Deadly Vows - Epilogue (Patreon)

Luca

“Mommy, look what I can do!” I watch as Luciano grabs a soccer ball and punts it hard across the yard.

Elise and I are sitting in the love seat on the patio. She is snuggled up to me, with her hand in mine.

After everything died down, we moved once again, but back to the United States. I wanted us to have a new start, so we moved out into the country.

I watch Elise as she beams at him in pride.

“That was amazing, baby!” she shouts.

His face lights up in joy. He lives to please his mother. He loves her with every bone in his body. And that is okay with me. Who wouldn’t love Elise? Luciano loves both of us, but it is obvious who his favorite is. He looks just like her. I can already tell that when he grows older, he will be a heartbreaker with that face. The only thing he got from me are my eyes.

Luciano is a sweet boy. With all the love and compassion you can ever ask for in a child. In the past, I would have tried to rid him of that, but after Elise and I argued about it and she cried, I changed my mind. We will try a new style of training with him.

He takes off running across the yard to grab the ball with his little hands. Once he takes ahold of it, he sprints toward us. I swear this kid never gets tired. We had to resort to locking our room door on the nights we have sex because he walked in our room at two in the morning complaining about how he wasn’t tired, right in the middle of us doing things. I still chuckle at the look of horror on his face because he thought I was “attacking” her.

He is a curious kid that explores the world around him with wonder and confidence.

When I woke up in that hospital years ago, I was so scared. I was scared of how much time had passed and if I missed Elise and Luciano. If I was out for years or not. I got lucky. I got so damn lucky. I should have died. The area he planted the bomb, should have killed me. But the debris that smashed my body also protected it.

Nicolai and Romelo were both by my side when I awoke. They were freaking out because they had no idea where Elise was located. Once I told them they calmed down and did some watching on her for me. I was shocked when they brought me back pictures of her with our son. Romelo actually brought back more than just pictures. He brought back a DNA test that proved Luciano was mine.

After that, everything was touch-and-go. I had to go through rehab and a whole lot of pain. The bruising and cuts eventually faded except for the scar over my eye. Elise likes to joke about it, saying it proves I am human. I am lucky I wore a thick layer of clothing. If I hadn’t, my skin might’ve burned off.

“Mommy, can I sit next to you? Dad’s had you all day.”

I am startled out of my thoughts, and Luciano’s pouting face is right in front of me. He gets irritated at the attention I give his mother sometimes, even going as far as to claim that I am “hogging her.”

Elise slowly peels her hand away from mine and moves down to pick up Luciano, setting him down on her lap. She brushes his thick black locks from his face and gives him a light kiss on the cheek. He looks at me with eyes that can pierce a soul and sticks his tongue out. He then laughs and laughs and laughs. And I can’t help but laugh with him. He is so competitive. Even competing with me for his mother’s affection. That is a trait I can admire.

Elise begins humming something to him as she rocks slowly with him on her lap. I can’t help the swell of love I feel blooming in my chest. She is a great mother. Patient, kind, understanding, loving.

She is everything my mother was and more, because when it comes to me, she stands up for what she believes in. My mother never said a word when it came to my training. She would turn away and, once my father was out of sight, would make me comfort myself. Once she realized my father wouldn’t be upset with her for it, then she would acknowledge my existence. But Elise makes me see other sides of raising Luciano.

She knows that grooming him is inevitable, but we did come to an agreement about it. Even though she still doesn’t want him trained to be the next heir, she has no choice. And today she is extra loving toward him, because she knows what today is. It is the marker where we up his training, meaning, it will get harder.

I plan on making him a man by the age of eight. In this world, being “made a man” means killing someone. When you can take a life, you are ready. I know it is harsh, but that is how things are. But we both agreed that I will not snuff the emotion out of him. I will not make him into an emotionless killing machine. I will not make him like I used to be—like I still am sometimes when I can’t control it. He will be different. He is the exception.

Elise checks her watch.

“I should get going. Matteo is coming in town and said we could meet for lunch.” She gives me a sad smile, knowing that once she leaves, we will begin his training once again.

