Updated Nov 6, 2025 • ~10 min read
The Marchetti estate felt different when we returned.
More like home. Less like a fortress.
Or maybe I’d just changed.
Marco greeted us at the door, immediately swooping Lucia into his arms.
“There’s my favorite niece! Did you bring me anything from Italy?”
“I’m your only niece,” Lucia giggled. “And yes! Mama helped me pick out cookies!”
“Cookies? Even better than I hoped.”
He set her down and she ran inside to find her room, eager to reunite with her toys.
“She looks good,” Marco said to us. “Happy.”
“She is,” I confirmed. “The time away helped.”
“And you two?” His eyes moved between us, landing on my ring. “I see congratulations are in order.”
“You knew?” I asked.
“I know everything.” He grinned. “Plus, Dante asked me to be his best man. Kind of gave it away.”
“And?” Dante asked.
“And I’m honored. Assuming the speech I wrote is approved.”
“Absolutely not. You’re not reading anything you wrote.”
“You haven’t even heard it!”
“I know you, Marco.”
Watching them bicker like children, I smiled. This was family. Chaotic, loud, imperfect family.
Adrian appeared with an armful of files.
“Boss, sorry to interrupt, but Caleb’s team sent over the contract drafts. They want to meet tomorrow. Go over terms.”
“Tomorrow?” I asked. “We just got back.”
“Welcome to the business,” Adrian said apologetically. “It never sleeps.”
Dante took the files. “Fine. Tomorrow. But make it clear—Sofia and I are only available for a few hours. The rest of the week, I want flexibility.”
“I’ll handle it.”
That night, after Lucia was asleep, Dante and I sat in his study going through the contracts.
“This is dense,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “I don’t understand half of it.”
“You don’t need to understand all of it. That’s what lawyers are for. But you should know the basics. What you’re signing. What it means for us.”
“It means we’re committed to the Navarro alliance.”
“It means more than that. It means shared resources. Mutual protection. But also shared risks.” He pointed to a clause. “If something goes wrong on Caleb’s end, it could affect us. And vice versa.”
“So we’re tied together now. Completely.”
“Yes. Which is why I need to know—are you comfortable with this? With your name on these contracts?”
I thought about it. Really thought about it.
“Yes,” I said finally. “I’m comfortable. Because I trust you. And I trust that you wouldn’t put our family at risk.”
He leaned over, kissed me softly. “Thank you.”
The meeting with Caleb’s team was scheduled for two o’clock the next day.
I dressed carefully. Professional but elegant. The future Mrs. Marchetti needed to make an impression.
“You look beautiful,” Dante said, adjusting his tie in the mirror.
“I look nervous.”
“You look perfect. And you’re going to be perfect in there. Just be yourself.”
“What if myself isn’t enough?”
He turned, cupped my face. “You faced down Isolde. Stood up to Sterling. Survived a kidnapping. You can handle a business meeting.”
“Those felt like survival. This feels like performance.”
“Then perform. You’re good at it. I’ve seen you.”
The meeting was held at a neutral location. A high-rise conference room with views of Manhattan.
Caleb was already there. Along with three lawyers and two associates I didn’t recognize.
“Dante. Sofia.” Caleb stood, shook our hands. “Thank you for coming. I know you just returned.”
“Time is money,” Dante said easily. “Let’s make this efficient.”
We sat. The lawyers dove into terms, clauses, contingencies.
I tried to follow. Tried to look engaged and knowledgeable.
One of Caleb’s lawyers—a woman with sharp eyes and sharper questions—kept looking at me.
“Mrs. Marchetti-to-be,” she said. “You understand that your signature on these documents makes you equally liable? If Dante makes a decision that violates our terms, you’re implicated as well?”
“I understand.”
“And you’re comfortable with that level of risk?”
“I’m comfortable with my partner. If Dante makes a decision, I trust it’s the right one.”
“Blind trust is dangerous in our business.”
“It’s not blind. I’ve seen how he operates. How he protects his people. How he honors his word.” I met her eyes. “I’m not signing because I’m naive. I’m signing because I’m informed.”
Something shifted in her expression. Respect, maybe.
“Good answer.”
The meeting lasted three hours. By the end, contracts were finalized. Terms were agreed upon.
Caleb raised a glass of whiskey.
“To the alliance. May it be long and prosperous.”
“To the alliance,” Dante echoed.
We all drank.
After, as we were leaving, Caleb pulled Dante aside. I stayed close enough to hear.
“She’s good,” Caleb said. “Smart. Loyal. You chose well.”
“I know.”
“There will be challenges. People who question her background. Her place in our world.”
“Let them question. She’s proven herself.”
“She has. To me. But not to everyone.” Caleb’s expression turned serious. “Guard her well, Dante. Women in our world—especially those who marry into power—they’re targets. Always.”
“I know that too.”
“Good. Then we understand each other.”
In the car, I asked, “What was that about? The warning?”
“Caleb being cautious. He’s seen what happens when powerful men have vulnerable partners.”
“So I’m vulnerable now?”
