Chapter 16 - THE LETTER SOFIA LEFT LUCA
Two years after Luca’s release, Bianchi lawyers delivered one final sealed letter.
Sofia’s instruction:
Open only when Matteo turned five.
Luca waited.
Exactly.
No cheating.
Emma was impressed.
Matteo turned five on a rainy Tuesday.
Of course.
After cake, Luca opened the envelope.
Sofia’s handwriting.
Luca,
If you are reading this, then our son is five and you have somehow survived becoming a father.
Luca laughed through tears.
Emma covered her mouth.
I hope you are holding him often.
Luca looked at Matteo asleep on the sofa.
He was.
I hope you have learned that protecting people does not mean controlling them.
Emma looked at Luca.
Sofia knew him too well.
And I hope the Romano name means less to him than being kind.
Luca’s eyes closed.
Then:
If Emma Carter somehow entered your life, be careful.
Emma blinked.
“What?”
Luca kept reading.
Not because she is dangerous.
Because grief makes people mistake being needed for being loved.
The room became very quiet.
Sofia continued:
Do not love her because she can soothe your child.
Do not ask her to love you because you gave her somewhere to put the love she still carries for Noah.
Emma started crying.
If you choose each other, choose each other when nobody needs rescuing.
Luca stopped reading.
Could not.
Emma took the letter.
Finished.
That is the only kind of love I would trust around Matteo.
—Sofia
No one spoke for a long time.
Then Luca laughed softly.
“My dead wife is still giving me relationship advice.”
Emma wiped tears.
“She’s right.”
“Unfortunately.”
Matteo woke.
“What’s wrong?”
Luca pulled him into his lap.
“Your mother was bossy.”
Emma nearly choked.
Matteo frowned.
“Like Emma?”
Luca stared.
Emma laughed until she cried again.
Six months later, Luca proposed.
Not at a restaurant.
Not with bodyguards.
At home.
Matteo held the ring box upside down.
Emma stared at Luca.
“Are you asking because you need me?”
“No.”
“Because Matteo needs me?”
“No.”
“Because Sofia told you to?”
“Definitely not.”
Luca smiled.
“I am asking because our life is boring now and I still want you in it.”
May you like
That was perfect.
Emma said yes.
