Page 64 of The New Godfather

She glances up at me, still smiling, eyes bright. “Can I pause dinner for a little while and clean him up?”

I nod. “Yes. I’ll come with you.”

She hurries ahead of me up the stairs, the puppy cradled carefully against her chest like something precious. I follow close behind, watching the way she moves, the soft sway of her sundress, the way she keeps murmuring gentle nonsense to the little dog the entire way. When we reach her bathroom, she runs the tub, testing the water with her wrist, adjusting the temperature with the same focused care she gives everything. I lean against the doorframe and just watch her.

She sets the puppy gently in the shallow water. He splashes immediately, clumsy and excited. She laughs again and kneels beside the bath. The sight of her gentle hands carefully washing the tiny puppy does something dangerous to me. My mind drifts somewhere I’ve never let it go before.

A baby.

For the first time in my life, I picture it. Not in some vague, distant way. I see it clear and sharp: the two of us right here, bathing our child together. Her hands gentle and sure, my arms around her, the same soft laughter filling the room. I once told myself I had no interest in any of that. Kids, a real home, the kind of life that could be taken away with a single bullet. But now the image blooms so fiercely in my heart I feel like it might burst from it. The desire is sudden and overwhelming, a deep, aching yearning I didn’t know I was capable of feeling.

Unable to resist, I head in, roll up my sleeves, and join her. As we bathe the puppy together, me holding him steady while she carefully works the soap through his fur, she glances up at me, eyes curious and warm.

“How did you even get him?” she asks, voice soft.

“I heard one of my men saying that their family pet had a litter of puppies and they needed a home. I remembered that once you saved a dog in the old house. You wanted to keep it, but Salvatore refused.” I pause, watching the way her fingers move so tenderly over the puppy’s ears. “So I decided to get one for you. I went to the man’s house and picked one.”

She looks up at me, eyes shining, then leans in to kiss me, a quick grateful kiss, her lips soft and warm against mine. When she pulls back, she whispers, “You picked the right one. He is perfect.”

“How did you know which one to pick from the litter?” she asks, genuinely curious.

I recall standing in the man’s backyard, the puppies tumbling over each other in their box. “I already picked the biggest, strongest boy, the brave one who came right up to me, looked directly into my eyes, and smelled my hand. But I realized that he wasn’t for me, he was for you, and he wasn’t the right one.” I smile at her. “I wanted the one that would melt your heart, so I went for the shy one hiding in the basket.”

She doesn’t say anything for a moment. She just looks at me, eyes soft and huge. “Thank you.”

I watch her the whole time while we finish bathing the puppy, completely in awe of her beauty. The way the light catches on her skin, the gentle curve of her smile, the absolute tenderness in every movement she makes. At that moment, in my mind, I swear to do everything in my power to keep her safe and happy.

No matter what it costs me. No matter what I have to do to make it happen. This life we’re building one small moment at a time is the only thing that matters anymore.

Chapter Sixty

VIOLA

If someone had told me one month ago that after my husband died, my life would change from abject misery and despair to this level of deliriously happy, I would have been sure they were joking. Or cruel. Or both.

But this is my current reality.

I’m standing in the middle of our kitchen with my arms wrapped tightly around my grey bundle of irrepressible joy, refusing to let him go even though I know I have to. His warm, wriggling body presses against my chest, his tiny heart beating fast and steady against mine. His pink nose nudges into the crook of my neck, wet and curious, and those pretty ears flop softly against my shoulder with every excited wiggle. He smells like a puppy now, a mix of clean fur and something innocently alive. Throat tight with emotion, I bury my face into his fur, breathe him in, and feel another ridiculous surge of love.

“He’ll be fine,” the housekeeper assures me gently, her voice warm and patient as she stands nearby, watching me cling to him like he might vanish if I let go. Rebecca smiles at me with kind eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll take very good care of him while you’re gone. He’ll have all his toys, his favorite blanket, and I’ll send you pictures every day if you want.”

I know she’s right. I know he’ll be okay, but I hold him on to him a little longer, pressing one last kiss on the top of his head. A month ago, I had nothing. No freedom. No joy. No one really cared whether I smiled or cried. Now I have this tiny creature who looks at me like I hung the moon, and a man who brought him home just because he remembered that I have a soft spot for dogs. The thought makes my eyes sting with happy tears that I don’t bother hiding.

Ricci walks in then, carrying two leather duffel bags. He stops in the doorway when he sees me, and a soft smile curves his lips. Yup, the one that still makes my stomach flip every single time. His eyes move over me holding the puppy, and something warm and possessive flickers across his face.

“I told you, you can take him with you,” he says softly. “You don’t have to leave him behind. We’re flying private.”

I hesitate, looking down at the puppy’s big dark eyes and that perfect pink nose. Part of me wants to say yes so badly — to keep him close, to have him with us on this trip. But I know myself. I know how easily I get distracted when I’m happy, and I want this weekend to be about us. Just us. Just me and Ricci.

“Nah,” I say reluctantly, pressing one last kiss to the top of the puppy’s head before handing him over to Rebecca. “He’ll distract me. I’ll have eyes for no one but him.”

Ricci laughs. “In that case, he is banned from the trip.”

Ricci’s eyes meet mine across the kitchen, and the look we share is so intimate, so full of everything we’ve been building these past weeks, that I feel heat rush up my neck and across my cheeks. I blush. Hard. We’ve become so close, so much more intimate over the past month. He’s been incredibly considerate and patient in ways I never expected from a man like him. A part of me is still waiting for the other shoe to drop, still braced for the kind of casual cruelty I knew so well before. But it hasn’t come. Not once. And because it hasn’t, I’ve decided I want to completely let go and just revel in him and us.

This is my attitude for our vacation. I want to enjoy every single second of it.

Ricci comes over, gently pulls me away from Rebecca and Freddie. His strong, warm fingers lace through mine, and we head out of the apartment together. The driver is already waiting downstairs to pick up our luggage. We’re going for the weekend to a villa by the beach in California, and the thought still feels surreal. Like something that happens to other people.