THE MAFIA BOSS'S BABY REACHED FOR A TERRIFIED WAITRESS—THEN THE MAN WHO FEARED NOTHING SAW THE NECKLACE HIS MISSING WIFE HAD BEEN WEARING

Chapter 18 - The Restaurant Where Everything Began

One year after the dinner-room confrontation, the restaurant invited Sophie back as a guest. She almost declined. The memory of the screaming baby, the armed guards, and the terror in Luca's eyes still visited her at unexpected moments.

Elena encouraged her to go. "This time you get to sit down."

Sophie arrived wearing a navy dress she'd bought with her first manager's paycheck. Brenda greeted her with a hug. Luca and Elena were already at a table with Gabriel, who was now walking unsteadily beside his father's chair.

He recognized Sophie before she reached them and called, "So-fee!"

She laughed. "Close enough, little guy."

Luca lifted Gabriel into his high chair. "He practiced all morning."

Elena smiled. "He also practiced throwing his socks into the toilet."

For the first time, Sophie saw Luca laugh without checking whether anyone else was watching.

Their dinner was ordinary: pasta, spilled water, a story about Gabriel's daycare painting, and an argument over who had forgotten the extra sweater. Sophie loved every moment.

After dessert Luca stood and addressed only their small table.

"I never thanked you properly that first night," he told Sophie.

"You did."

"Not in a way I understood then. You helped me see my son needed more than protection from enemies. He needed protection from the life I'd built around him."

Sophie held his gaze. "Then keep remembering that."