Chapter 8 - THE INHERITANCE
Two weeks later, the crisp Chicago autumn wind blew through the open windows of the Moretti mansion.
But I wasn't in the servants' quarters anymore.
I was sitting in the master suite, wrapped in a plush silk robe, watching little Matteo sleep in his mahogany crib.
Lily, Matteo's five-year-old daughter, was sitting on the rug, coloring a picture of a very lopsided dog.
The door opened softly, and Leonardo walked in.
He looked entirely different. The dark circles under his eyes were gone. The tension in his jaw had relaxed.
He carried a silver tray with hot tea and a plate of lemon cake.
“You remembered,” I smiled, taking a piece of the cake.
“Matteo's favorite,” Leonardo said gently, sitting on the edge of the bed. “And yours.”
He looked at Lily, then at the baby.
“Anthony has been officially disbarred and is cooperating with the feds. Richard Romano took a plea deal for twenty years. Thorne's clinic has been shut down, and the Commission has claimed all their assets.”
Leonardo took a sip of his coffee.
“Bianca's death was ruled a mob dispute. The police aren't looking any further.”
I looked down at my tea.
“It still doesn't feel real. All of this.”
Leonardo reached into his jacket pocket.
He pulled out a thick, leather-bound folder.
“It's very real, Emma. And there is one last piece of business we need to conclude.”
He handed me the folder.
“What is this?” I asked, opening it.
“Those are the finalized estate papers. I fired Anthony's entire firm and had my personal lawyers in New York draft them.”
I read the top page.
My hands began to shake.
“Leo... this says you're transferring fifty percent of the Moretti syndicate's legitimate holdings into a trust.”
“Yes.”
“Under my name.”
“You are my brother's widow,” Leonardo said firmly. “You are the mother of his children. You are the matriarch of this wing of the family now.”
“I can't accept millions of dollars, Leo. I was a waitress.”
“You are a Moretti,” he corrected gently.
He pointed to a specific document in the folder.
“But there's something else. Something Matteo bought before he died, that even I didn't know about until we audited Richard's hidden files.”
I turned the page.
It was a property deed.
For a massive farmhouse on fifty acres of land in upstate New York.
“He bought it three weeks after you got married,” Leonardo whispered. “He was planning to leave the life, Emma. He was going to take you away from Chicago.”
Tears filled my eyes.
Matteo had planned a future for us. A safe, quiet life.
“The house is yours, Emma,” Leonardo said. “It's fully renovated, fully staffed, and heavily guarded. You and the children can leave tomorrow.”
I looked at the deed. Then I looked at Leonardo.
He was smiling, but there was a deep, profound sadness in his eyes.
He was sending us away to keep us safe, but he was going to be completely alone in this massive, empty mansion.
“What about you, Leo?” I asked quietly.
He looked away.
“I have the family to run. The Commission to handle. My place is here.”
I slowly closed the folder.
I placed it on the nightstand.
“I'm not going,” I said.
Leonardo frowned. “Emma, you have to. It's safe there.”
“We are safe here,” I replied, looking him dead in the eye. “With you.”
He stared at me, completely stunned.
“You want to stay?”
“Lily needs her uncle,” I said softly. “Little Matteo needs someone to teach him how to properly run this family one day. And I... I need my family.”
Leonardo's eyes filled with tears.
He reached out and gently took my hand.
“You're sure?” he whispered.
I squeezed his fingers.
“We're not going anywhere, Leo.”
May you like
For the first time since his brother died, Leonardo Moretti truly smiled.
It was a smile of pure, unbroken peace.
