Chapter 14 - THE FATHER WHO NEVER STOPPED LOVING ME
I ran into my father's arms.
For nine years, I'd believed he was dead.
Now he held me so tightly I could barely breathe.
“Daddy.”
My voice broke.
He buried his face against my hair.
“My beautiful Naomi.”
I began sobbing.
“I thought you were gone.”
“I know.”
His voice trembled.
“I tried to come back.”
“Why didn't you?”
He pulled away.
Tears filled his eyes.
“Because they threatened you.”
I shook my head.
“You should have told me.”
“I know.”
He began crying.
“I was wrong to let you believe I died.”
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then I whispered:
“Mom never stopped loving you.”
His face crumpled.
“She was the bravest woman I ever knew.”
I nodded.
“She died two years ago.”
He closed his eyes.
“I know.”
My breath caught.
“You knew?”
He nodded.
“Someone sent me the notice. I couldn't attend the funeral without risking exposure.”
I began crying harder.
For years, I'd thought grief was something I had to carry alone.
Now I understood that my father had been grieving too.
We sat together for hours.
He told me about the red door.
About Isabella.
About Gabriel.
About the night he carried me through the rain.
He explained that I'd been present when Antonio's men attempted to remove Gabriel from the household.
My father had taken me away and hidden the evidence inside the music box.
He'd hoped the information would eventually protect us.
But Antonio discovered what had happened.
And everything changed.
The threats.
The false death.
The years of hiding.
I listened carefully.
Then asked the question I'd been afraid to hear.
“Did you ever regret helping them?”
Dad shook his head.
“Never.”
“Even after everything you lost?”
He took my hand.
“Naomi, protecting a child is never something to regret.”
I looked toward the garden.
Gabriel stood beside Matteo.
Isabella watched them from her wheelchair.
For the first time, the Marino family looked like a family.
Not an empire.
Not a criminal organization.
Just people who had lost years together and were trying to find their way back.
Later that evening, Matteo joined me outside.
“Everything okay?”
I nodded.
“I think so.”
He smiled.
“Good.”
We stood in silence.
Then I looked at him.
“Matteo, what happens now?”
He considered the question.
“I don't know everything.”
That surprised me.
The man who once controlled every room had finally learned to admit uncertainty.
He continued.
“But I know what I want.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“To build something that doesn't depend on fear.”
I smiled.
“That sounds difficult.”
“It is.”
He looked toward the garden.
“But worth doing.”
Then he turned back to me.
“Naomi, there's something else.”
My heart skipped.
“What?”
He reached into his jacket.
For one brief moment, I wondered whether he was about to hand me another document.
Another secret.
Another piece of evidence.
Instead, he removed a small velvet box.
I froze.
“Matteo…”
He smiled nervously.
“Not what you think.”
I laughed.
“Good, because we've barely been on one real date.”
He laughed too.
Then he opened the box.
Inside was a delicate silver necklace.
A tiny rose-shaped pendant hung from the chain.
“My mother asked me to give you this.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Why?”
“Because your father protected her sons.”
He placed the box in my hands.
“And because you helped bring our family back together.”
I swallowed.
Then Matteo added something I hadn't expected.
“Naomi, when you're ready, I'd like to take you to dinner.”
I smiled.
“A real dinner?”
“Yes.”
“No bodyguards staring at me?”
He hesitated.
“Maybe one outside.”
I laughed.
“Matteo!”
He smiled.
“All right. Discreet security.”
I shook my head, still laughing.
Then I looked into his eyes.
“Dinner sounds nice.”
May you like
His smile softened.
And for the first time, I realized that the most feared man in New York might be someone I could learn to love.
