Chapter 14 - THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE
A year after Lily walked through Adrian's gate, the blue house in Vermont finally became what it was supposed to be.
A home.
Not a safe house.
Matteo lived there part of the year.
Sofia and Lily visited often.
Adrian visited more than he'd admit.
The DeLuca organization no longer existed in the old form.
The legitimate companies survived.
Some shrank.
Some grew.
Adrian remained chairman of the hotel and construction businesses.
Matteo ran freight after independent auditors cleaned every route Victor had touched.
Sofia chaired the board committee created from her trust shares.
She hated the title.
Loved the spreadsheets.
Victor pleaded guilty to enough charges that nobody expected him home soon.
Elias Romano lost his medical license and cooperated.
Daniel Cruz went to prison.
Marco testified fully about the warehouse fire and accepted charges for his role.
That last part mattered.
Adrian had not protected him because of friendship.
Matteo had not demanded extra punishment because of anger.
Marco took responsibility.
After serving time, maybe something else would be possible.
Not forgiveness.
Something quieter.
Lily finished first grade.
She decided Adrian was “Dad” one Tuesday morning because she needed him to sign a field-trip form.
There was no ceremony.
She simply put the paper beside his coffee.
“Dad, sign this.”
Adrian stared at the word.
Lily frowned.
“It's due today.”
He signed.
Then went into his office and cried where nobody could see.
Teresa saw anyway.
Of course.
Sofia laughed when she heard.
“You terrified grown men for twenty years, but a permission slip defeated you.”
“I was ambushed.”
“Yes.”
Their relationship changed too.
Not into a sudden romance.
That would have been too simple.
They had history.
Guilt.
A child.
A brother they both loved differently.
So they moved carefully.
Shared school meetings.
Doctor appointments.
Birthday planning.
Ordinary things.
Adrian discovered Sofia hated olives.
She discovered he secretly read detective novels and pretended they were market reports.
Matteo watched them with suspicious amusement.
One evening at the lake house, Adrian found him repairing a dock.
“You're enjoying this.”
“Immensely.”
“Stop.”
“No.”
Adrian handed him a wrench.
Matteo worked for several seconds.
Then said:
“You love her.”
Adrian didn't answer.
Matteo laughed.
“You always were terrible at lying to me.”
“Does it bother you?”
That ended the teasing.
Matteo looked toward the house.
Sofia stood inside helping Lily frost cupcakes.
“I loved her.”
“Past tense?”
Matteo thought.
“Different tense.”
Adrian understood.
Some love changes without disappearing.
“She deserves a choice,” Matteo said.
“I know.”
“And Lily isn't a reason.”
“I know.”
“And if you hurt Sofia, I will become alive enough to kill you personally.”
Adrian almost smiled.
“Understood.”
Later, on the porch, Adrian asked Sofia to dinner.
Just dinner.
No guards at the table.
No business agenda.
No assumptions.
She stared at him.
“Are you asking because we have Lily?”
“No.”
“Because Matteo approves?”
“He threatened me.”
“That sounds like approval.”
Adrian smiled.
“I am asking because I would like to spend an evening with you when we're not discussing kidnappings, shell companies, or federal evidence.”
Sofia considered.
“One dinner.”
“That seems familiar.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
She smiled.
Then said yes.
Six months later, they were still having dinners.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Then Lily found an old photograph in Adrian's study.
Adrian and Sofia at the winter fundraiser seven years earlier.
She stared at it.
“You knew Mommy before me.”
“Yes.”
“Was this when you made me?”
Adrian nearly inhaled coffee.
Sofia closed her eyes.
“Lily.”
“What?”
“We are not discussing that over pancakes.”
Lily shrugged.
“Okay.”
Then she looked at Matteo.
“Did you know?”
Matteo smiled maliciously.
“Oh, I know everything.”
Adrian pointed at him.
“Leave.”
Lily laughed.
It was ordinary.
Embarrassing.
Warm.
Family.
Then Teresa entered carrying a package.
No return address.
Inside was the black onyx ring Adrian had lost six years earlier on the night of Matteo's “death.”
He stared.
“I never lost this.”
Matteo looked up.
“You gave it to Dad.”
“No.”
Adrian remembered wearing it after Salvatore died.
Then it vanished during the warehouse investigation.
Attached was a note.
SALVATORE WANTED LILY TO HAVE THIS WHEN THE TIME CAME.
Sofia frowned.
“Your father died before Lily was conceived.”
Exactly.
Adrian turned the note over.
There was another line.
IF THE GIRL EXISTS, THEN ADRIAN MADE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID.
Adrian stared.
“What mistake?”
Teresa looked suddenly guilty.
Matteo noticed.
“Oh no.”
Adrian slowly turned toward her.
“What did my father know?”
Teresa sighed.
May you like
“Apparently we still have one family secret left.”
And this one had nothing to do with Victor.
