Chapter 167

Chapter 167
Lucky – 5 years later

I watch as Marco plays with his trainset, he absolutely adores it. And like his sister, he is the spitting image of his father. My heart is full as I watch him play waiting for his daddy to come home.

It took us a while to decide where we wanted to be eventually. We chose to come home to New York. As much as I love Atlanta and the sprawling mansion, it was time for us to return. Nico travelling to reign over his domain was killing him and he didn’t want to miss a thing with his children growing up.

And what a father he is. Attentive, patient, loving, giving. Everything I could hope for in a man. Our love is like nothing before; he still treats me like his princess.

Things have been easier since had had the meeting with Wetzl all those years ago. I hear he had been shot in the middle of the night with a bullet straight to his head. His men all ran, shrinking into the shadows and Nico moved in with his men and took the place by storm.

He tidied the place up. No more running girls or drugs. My man has a conscience and I love him for it.

“When is dad coming home?” Valentina asks. When I look at her, she makes me smile. So sassy, so outspoken and at only ten years of age. Today she wears her long, dark hair in a high ponytail. Already she is beautiful and God help us all when she becomes a wild teenager. We are in for some big headaches.

“Soon, sweetheart. Why don’t you play with Marco whilst I go to my office and finish up some paperwork.”

“Sure, okay,” she replies. Valentina is such a good sister to her little brother who she dotes on. Will there be more children for us? We decided two was perfect, a boy and a girl and we couldn’t be happier. They are our entire world.

The mall in Arizona was rebuilt, bigger, better and with more high-end brands. The support we received made my heart full. And our teams stayed loyal to us. Naturally, we have round the clock surveillance, we don’t want a repeat. There are still heads out there that would love to see Nico suffer but so far, all is quiet on the western front, as the old saying goes.

I leave Valentina and Marco to play and head into my office to run through the paperwork for a new project I am heading up. It’s a charity project for a children’s hospice here in the city. Alex my trusty assistant is joining me on a zoom call to run through some stats.

Our friendship has blossomed and get this; she and Dario are now a thing. After a few years of bitching, and giving Nico and I massive headaches they finally got together. A true romance novel type relationship. I never thought I would see the day.

She smiles when I switch on the laptop. “Lucky, looking smart this morning,” she says with a bright smile on her face.

“Gotta keep up appearances, Alex.” It’s nothing special that I wear. A red, bamboo silk blouse that shows off my dark hair that I still wear wild and long, teamed with black dress pants.

“How are the figures looking for Vegas?” I ask her. Another project I am working on. The extension of our casino.

“We’re going over budget on that, we need to make some cost cuts if you want to remain in scope,” she tells me. For the next thirty minutes we discuss the various projects on the table then say our goodbyes.

I’m eager for Nico to come home, have our family dinner and settle down for the night and when the kids go to bed, Nico will lead me into the bedroom and have wicked, hot sex with me. Our love making is better than ever, we trust each other, we push the boundaries. Nobody would know we’ve been together now ten years.

My father passed away three years ago. As you can imagine it broke my heart and took a while for me to come to terms with the loss of my father. He was everything to me and to my mother, who now is suffering with dementia. We have round the clock care for her. She flatly refused to come to be with me.

Still today, I miss my parents deeply. Mom isn’t like she used to be; however, I still visit her four times a week and take Marco and Valentina with me. Some days are good and others days are bad. We roll with it as best we can.

I hear the penthouse elevator doors swish open. Close my laptop down and leave my office to greet my gorgeous husband. Dressed in his signature navy suit, white button down and dress shoes, he looks every inch the handsome man that he is. He gives me a wink that makes my heart flutter and my panties go wet. It’s the promise of a wicked night he’s going to give me later.

Marco jumps up from his train set and runs towards Nico with his arms outstretched. “Dadda, Dadda, up,” he demands with his little hands opening and closing. Oh, my heart.

I thank God everyday for the life that we have. It feels safe, I am busy, my children are healthy and beautiful and smart and the man in front of me is the man that dreams are truly made of. I couldn’t be happier.

Nico picks up his son who instantly hugs him and wraps his legs around him like a little monkey.

Valentina gets up and goes to her father and wraps her arms around his hips. “I missed you, Daddy,” she says. My little girl is a daddy’s girl through and through. She’s had him round her little finger since she came out into the world.

“Babies, I missed you too, it’s good to be home,” he says then blows raspberries on Marco’s neck sending him into fits of laughter.

“Let’s eat, I’m starving. I made pizza,” I tell Nico. “With the kids. You should have seen the kitchen,” I laugh. Today, I let our cook have the day off. Sometimes it feels nice to be like a normal wife and mom. I revel in it and try to do it as often as I can.

We don’t hire a nanny, we discussed it early on and decided that we had to coord our schedules, that if one travelled, the other stayed at home. However, being back in NYC helps massively.

At dinner we all sit down like a proper family. Nico helps Marco slicing the pizza. Valentina always headstrong manages by herself to make the slices.

“What’s news?” Nico asks his daughter.

“Well, Daddy, I think I want to be like mommy and work for you.”

Nico and I look at each other and smile. Told you she would be a chip off the old block.

“We’ll have to see about that, young lady. You need to study hard and get all your grades to come into the business.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll do it,” she says confidently.

My little girl is ten going on thirty.

I watch my family, talking and laughing and know that Nico and I have made it through all the shit that was flung at us. This is what wealth and happiness truly is.

Family. Happiness and not a day goes by that I don’t feel grateful or count my blessings.

“I love you, Queen,” he tells me, squeezing my hand.

“Ick,” Marco says and Valentina rolls her eyes.

“I’m never touching a boy,” she says. Nico and I throw our heads back and laugh.

“I love you too, husband,” I tell him.

“Two ick,” Marco says and again another eye roll from Valentina.

This is what dreams are truly made of.