“You’re precious. There’s a difference.” He took my hand. “But he’s not wrong. Being my wife puts a target on you. People will test you. Try to use you to get to me.”
“I can handle it.”
“I know you can. But I’d prefer you never have to.”
Over the next few days, the reality of wedding planning hit full force.
Elise had taken over coordination, but she needed my input on everything. Flowers, music, food, seating arrangements.
“This is exhausting,” I told Jade over video chat.
“Welcome to wedding planning. Now imagine doing it while being scrutinized by the entire criminal underworld.”
“That doesn’t help.”
“Sorry. But seriously, Sofia—this is going to be beautiful. Stressful, but beautiful.”
She was right.
The guest list grew to ninety. Then one hundred.
“People keep requesting invitations,” Elise explained. “Associates. Old family friends. We can’t turn them all down.”
“So we’re having a spectacle.”
“We’re having a wedding befitting a Don. There’s a difference.”
Dante remained calm through all of it. Patient. Letting me make decisions but offering input when I needed it.
“Whatever you want, cara. As long as I get to marry you at the end of it.”
Lucia, for her part, was thrilled about being a flower girl.
“Aunt Elise says I get a special dress! With sparkles!”
“Lots of sparkles,” Elise confirmed. “She’s going to steal the show.”
“Good,” I said. “She deserves to.”
A week into wedding planning, Marco pulled me aside.
“Can we talk? Privately?”
We went to the garden. He seemed nervous, which was unusual for Marco.
“I wanted to apologize,” he said. “For how I treated you when you first came back. I was hostile. Protective of Dante. But that wasn’t fair to you.”
“You were looking out for your brother. I understand.”
“Still. You’ve proven yourself. Not just to him. To all of us.” He handed me a small box. “This is for you. A welcome to the family gift.”
Inside was a bracelet. Delicate gold with a small charm—a stylized ‘M’.
“It was my mother’s,” Marco said. “Dante has been holding onto it. But he thought—we both thought—you should have it. If you want it.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “Marco, I can’t—this is too much—”
“It’s exactly enough. You’re family now. And family takes care of each other.” He helped me put it on. “There. Perfect.”
“Thank you. For this. For accepting me.”
“Thank you for making my brother happy. For giving him Lucia. For loving him despite everything.”
We hugged. A real hug. The kind that meant something.
That night, Dante noticed the bracelet.
“Marco gave it to you.”
“He said it was your mother’s. That you both wanted me to have it.”
“I did. I do.” He touched it gently. “She would have liked you. My mother. She was strong. Stubborn. Fiercely protective of family.”
“Sounds familiar.”
He smiled. “You remind me of her sometimes. The way you are with Lucia. The way you face things head-on even when you’re scared.”
“I’m scared a lot lately.”
“But you do it anyway. That’s courage, Sofia.”
Two days before the wedding, I had my final dress fitting.
The gown was perfect. Exactly what I’d envisioned.
Elise stood behind me, adjusting the veil.
“You’re going to take his breath away,” she said.
“He’s already seen me at my worst. Middle of the night. No makeup. Panicking.”
“And he loves you anyway. That’s how you know it’s real.”
I turned to face her. “Thank you. For everything. For accepting me. For helping with all of this. For being—for being a sister.”
Her eyes welled up. “Don’t make me cry. I just did my makeup.”
We hugged, both of us crying anyway.
The day before the wedding, the entire house was chaos.
Flowers arriving. Caterers setting up. Staff rushing everywhere.
Dante found me on the terrace, staring at the gardens where we’d be married the next day.
“Second thoughts?” he asked.
“No. Just first thoughts. About everything that led us here.”
“Regrets?”
“Some. Not about us. But about the time we lost. The years apart.”
“We can’t change that. We can only move forward.”
“I know.” I turned to him. “Tomorrow, when I walk down that aisle—”
“You’ll be walking toward our future. Our family. Our life.”
“Promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“Promise me that no matter what happens—business problems, family drama, world ending chaos—we’ll always come back to this. To us.”
“I promise.” He pulled me close. “You and Lucia. You’re my priority. Always.”
“Even over the organization?”
“Even over that.”
I believed him.
That night, tradition kept us apart. Elise insisted.
“You can’t see the bride before the wedding. It’s bad luck.”
“We’ve already had our share of bad luck,” Dante protested.
“Then let’s not invite more. Go. Sleep in the guest wing. One night apart won’t kill you.”
So I spent my last night as Sofia Romano in our room. Lucia curled up beside me.
“Mama? Are you nervous about tomorrow?”
“A little. Are you?”
“No. I’m excited. Because tomorrow you and Daddy get married and we’ll be a real family forever.”
“We’re already a real family, baby.”
“I know. But tomorrow it’s official.” She yawned. “I love you, Mama.”
“I love you too, sweet girl.”
She fell asleep quickly. I stayed awake longer, staring at the ceiling.
Tomorrow, I’d marry Dante Marchetti.
Tomorrow, I’d officially become part of his world.
Tomorrow, our new life would truly begin.
And I couldn’t wait.
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