The Mafia Don's Lost Heiress: My Dead Wife's Daughter Named My Brother Her Monster

Three weeks later, the crisp autumn chill had settled over Long Island.

In the private cemetery behind the Moretti ancestral manor, the towering white marble headstone that had borne Isabella's name for four agonizing years lay in pieces on the damp earth. A crew of stonecutters had chiseled it down to dust at my command. You cannot have a grave for someone whose laughter fills your breakfast table every morning.

Isabella stood beside me on the manicured grass, dressed in an elegant ivory sweater dress, color finally returning to her hollow cheeks. Her hand was tucked securely inside mine, her fingers intertwined with mine, the golden butterfly necklace resting warmly against her collarbone.

A few yards away, Mia was shrieking with pure, unfettered joy, chasing a golden retriever puppy across the expansive lawns, her pink princess dress fluttering in the breeze.

""She has your stubbornness, you know,"" Isabella said, leaning her head against my shoulder. Her voice was steady now, healed of the fear that had shadowed it for so long. ""When Vincent told her she would never see you, she kicked him in the shins so hard he limped for three days.""

A genuine smile—something I hadn't felt in nearly half a decade—pulled at my lips. ""She hit my Rolls-Royce with her bicycle and demanded I buy her a new one. The moment she stuck that bunny bandage on my bumper, I knew she had Moretti blood.""

""Thank you, Dominic,"" she whispered softly, her eyes turning up to meet mine. ""For never giving up on me. Even when the whole world told you I was dead.""

""I never stopped searching, Isabella,"" I replied, bringing her hand to my lips and kissing her knuckles, feeling the platinum wedding band that had been returned to her finger. ""I searched every shadow, every ledger, every rumor. My soul knew you were still breathing. If you had been gone, the earth would have felt empty.""

Marco stepped across the lawn, bowing respectfully before pausing at a discreet distance. ""Boss. The Five Families Council has convened in Manhattan. Salieri's territory has been absorbed without resistance. The Capos are waiting in the great hall. They are asking for the Don.""

I looked down at Isabella. Four years ago, the empire was all I had left, an empty crown to numb the agony of an empty house. But standing here with the autumn sun warming our faces and our daughter’s laughter echoing through the trees, the syndicate felt secondary to the kingdom I held right in my arms.