Mafia Betrayal

Chapter Fifty Nine

Luca

When Charlotte and I pulled up in front of the estate, I ran around the side of the car to help her before she could step out on her own. She got out of the hospital two days ago, and we were flying home later this afternoon, but I was still cautious. Her body had gone through a lot, and even though she was improving, it would take weeks to get back to her full strength.

Her comfort and safest was always on my mind, but now with the pregnancy, I was even more on edge.

"Here, let me help you with that." I offered her my hand, and she reluctantly took it.

"Luca," she sighed. "I can walk, okay? I feel completely fine and..."

Leaning down, I cut her off with a hungry kiss. "I know. And I'm not trying to help because I think you're incapable. I'm doing it because I didn't get to the first time, and I want to spoil you every second of this pregnancy. Humor me, okay?"

When her eyes met mine, she gave me a silly little smirk. "I'll try. Where are we, anyway? Aren't we going to miss our flight?"

"Babe, it's a private jet. It leaves whenever we want it to." I led her along the cobblestone to the front door. "I wanted to show you something before we left. I don't know when we'll get back here and it's important."

"Okay..."

I slipped the key into the front door and led her through. Stepping inside was like a Time Machine. Everything looked and smelled as I remembered it, like it did when I was a child, running through these halls and sliding down these banisters. Like it did when Charlotte was doing the same. "This is the Romano Estate. It's where you spent the first five years of your life. Technically, where we met for the first time."

Charlotte's eyes widened as she spun around, taking it all in. "You're... it's..."

I was silent, letting her process.

"This place is incredible." Her voice was hardly above a whisper.

It really was, and time away only made it more so. The dark marble floors, the towering ceilings, the enormous windows that overlooked the expansive property. It had eighteen bedrooms and twice as many bathrooms, a state-of-the-art theater, cigar room, library, and the kitchen was like something out of a fairytale. The entire house was built around its centuries old brick oven. It felt strange that it was so quiet. Most times, these halls were flooded with people, but today, it was completely empty.

With Antonio gone, deciding what happened to it would fall on Seth and Gabe's shoulders. A lot would fall to them, and the next few months would be rough as we tried to sort through it all.

I followed a few steps behind Charlotte, letting her explore as she wanted. She was quiet as she walked from room to room, lost in her own thoughts. I was dying to know if she remembered any of this or if it all felt new to her. When we walked through just about every square inch of the house, I took her hand, leading her out through the back kitchen door and to a small courtyard.

When I imagined bringing Charlotte back here, this was the moment I thought about. There was a stone bench, and when we sat down on it, I watched her expression as her eyes landed on the door.

"My painting." She whispered, tears pooling in her eyes.

I nodded. "It was always a real place, just buried deep in your mind. You probably played in this courtyard a thousand times as a little girl."

A smile pulled at her lips. "Wow. This is... so cool. Thank you for bringing me."

"Absolutely." I brushed my lips across the back of her hand. "I wanted you to see the thing that brought us together, although it wasn't just your painting that caught my attention that night."