Mafia Don’s Secret Twins: EXTENDED EPILOGUE

“Okay. Everyone get together for a picture!” I yell.

Trying to wrangle our brood of children, however, is way harder than just telling them to get in for a picture.

Especially with all the cousins.

And today, since the combined Rossi and De Luca clans are all here?

There’s really a lot of cousins.

The twins and Luna have the most attitude, of course. Well into their tween years, I dread to know what they’re going to be like as teenagers.

Really.

It’s going to be a nightmare.

“Listen. All you little… kids,” Dino snarls. “Listen to Marisol! She wants a freakin’ picture!”

Begrudgingly, they all move together.

“Okay!” I yell, putting the camera on the self-timer feature. “Here we go!”

I dash over to the group, hoping we all get in the frame.

The flash blinks a couple of times, and I swear, if we didn’t get this picture…

“I’m going swimming!” I hear a voice shriek.

I look at Dino, who’s mouth compresses into a tight line, and he nods.

Then, he races off after our son, who at four has decided he’s more or less completely invincible.

And he’s definitely not supposed to swim without his life jacket when he’s swimming in the ocean.

We’re on the island that Dino inherited when he took over the family. Once a year, we close all the hotels and the restaurants down, and we invite family.

All.

Of.

The.

Family.

It’s a lot. But it’s a good break.

Dino and I work really hard most of the time, so for a few weeks out of each year (if you count the holidays and all of that as well), it’s nice to just be here.

Together.

On an island that’s currently heavily guarded by the combined security forces of four very prominent mafia families.

I ended up choosing to take on the role as my father’s heir. I wasn’t sure if I needed to do it, or wanted to do it, but I wanted to challenge myself.

So, pregnant with our baby boy, I took over my father’s organization.

With Dino’s support.

Which did, in fact, sometimes look like him beating the crap out of people. But after the first couple of people, he just had to lurk behind me, menacingly, and people pretty much got the picture.

It wasn’t even that hard of a transition, honestly.

But it is a lot of work.

At six months pregnant, and then seven, and then eight…

It was a lot.

But between the two of us, we made it work.

Now, we’re doing… well.

I’ve cleaned up some of the less savory aspects of my father’s business. Made them into something a little easier to manage, and things that aren’t quite as morally repulsive for me.

Most of them, anyway.

The children run screaming to the beach, with a variety of adults running after them. I stay back, picking up my phone and looking at the picture.

It’s awful.

Half the people in it aren’t looking at the camera. The other half have an eye closed, or a mouth open, or a tongue out.

It’s pure chaos.

But I guess I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“How’d it turn out?” Caterina smiles.

I shrug. “Exactly how you’d expect.”

She chuckles. Her hand drifts over her belly, which is definitely looking uncomfortably large at seven months pregnant. “Well, I don’t think any of us were thinking that things would turn out like this.”

She’s right.

I reach out and grab my sister-in-law’s hand. “I’m happy you could make it.”

“Elio absolutely freaked out about it, but that’s not new. You’d think that after three pregnancies, he’d stop.”

I roll my eyes. “The day Elio stops freaking out about you will be a cold day in hell.”

She laughs.

“Thank you, Caterina,” I say quietly.

She smiles. “For what?”

“For being so wonderful when I needed you. For being someone who believed in me and the girls right away. And for someone who… believed in Dino.”

When no one else did are the words that I’m not saying.

But over the years, Dino told me the story of every scar. Every single one.

Including the one across his throat.

The smile fades slightly. “You know, it makes me sad that Dino never felt this accepted with us. I wish that he could have had this peace with us. But I’m so grateful that he found it with you. Dino… he’s never been easy, exactly. But he’s loveable. He deserves love. And you’ve given him that, for years and years, and I’m so thankful for you,” she says.

The tears on her cheeks are going to make me cry.

Absolutely.

“Listen, girl, if you cry I’m going to cry so you better stop it right now,” I whisper.

Caterina laughs and pulls me in for a hug. “Then I guess we’ll cry together.”

I hold on to my sister-in-law for a while. I’m sure that it’s the pregnancy hormones on her part, but I really am so happy that I met her.

So happy that this family became mine, because it’s everything I wanted.

Caterina pulls back and winks. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

I watch her go.

Dino sidles up behind me and presses a kiss on my temple. “You good, baby?”

“Yeah, I’m good. How’s the perimeter?” I ask.

Chuckling, Dino pulls me in. “You really are a mob boss now, aren’t you Marisol?”

I blush. “What makes you say that?”

“We’re here, having a family vacation, and you’re still thinking about security.”

I roll my eyes. “We’re kind of a high profile target right now. And, there’s that business with…” my voice trails off.

Dino’s eyes darken.

Moretti, somehow, survived the mudslide five years ago. No one knows how. But I inherited his contract from my father, which was apparently a lifetime contract that he signed more or less willingly.

And Andrei Moretti has been pissed about that ever since.

He never came back to serve it. We get reports of him, every now and then, or he takes contracts, usually with those that are trying to oppose us.

“He wouldn’t fucking dare come after us, Marisol,” he growls. “He just wouldn’t fucking dare.”

I sigh. “Maybe there’s another solution to this problem.”

“Like what?”

I cast him a look. “You know, love has been a really good thing for you…”

“If you’re comparing me to that fucking asshole, then I think you should probably stop,” he growls.

“Dino,” I reprimand him. “Come on. He was pretty hell-bent on marrying me five years ago. What if he didn’t want to just marry me, and he wanted something like… love? Or family? What if he wants the thing that we already had?”

“Come on, Marisol. You don’t really think…”

I kiss Dino lightly on the lips. “I do, actually think that.”

He blinks.

“Think about it, Dino. If we offered Andrei an alliance of some kind, then he’d be bound to us. He couldn’t make a move against us.”

“We can’t just assign some poor girl to marry him,” Dino growls.

I pointedly look at Caterina, who is laughing with Elio.

Dino sighs. “Who the fuck would marry him? We have to have someone volunteer. I’m not doing to some girl like my parents did my sister. She has to agree to it.”

I tap my finger against my lips. “Doesn’t Stassi have a cousin?”

Dino stills.

Bingo.

“Marisol. She has to agree to it,” he growls.

I smile at him. “I know. She will. I know she will.”

“Moretti is a loose fuckin’ cannon…”

“He is. But lots of people said that about you too, my love,” I kiss him.

Dino’s eyes flash.

“Look, let’s really think about it. I don’t want to put someone in harm’s way. But until Andrei has something worth fighting for, he’s going to keep coming for us.”

“Why?”

“Because he wants what we have, my love,” I whisper.

Dino sighs. “So what are you going to offer him?”

I smile. “I have some thoughts. You set up the meeting, and I’ll talk to Stassi’s cousin.”

He shakes his head and leans in. “Again. You’re a real mob boss, Marisol Drakos.”

“I learned from the best, Dino Drakos,” I murmur back.

The kiss is full of warmth. I lean into it, appreciating Dino as he wraps his arms around me.

I won’t let anyone threaten what we have.

Peace.

Happiness.

The type of business that will keep our children safe.

I’m Marisol Drakos, the leader of the Souza family.

Dino’s wife.

Mother of many sassy, annoying children.

And I’m not going to let anyone take what I’ve built.