Chapter 13 - THE FAMILY DINNER THAT CHANGED THE MORETTI NAME
One year after Table Twelve, the Moretti family gathered again.
Not at Aurelia.
At Marianne's Table.
No private dining room.
No security men evaluating every window.
No politicians.
Just family.
Messy, complicated, newly honest family.
Matteo sat beside Marianne.
They weren't pretending twenty-eight stolen years could disappear.
They argued.
They cried.
They went to counseling.
They learned who each other had become.
Some days were beautiful.
Others were painful.
But they had chosen to try.
Rosa came from New Jersey carrying enough cannoli for forty people.
Elena Marino sat beside Leo.
She had become part of his life as Aunt Elena.
Luca seemed lighter around her.
As though keeping Sofia's sister close kept part of Sofia alive.
Frank was absent.
He had accepted legal consequences for his role in concealing crimes and continued cooperating with investigators.
Nobody celebrated that.
Nobody erased what he had meant to them either.
Accountability, I learned, didn't require pretending love had never existed.
Victor's case moved through the courts.
The legitimate Moretti shipping businesses were restructured.
Independent directors took control.
Matteo regained his shares.
I placed mine inside a family trust that couldn't be used for criminal activity or political leverage.
Luca did the same with Leo's future inheritance.
"You're giving up control?" I asked.
"Some of it."
"Voluntarily?"
He frowned.
"Don't sound so shocked."
I laughed.
Leo toddled between tables.
He was almost two now.
He still reached for me every time I entered a room.
But now he also adored my mother.
Matteo.
Rosa.
And every kitchen employee willing to give him bread.
At the end of dinner, Luca stood.
Everyone looked at him.
He lifted his glass.
"To Sofia."
Silence.
"To Marianne."
Mom's eyes filled.
"To Matteo."
My father looked down.
"And to Avery."
I stared.
Absolutely not.
He smiled.
"The waitress who broke half our family secrets by standing still while my son grabbed her necklace."
Everyone laughed.
I covered my face.
Luca continued.
"She also taught me that family isn't something you control."
His voice softened.
"It's something you make safe enough for people to stay."
My chest tightened.
Later, after everyone left, Luca helped me stack chairs.
I stared.
"Do billionaires normally do this?"
"No."
"Good."
He smiled.
Then reached into his coat.
I narrowed my eyes.
"What?"
He handed me a small box.
Inside wasn't jewelry.
It was a restaurant key.
I frowned.
"I already have keys."
"This one is for the space upstairs."
My heart fluttered.
"What space?"
"The apartment."
I stared.
The second floor had been vacant for months.
"You bought the building?"
He shook his head.
"You did."
"What?"
He handed me documents.
My holding company had apparently completed the purchase through the financing plan Rebecca and I established.
I looked at him.
"You knew?"
"Rebecca asked whether I thought you'd panic."
"And?"
"I said definitely."
I laughed.
Then he became serious.
"The apartment is yours."
I looked down.
"Why are you telling me?"
"Because I'm hoping someday you'll let Leo and me visit."
My heart stopped.
He wasn't asking me to move into his mansion.
May you like
He wasn't offering me a place in his life.
He was asking whether there might eventually be room for him in mine.
