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Across the room Knox is on the phone with the authorities. The man I believe is named Sebastian sits up, and I’m glad his wound isn’t too serious.
Costi’s man enters the room with Costi’s mother.
“You’re going to pay back everything you’ve taken from the Amato’s,” Costi says to her.
Esmerelda spits in her son’s direction, and I can see the pain Costi works so hard to hide. No matter what’s going on around us, this is still his mother and I know this is hurting him.
Costi doesn’t let me go as the police arrive, and an ambulance, to help Sebastian. He’s going to pull through, the bullet only grazing his shoulder.
I meet the men with Dean, and after a while, I watch as the police take away Costi’s mother.
“Do you think they’ll keep her in jail?” I ask Costi as the police question Dean.
Costi wraps an arm around me. “Yes. They’ll also be able to get back everything she took from your father.”
I wrap my arms around Costi’s midsection. “You have a lot of faith in the police.”
He kisses the top of my head. “We’ve been after her for a while. There’s an open case on her.”
I lean back so I can stare into Costi’s dark eyes. “You have?”
He nods. “Years back, my father ran into one of Bishop’s men who mentioned a woman with the same description as my mother. We started investigating and realized she was alive. I wanted to come to you when I was eighteen, but I couldn’t do that with my mother on the loose. I’ve been chasing her, getting close for years, but never quite getting her. Until I heard Bishop wanted the Four Families’ daughters kidnapped. I knew she would pay big money for you. So I had to take you.” He gazes into my eyes, like his next words are hard for him to say. “It’s why I never contacted you. Once I caught wind my mother was alive, I was too afraid she’d come after you. I wanted to protect you.”
I lean back into him, letting him fold me into his strong arms. “You could have let me in on your plan.”
He cracks a grin. “Where’s the fun in that?”
Epilogue
Bianca
* * *
They say, ‘the key to being happy is knowing you have the power to choose what to accept and what to let go.’
I choose to let what happened to me go. Let go of the pain Costi’s mother inflicted on me since I was a little girl.
I never let her harsh words cut too deep, but there was always a lingering wound that dwelled deep within, wondering what I did wrong to make her hate me so much.
Now I know it wasn’t me at all she hated. I was just a reflection of something she couldn’t let go.
Needless to say, that was weeks ago, and Bishop Blackstone is no longer a problem.
Dead. Once and for all. Body accounted for and buried.
Now, the Four Families can get back to business. Dean fully updated us on the other three daughters, who are all alive and well:
Mia had been kept safe by Sebastian in her own unconventional kidnapping. After he recovered from a short stay in the hospital, he returned home to run the New York operation.
Ava never knew Bishop was even after her, being away on a movie set kept her busy.
Giana was captured by one of Bishop’s men, but everything worked out in the end.
“I have to be nice to this man?” my father asks, standing in the kitchen of his Miami estate.
I hug him. “Yes, Daddy. Remember, Constantine kidnapped me for my own good.”
My father scrunches up his face after he releases me from a giant bear hug. “I still think he could have told me about his plan. I was worried sick. All the manpower I wasted looking for you.”
“Well, maybe you can make him sweat a little.”
Constantine joined me in Miami to take his place at my side. To say it’s been a whirlwind of activity is an understatement.
“Gino’s not pleased,” my father reminds me.
I’d completely forgotten about the man my father wanted me to marry. I never planned on marrying him, but it still doesn’t change the fact that my father planned to turn over a sizeable portion of his business to him. He still might.
“What are we going to do about him?”
My father tugs at his chin, contemplating his next move. “I think Gino can figure it out. I wish you would have told me how he treated you earlier.”
I shrug. “It’s not important.”
Costi wraps an arm around me. “It is important. You’re important.” He kisses the top of my head and my father smiles.
“How was the move?” I ask him, changing the subject, wondering how everything went while bringing most of his possessions to Miami.
“Everything went great.” He releases his hold on me to shake my father’s hand. “Thank you for having me, sir.”
