The Don Who Denied His Own Son

My father answered on the first ring.

He did not ask why I was finally calling after seven years. He only heard my voice, breathed once, and said, "Where are you? I will send a plane."

I asked for two days.

Luca's fifth birthday was coming. Nico had promised him cake, candles, and a red toy Ferrari, and my son still believed his father kept promises. I wanted him to leave Boston without wondering if we had given up too soon.

That night, Luca slept curled against me with last year's toy car in his hand. "Papa, you promised," he murmured in his sleep, and I pressed my lips to his hair so he would not hear me cry.

Before dawn, Franca Varrone sent a car for us.

Nico's mother had never liked me. To her, I was some pretty nobody who had trapped her son before he understood what the Varrone name could become. She disliked Luca even more, because loving him meant admitting Nico had chosen me first.

Luca did not know any of that. When I dressed him, his face lit up. "Is Papa taking us home?"

I buttoned his coat and forced a smile. "We will see."

The main house was full when we arrived. Captains, cousins, lawyers, and polished women in black dresses stood beneath the chandeliers, all watching us like we had come in through the servants' door.

Nico stood beside Serena with one hand at her back. He had not come home all night, but he looked rested. Serena looked radiant.

Franca lifted her champagne glass. "Serena is expecting. In accordance with Enzo's will and the family's agreement, Nico will take over as Don of the Varrone family. Serena's child will be recognized as the legitimate heir, and the two of them will hold a public commitment ceremony soon."

Applause filled the room.

Nico touched Serena's stomach and smiled. "I am finally going to be a father."

Luca's fingers tightened around mine. "Mommy," he whispered, "am I not Papa's child?"

The room fell silent. Then the whispers began.

"An illegitimate son?"

"A nobody's brat trying to steal the heir's place?"

"If people hear Don Varrone has a bastard before the ceremony, the family's name will be dragged through the gutter."

Franca looked at my son with cold disgust. "From now on, the boy is an orphan Nico took in out of pity. As for Valentina, she can stay as his caretaker if she behaves."

Luca's mouth trembled. "I am not an orphan. I have a mommy and a papa."

Nico took one step toward us. "Ma, that is too much."

Serena touched his arm, and he stopped. After a few seconds, he looked away. "Fine. We will do it your way."

Something inside me went quiet. I bent down and wiped Luca's tears. "Baby, do not call him Papa anymore."

Nico stared at me as if I had slapped him. He knew Luca was the only reason I had stayed. He knew he had promised my son a name.

Serena stepped forward before he could speak. "Since we are making things clear, you should return the Varrone ring. It belongs on the woman who will stand beside the Don."

So that was why they had dragged us here. They wanted an audience.

I looked at Nico. "Is that what you want too?"

The ring had been the first thing he gave me. He had slid it onto my finger in a cheap motel outside Rome and told me it meant his name, his life, and his future were mine.

Now he avoided my eyes. "Val, it is just a ring."

"Then it should be easy to give up."

I pulled it off and placed it in Serena's waiting palm. She put it on at once, smiling like she had won a crown.

I smiled back. "It suits you better."

Nico's face changed, but I had already taken Luca's hand and walked out.