Chapter 7 - The Woman Who Refused to Be Protected
With Matteo arrested, the world expected Lorenzo to step back into control.
He didn't.
He dismantled the criminal side of the family completely.
Warehouses were closed.
Accounts were surrendered.
Illegal businesses were sold.
Properties were transferred.
People who had worked under him for years were offered legitimate positions or paid severance.
Some called him weak.
Some called him reckless.
Renata called it courage.
One morning, she found him in the kitchen making coffee.
"You sold the villa."
He nodded.
"What?"
"The big one."
"Why?"
"I don't need it."
She stared.
"You're selling everything."
"Not everything."
"What are you keeping?"
He smiled.
"The bakery."
She blinked.
"What bakery?"
He handed her a key.
The building beside Marlowe's old office.
The sign still read COLOMBO BAKERY.
Renata laughed.
"You bought a bakery?"
"Your father loved baking."
"My father never baked."
"He did once."
"When?"
"When he stayed with my father in Milan."
Lorenzo showed her a photograph.
Her father.
Laughing.
Covered in flour.
Renata cried.
"He looked happy."
"He was."
She held the picture.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Because fear makes people stupid."
She looked at him.
"Not anymore."
"No."
They built a new business together.
A legal consultancy.
A bakery.
A foundation using recovered assets to support families affected by organized crime.
Renata became a partner.
Not an employee.
Not someone's protected woman.
Her own name was on the building.
The sign read:
FERRER & COLOMBO FOUNDATION.
One afternoon a journalist asked Lorenzo whether he had changed.
He answered,
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I met someone who didn't care who I was."
The journalist smiled.
"Your wife?"
Lorenzo looked toward Renata.
"My choice."
She heard him.
And smiled.
That night, she confronted him.
"You called me your choice."
"You are."
"You know that's dangerously romantic."
"I'll deny it."
She laughed.
Then became serious.
"Are you happy?"
He considered the question.
"Yes."
"Even without the empire?"
"I sleep better."
"Even without the money?"
"Definitely."
"Even without fear?"
"Especially without fear."
She leaned against him.
"I thought I'd spend my life being someone's daughter."
He looked at her.
"You became yourself."
She smiled.
"With you."
"Beside me."
May you like
He kissed her forehead.
"Never behind me."
