Chapter 12 - THE RING
Luca opened the velvet box.
Inside sat a diamond ring, but it wasn’t the massive, gaudy stone he had given Vanessa.
It was a vintage, elegant sapphire surrounded by small diamonds.
“This was my mother’s,” Luca said softly. “The only piece of jewelry she truly loved. She wore it every day until she died.”
I stared at the ring, completely speechless.
“Emma,” Luca continued, his voice steady but filled with a vulnerability I had never seen in him. “You brought the light back into my house. You brought my family back to me. I don’t want to rule an empire if I’m sitting on the throne alone. I want you by my side. Will you marry me?”
Tears blurred my vision. I looked from the ring to his eyes.
This was the man everyone in Chicago feared. The ruthless boss.
But right now, he was just Luca. A man asking for a chance at a real life.
“Yes,” I whispered, throwing my arms around his neck. “Yes, I will.”
He let out a breath that sounded like a laugh, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist, spinning me in the dusty attic. When he set me down, he slid the sapphire onto my finger. It fit perfectly.
When we walked back into the main house, hand in hand, the mansion felt entirely different. It wasn’t a fortress anymore. It was a home.
Rosa was waiting in the foyer, holding Leo’s hand.
When she saw the ring on my finger, her face broke into a radiant, beautiful smile.
She walked up to us, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
She took my hand, touching the sapphire, and then she touched Luca’s cheek.
“Your mother is resting now, bambino,” Rosa said softly. “She is finally resting.”
Leo tugged on Luca’s pant leg. “Does this mean Emma is my new mom?”
Luca picked the boy up, resting him on his hip. He looked at me, his smile wider and brighter than I had ever seen it.
“Yes, Leo. It means exactly that.”
We walked into the dining room together.
There were no twelve-thousand-dollar cakes. There were no fake friends or armed guards.
There was just Rosa, Leo, Luca, and me.
May you like
We sat down at the table.
And for the first time in his life, Luca Moretti served the apple pie.