Out of respect for her, I never train him around her. But if I am too hard on him, I never leave him alone or beat him like my father did to me. Surprisingly, it makes Luciano work harder and do everything it takes to please me. This method Elise talked me into is doing better than my father’s method.

“I wanna go with you!” Luciano shout. He drops the ball and makes his way to Elise.

She kneels down in front of him. “Not today, sweetie. Today you’ll be spending time with Daddy.” She smiles at him, running her thumb along his face. He turns his nose up and makes a face.

“Oh, all right.”

“Now, give Mommy a kiss.” She smiles at him, and he smiles back, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “I love you.” She smiles.

“I love you too, Mommy!” he says back. He turns to me with a mischievous grin, whispering to me, which is not much of a whisper at all, “I love you too, Daddy, but don’t tell Mommy. I don’t want her to get jealous.”

I snicker at his words, pulling Elise in for an embrace. She hugs me back and cranes her neck to look me in the eye, her whole demeanor turning serious.

“Don’t break him, Luca. I will never forgive you if you do.”

I nod. She always says that to me. It took her a while to adjust to Matteo being a part of this life on the regular, and I’ll never forget the hell we went through while she battled her emotions. I don’t want that again. So this time, I will keep my promise. I slowly grab her hand, placing her palm over my heart. She looks mesmerized by the rhythm. She has done that ever since I came back to her that day after being presumed dead.

“I won’t,” I reassure her.

She nods and stands on her tiptoes to kiss me. She waves by to both of us, leaving the house.

It is just me and Luciano now. I take a deep breath.

“Luciano, I want you to go get your birthday present I gave you, okay?”

He nods vigorously and takes off into the house. He comes running back outside with a huge grin on his face. I walk down to the range we have, and he follows me, never once faltering. Like I said, this kid has a lot of energy. I take a seat on the edge of the patio, and he comes to stand next to me. We open the box together to reveal his gun. His first gun. I gave it to him when he was four and taught him how to use it. I didn’t put real bullets in it until he turned five. Across the handle, “Luciano” is inscribed in silver.

I pick it up, handing it to him, and his whole demeanor changes.

He is serious, just like I’ve trained him to be.

“What does that say?” I motion to his name on his gun.

“Luciano,” he responds immediately.

“And who is Luciano?”

“I am.”

“And who are you, son?”

“Luciano Pasquino, firstborn to Luca and Elise Pasquino.”

“And who will you be?”

“I will be the next capo in line to the northern portion of the Mafia, the strongest and most powerful crime family in the United States.”

“And if anyone says otherwise?” I ask.

He holds the gun up and shoots at the five targets lined across the range, hitting all of them dead center, except for the last one; he hit it too far to the left, and it spins and falls off the pedestal.

“Sorry, Dad. I didn’t think about the weight lightening after I fired the first four shots. I’ll be more careful next time.” He smiles at me apologetically.

Have I mentioned my kid is a fucking genius?

He takes a seat next to me, letting out a flustered breath.

“I won’t let you down again, Dad.”

I look at him in shock and ruffle his hair with a smile on my face. If it were my father, he would have taken the gun and beat me with it for missing my target until the fear of missing had me pissing my pants. But like I promised Elise, I will be different.

“You could never let me down, mi figlio.”

He looks at me, and relief floods his face. I stand up, smoothing out my clothing.

“Come on, we have about four hours until your mom gets back, and you know she’ll be upset if we’re not washed up and cleaned for dinner.”

His face lights up again, and he jumps up, excited about whatever I am about to throw his way. No matter what I throw at this kid, he is excited to please me and make me happy. He wants to succeed and be the best at everything I put him up to. I remember when I forced him to face his fears. Elise wouldn’t talk to me for a whole week because I made him face his fears. But he didn’t even realize he was facing them.

When he walked in the house with dirt smudged on his face, the first thing he asked me was, “How’d I do?”

I stand there watching my son. If someone told me that I would marry a woman and fall in love with her, I would laugh in their face.

But I did marry her. And I fell in love with her. I had a child with her, and I would do anything and everything possible for her and for my son. Because they are my life. And I’ll be damned if I let anyone take that away from me.

The End