to members of La Corona.
Or important women in the families.
"How would he even know about the kids being mine?"
Elena hesitates, and I can practically hear her weighing how much to tell me. “I told Dom.”
“He wouldn’t tell the FBI, though, would he?” I’m not surprised she told Dom, although it’s none of his business.
He is her Don and has taken care of her and the kids.
But it doesn’t make sense for him to go to the FBI unless he made a deal to leave him alone in exchange for handing them me.
Still, that doesn’t sound like Dom.
“Giovani Sarto knows. I don’t know if Dom told him or he overheard me.”
“Mother fucker!” I glance back at the bedroom door, worried I just woke the kids up. “Your father suspected him of helping your uncle. He’s probably involved in your father’s murder.”
If he wanted to get back at me, snitching to the FBI would be a way to do it.
But my being Elena’s children’s father doesn’t hurt me legally.
And Gio would know more incriminating information about La Corona than she would. I’m not sure what Gio’s game is here.
"What exactly did Blackwood offer you?" I ask.
"A new identity. New start." Elena's voice is tired. "He said he could make sure I kept full custody and that you'd never find us."
The thought of my children disappearing, of losing them just when I've found them, sends a primal rage through me. I really want to kill Blackwood.
"And you turned him down," I say, needing to hear her say it.
"Of course I did." Her voice sharpens with indignation. "I told him that's not what I want."
I lean against the wall. "What do you want, Elena?"
The silence stretches between us, filled with seven years of misunderstandings and pain.
"What I want," she finally says, "I can't have. I can't undo the past. I can't give you those years with the children. I can't erase the hurt I've caused you."
I close my eyes, my loss crushing my chest like an anvil.
"But at the very least," she continues, "I want our children to have their father. I want them to know you, to be loved by you. I want them safe from men like Blackwood who would use them as leverage."
Her words are a balm. Not a complete healing, but a start.
"I've spent years keeping them from you out of fear," she admits. "I won't make that mistake again. Whatever happens between us, I'm committed to your being their father."
I glance back at the bedroom door, thinking of the three small bodies curled up in my bed, trusting me to keep them safe.
"Thank you.”
Through the crack in the door, I can see Adalina clutching her rabbit, snuggled close to her brothers.
"We'll figure this out," I promise Elena. I don’t know how. I don’t know where we’ll end up.
But for their sake, I’ll find a way to make all this work.