Chapter 7 - Family Doesn’t Stay Buried
Six months later, Vittorio’s looked different.
Not because the restaurant had changed.
Because the people inside it had.
The dining room was closed for a private family dinner.
My mother sat at the head of the table despite the fact that it was technically my restaurant.
Apparently age outranked ownership.
Adrian sat beside Elena.
Ruby sat beside Noah.
The wooden music box rested on the table between them.
It had been repaired.
Noah had insisted.
A small new mechanism played a quiet melody whenever Ruby opened the lid.
She opened it every five minutes.
I was beginning to regret paying for the repair.
Marco entered late.
My mother pointed at him.
“You’re late.”
“Yes, Mrs. Moretti.”
“Sit.”
He sat immediately.
I smiled.
No one ignored my mother.
Not even men who ignored me.
Ruby leaned toward Noah.
“Do you think Uncle Dante is scared of Grandma?”
Noah whispered loudly:
“Yes.”
“I heard that.”
They laughed.
Adrian raised his glass.
“To surviving.”
Elena looked at him.
“That’s your toast?”
“I had a longer one.”
“No.”
“Fair.”
He stood.
“This family lost six years because of lies.”
The table quieted.
Adrian continued.
“I made mistakes. Dante made mistakes. Mom…”
My mother raised one eyebrow.
Adrian immediately corrected himself.
“Mom made no mistakes.”
Everyone laughed.
Then he looked at me.
“But when Ruby needed somewhere to go, I knew there was one person who would protect her.”
I leaned back.
“You could’ve called.”
“I was being dramatic.”
“You’re always dramatic.”
“That’s genetic.”
He raised his glass.
“To Dante.”
Everyone followed.
I hated speeches.
But I lifted mine.
Ruby stood on her chair.
“And Uncle Dante gave me pasta.”
Noah nodded.
“That’s important.”
Ruby continued.
“And he found Daddy.”
Adrian said, “Technically, I called him.”
Ruby ignored him.
“And he saved Noah.”
Noah raised his glass of soda.
“Also important.”
Ruby looked at me.
“And he said I’m family.”
The room became quiet again.
I looked around the table.
Six months earlier, I had believed family was defined by blood, loyalty, and fear.
Then a child walked into my restaurant soaked from the rain.
She carried a dead man’s necklace.
A hidden photograph.
And enough truth to destroy everything I thought I knew.
Victor Russo and Salvatore Moretti were awaiting trial.
The corrupt accounts had been frozen.
The illegal transport routes were gone.
Our remaining companies were legitimate.
People said Dante Moretti had become less dangerous.
They were wrong.
I had simply become more careful about what was worth fighting for.
Ruby climbed down from her chair and walked toward me.
“What?”
She opened the wooden box.
Inside was the photograph Adrian had hidden there.
She had added another photo beside it.
A new one.
All of us standing together outside the Moretti estate.
Noah.
Ruby.
Elena.
Adrian.
My mother.
And me.
Ruby pointed at the new picture.
“This one’s better.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody’s missing.”
I looked at Adrian.
He said nothing.
For once.
Ruby climbed onto the chair beside me.
“Uncle Dante?”
“Yes?”
“If Daddy disappears again, can I live here?”
Adrian nearly choked on his drink.
“Excuse me?”
Ruby ignored him.
I looked at her.
“If your father disappears again, I’ll personally drag him home.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
Adrian pointed at me.
“You’re encouraging her.”
“You created her.”
Noah laughed.
My mother shook her head.
Elena smiled.
And for the first time in years, the Moretti family sat around one table without secrets buried beneath it.
Later that night, Ruby fell asleep on the sofa with the music box beside her.
Noah had fallen asleep at the other end.
Adrian stood near the fireplace.
“You know,” he said, “when I told Ruby to find you, I wasn’t sure she actually would.”
I looked at him.
“She walked miles in a storm.”
“She’s stubborn.”
“She’s yours.”
He smiled.
Then he became serious.
“Thank you.”
I looked at the two children.
“No.”
“For what?”
“For bringing my family back.”
Adrian followed my gaze.
A long silence passed.
Then I said:
“Next time, call.”
He laughed.
“There won’t be a next time.”
“There better not be.”
Outside, rain began tapping softly against the windows.
The same kind of rain that had brought Ruby to Vittorio’s.
But this time she wasn’t standing alone beneath an awning.
She was warm.
Safe.
Surrounded by people who knew exactly who she was.
Ruby Moretti.
Adrian’s daughter.
Noah’s cousin.
My niece.
May you like
Family.
And this time, nobody was going to bury the truth again.
