Chapter 13 - THE EMPIRE OR THE WOMAN
Matteo had seventy-two hours to decide.
He spent the first twelve inside his office.
Penelope found him shortly after midnight.
The penthouse was quiet. Leo slept down the hall under Adrian’s protection. Rosa had gone home only after leaving enough food to survive a siege.
Matteo sat behind a desk covered in financial records.
“How much?” Penelope asked.
He looked up.
“How much what?”
“How much legitimate business survives if you accept the agreement?”
“Approximately forty percent.”
“And the rest?”
“Seized or placed under federal administration.”
“How many employees?”
“Eleven thousand.”
Penelope sat across from him.
“That is why you’re hesitating.”
“One reason.”
“What are the others?”
“Men who relied on my protection. Neighborhoods where my organization prevented worse groups from operating. Families receiving payments because their fathers died working for mine.”
“And power.”
Matteo’s gaze sharpened.
“Yes.”
She appreciated the honesty.
“I spent half my life ensuring no one could place me in a car the way Carlo placed my parents.”
“Giving up the organization feels like entering that car.”
“Yes.”
Penelope looked at the city beyond the windows.
“Bradley wanted a wife who reflected his success. He treated people like evidence of his status.”
“I am not Bradley.”
“No. But you sometimes treat control the way he treated appearances.”
Matteo became very still.
She continued.
“You tell yourself power protects everyone around you. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it prevents them from choosing.”
“If I surrender it, enemies will come.”
“Some will.”
“You could die.”
“So could you.”
“This is not abstract.”
“I know.”
He stood.
Pain still tightened his movements.
“I cannot build a future with you while pretending my past has no cost.”
“Then don’t pretend.”
Penelope approached the desk.
“Tell me what you want.”
His voice lowered.
“You.”
The single word entered her chest.
“And?”
“To keep enough power that no one can take you.”
“I am not something anyone gets to take.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do. That is why it frightens me.”
Matteo looked away.
Penelope took his hand.
“I want you too.”
His fingers tightened.
“But I will not become the beautiful reason you give yourself for remaining a man you no longer want to be.”
He stared at her.
“If you keep the empire, choose it because you believe in it. Not because you are afraid of losing me.”
“And if I surrender it?”
“Choose that because it is right. Not to purchase me.”
“What do I receive?”
“A chance.”
He laughed quietly.
“One dinner?”
“One dinner.”
“I was shot before receiving the first.”
“You have terrible scheduling.”
He pulled her closer.
“Stay tonight.”
She searched his face.
“Ask properly.”
“Will you stay?”
“Yes.”
The next morning, Matteo accepted the federal agreement.
He surrendered financial records, ownership structures, weapons routes, and names. In exchange, legitimate businesses were placed into a public restructuring trust rather than immediately liquidated.
Employees kept their jobs.
Victims received compensation.
Matteo resigned from every company connected to criminal activity.
He also testified to his own offenses.
The prosecutor did not grant complete immunity.
He faced eighteen months in federal prison for conspiracy, obstruction, and illegal weapons possession.
Penelope sat beside him when his attorney explained the sentence.
“You could fight it,” she said.
“I could delay it.”
“That was not what I asked.”
“Yes. I could probably reduce it.”
“Why won’t you?”
“Because Catherine was right about one thing. Powerful men spend their lives turning consequences into someone else’s burden.”
Penelope’s eyes filled.
“When do you surrender?”
“Monday.”
Four days.
Their first real dinner happened Friday.
Matteo closed a small Italian restaurant for the evening.
Penelope objected.
“You said public place.”
“It is publicly accessible.”
“There is no public.”
“You are difficult to satisfy.”
“Rosa warned me your definitions were suspicious.”
He wore a dark suit.
She wore a green dress that hugged every curve Bradley had taught her to hide.
Matteo’s gaze moved over her.
For one second, she almost crossed her arms.
Then she stopped.
“What?” she asked.
“You are beautiful.”
No qualification.
No surprise.
No suggestion that confidence compensated for anything.
Just truth, spoken as he understood it.
“Thank you.”
Dinner lasted three hours.
They spoke about small things.
Penelope’s habit of rescuing dying plants.
Matteo’s inability to sleep without city noise.
Her first hotel job.
His mother’s cooking.
The night felt almost normal.
Then Matteo took a ring from his pocket.
Penelope stared.
“You cannot be serious.”
“It is not an engagement ring.”
“That is exactly what men say before producing engagement rings.”
He opened the box.
Inside was a narrow gold band.
“No diamond,” he said.
“That does not make it less ring-shaped.”
“I want you protected while I am gone.”
Her expression changed.
“Matteo.”
“The Duca name still carries weight.”
“You dismantled the organization.”
“Reputation has a longer liquidation schedule.”
She looked at the ring.
“What are you asking?”
“For you to continue pretending.”
“As your wife?”
“Yes.”
“For eighteen months?”
“If you choose.”
Penelope closed the box.
“No.”
Pain entered his face before he concealed it.
She pushed the box back.
“I will not pretend for eighteen months.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
She stood.
Matteo rose more slowly.
Penelope opened the box again and removed the ring.
“If I wear this, it won’t be because I need your name.”
He stared.
“And it won’t be fake.”
His breathing changed.
“Penelope.”
“I’m not asking for a wedding before Monday. Madison would kill us for competing with her.”
His mouth almost curved.
“But I am asking what you meant in the lounge.”
“Forever?”
“Yes.”
Matteo looked at the ring.
Then at her.
“I meant that Bradley should never again believe he had the right to define you.”
“That is not an answer.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I meant that when you touched me, every part of my life changed direction.”
Her eyes burned.
“I meant I wanted the lie to become true before I had any right to want it.”
He took the band from her fingers.
“And now?”
“Now I am asking you not to wait for me.”
Penelope’s heart dropped.
“You’re going to prison, not dying.”
“You deserve—”
“If the next words involve what I deserve, choose them carefully.”
Matteo stopped.
She continued.
“You do not get to send me away as punishment for your guilt. You can tell me you don’t love me. You can tell me you don’t want a future. But you cannot make my decision because prison frightens you.”
“It does.”
“Good. Fear is honest.”
He looked at her for a long time.
Then he lowered himself onto one knee.
The wound in his side made the movement difficult.
Penelope immediately reached for him.
He smiled faintly.
“I am not injured.”
“You were shot recently.”
“Please allow me one traditional gesture.”
She withdrew her hand.
Matteo held up the ring.
“Penelope Hayes, I have no empire to offer you.”
“I don’t want one.”
“I have enemies.”
“I know.”
“I will spend eighteen months behind a locked door.”
“I own stationery.”
His smile deepened.
“I cannot promise an uncomplicated life.”
“That would be suspicious.”
He became serious.
“I can promise that no decision involving you will be made without you. I can promise to ask when asking is difficult. I can promise that if I become the man Carlo tried to create, I will listen when you tell me.”
Tears crossed Penelope’s cheeks.
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes.”
He placed the ring on her finger.
Then the restaurant windows shattered.
Matteo pulled Penelope down.
A second bullet struck the wall.
Security rushed in.
Luca tackled the shooter outside.
When officers removed his mask, Adrian made a broken sound.
The shooter was Leo’s biological father.
Or rather, the man Sofia had claimed was Leo’s father before Adrian learned the boy existed.
May you like
His name was Victor Hale.
And he carried a court order identifying himself as an undercover federal agent.
