Chapter 17 - Leo’s Birthday Wish
They returned to New York quietly.
No press.
No announcements.
No family meeting.
Only Isabella knew the exact arrival time.
Santino sat in the back of the SUV, staring at Manhattan as if visiting a city he had once known.
Buildings changed.
Restaurants disappeared.
Construction replaced familiar corners.
Two years did not seem long until you tried to return to your own life.
“You’re nervous,” Landon said.
“No.”
“You’ve tapped your foot for twenty minutes.”
“I hate traffic.”
“You lived here.”
“I hated it then too.”
Serena smiled from the opposite seat.
Santino glared.
“Both of you are annoying.”
“You’ve been back twenty minutes and already complaining,” Landon said. “Good sign.”
When they reached the residence, Isabella waited inside.
Not at the entrance.
Not outside.
In the sitting room where Santino used to read Leo bedtime stories.
Santino stopped at the doorway.
Isabella stood.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then she crossed the room and slapped him.
Landon nodded.
“Popular reaction.”
Then Isabella threw her arms around her husband.
Every bit of strength left Santino.
He held her and cried.
No apology could cover two years.
No explanation could restore missed birthdays, lonely nights, or funerals.
But love sometimes existed beside anger.
That was the lesson everyone in the family seemed to be learning.
Leo was upstairs.
Asleep.
Isabella refused to wake him.
“He needs to meet you when he’s rested.”
Santino looked terrified.
Landon had never seen him afraid of anything more.
Morning came.
Leo walked downstairs carrying his wooden star.
He stopped halfway.
Santino stood near the windows.
For a moment, Leo simply stared.
Nobody spoke.
Then:
“Papa?”
Santino’s face broke.
“Hi, buddy.”
Leo looked at Isabella.
Then Landon.
Then Serena.
As if checking whether he was allowed to believe his eyes.
“Papa?”
“Yes.”
Leo ran.
Santino dropped to his knees.
The boy crashed into him.
Santino held him so tightly Isabella had to remind him to breathe.
“You came back!”
“Yes.”
“Where were you?”
Santino closed his eyes.
“I got lost.”
Leo considered.
“Did you leave stars?”
Everyone laughed through tears.
Santino looked toward Landon.
“No.”
“That was your first mistake,” Leo said seriously.
“Yes.”
Santino kissed his hair.
“I should have left stars.”
Leo pulled back.
“Do you remember the song?”
Santino could not speak.
He nodded.
Leo began.
“Le stelle vegliano mentre il sole dorme.”
Santino joined.
Their voices were imperfect.
Quiet.
But Landon turned away because suddenly he was crying again, and he had already exceeded his preferred annual amount of emotion.
Serena found his hand.
She said nothing.
Weeks passed.
The legal cases expanded.
Vale was denied bail.
Matteo entered a cooperation agreement.
Victor Saye pleaded guilty to kidnapping-related charges and conspiracy.
Jonathan Pierce was arrested in London.
Calvera’s financial network collapsed across several countries.
Serena’s mother entered protected status temporarily while cooperating.
Their relationship remained complicated.
Some days Serena spoke to Elena.
Some days she could not.
Healing, she discovered, did not follow courtroom schedules.
Santino returned legally from the dead.
The paperwork was absurd.
He complained constantly.
“I survived an assassination attempt more easily than the Social Security Administration.”
Landon enjoyed this immensely.
Isabella did not immediately resume their marriage as if nothing happened.
She made Santino earn trust.
Therapy.
Honesty.
No secret investigations.
No disappearing.
He agreed to everything.
He slept in the guest room for two months.
Leo visited him every morning at six.
“Why are you here?”
“Because Mama says Papa is in trouble.”
Santino found this unfair.
Three months after his return, Leo turned five.
The party was small.
Family only.
A cake shaped like stars.
No media.
No business associates.
At dinner, Leo announced he had a birthday wish.
“You’re supposed to keep wishes secret,” Isabella said.
“This one needs help.”
Everyone looked at him.
Leo pointed first at Santino.
“I wanted Papa back.”
Santino smiled.
“You got that.”
“Then I wanted Sara to stay.”
Serena looked at Landon.
“She stayed.”
Leo nodded.
“Now Uncle Landon has to stop being lonely.”
Silence.
Santino nearly choked on his wine.
Isabella hid a smile.
Dominic stared at the ceiling.
Landon looked at Leo.
“Who told you I’m lonely?”
“You eat dinner by yourself.”
“I often eat with you.”
“That’s because you’re lonely.”
Serena covered her mouth.
Landon sighed.
“What is your solution?”
Leo pointed at Serena.
“Marry her.”
Santino burst out laughing.
Landon closed his eyes.
“Leo.”
“What?”
“You cannot assign marriages.”
“Why?”
“Because adults choose.”
Leo looked at Serena.
“Do you choose him?”
Serena turned bright red.
“Eat your cake.”
“That means yes.”
Santino laughed harder.
Landon contemplated sending his recently resurrected brother back to Sicily.
Later, Serena stood on the terrace.
Landon joined her.
“I apologize for my family.”
“You’re the worst member.”
“Probably.”
She smiled.
“He isn’t entirely wrong.”
“About?”
“You being lonely.”
Landon leaned against the railing.
“I was.”
“And now?”
He looked at her.
“No.”
The answer was simple.
Serena stepped closer.
“Good.”
He kissed her.
Not dramatically.
Not like movies.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The kind of kiss between two people who had learned that time could disappear without warning.
When they separated, someone applauded.
They looked toward the window.
Santino.
Leo.
Isabella.
Dominic.
All watching.
Landon raised one finger toward his brother.
Santino disappeared immediately.
Serena laughed against Landon’s shoulder.
Then the study phone rang.
A few minutes later, Santino appeared again.
This time he was serious.
“It’s Cross.”
“What happened?”
“She found something in Vale’s seized files.”
Landon entered.
Cross’s voice came through speakerphone.
“We recovered a letter.”
“From Vale?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“From your father.”
Landon became still.
“To whom?”
“Santino.”
Everyone looked at Santino.
He shook his head.
“I never got it.”
Cross continued.
“It was written before your father died.”
“What does it say?”
“I think you both need to read it.”
The past had one final truth left.
And this time, it belonged not to Santino—
May you like
but to the father whose shadow had shaped both brothers their entire lives.
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