Chapter 7 - The Rule He Changed for HerZo changed one rule.
Dinner wasn't mandatory anymore.
It was family.
Anyone could come.
Anyone could refuse.
No punishment.
No obligation.
No performances.
The staff still ate.
But nobody was forced.
Tessa laughed when she heard.
“You changed the entire household because I wouldn't eat dinner.”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because I realized people aren't loyal because you feed them.”
She looked at him.
“They're loyal because you care.”
“Yes.”
“Who taught you that?”
He looked at her.
“You.”
The estate transformed.
The kitchen became warmer.
The staff dining hall stayed open all night.
Anyone who worked late could eat.
The old motto disappeared.
Stay with me, and you eat like kings.
It was replaced by:
Nobody leaves hungry.
Tessa kept the first printed version.
She framed it.
Years later, people would still talk about the change in the Rossi household.
But the family knew the real story.
It began with a canvas bag.
A maid.
A hungry child.
A suspicious man.
And a dinner bell.
The wedding came two years later.
Zo didn't invite half the city.
He invited family.
Anna.
Luca.
Lena.
Rose's surviving friends.
The staff.
The doctors.
Even the nurse who had once cared for Lena.
Tessa walked toward him in a simple white dress.
No diamonds.
No designer label.
Just her.
Zo looked overwhelmed.
She smiled.
“Nervous?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
He laughed.
“I thought Mafia bosses weren't supposed to be nervous.”
“I'm not.”
“You're shaking.”
He looked at his hand.
“You're right.”
She took it.
“Why?”
“Because I finally have something worth losing.”
She kissed him.
After the ceremony, Lena danced with Anna.
Luca played piano.
The kitchen stayed open all night.
And for the first time, no one was watching the clock.
But during the celebration, Zo received an envelope.
He opened it.
Inside was an old photograph.
His mother.
Rose.
Daniel.
And four children.
All newborn.
On the back:
There was a reason they were separated.
Zo stared.
Tessa came beside him.
“What is it?”
He showed her.
She frowned.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
The next morning, they discovered the truth.
The photograph had been taken before the children were separated.
But Elena had written one sentence on it.
They cannot be raised together until the danger is gone.
Zo read it again.
Then again.
The danger had never gone.
Because someone else had inherited Daniel's network.
A man named Victor Bellini.
Matteo's brother.
He had been waiting twenty-eight years.
May you like
And he wanted the children.
All four.
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