Chapter 122

5 Years Later

Luca’s POV

“Are we ready? We are going to be late”, I called up the stairs. I turned and looked down at the two little mini me’s. “Your mother and sister sure do like to take their time, don’t they?”, I asked. Leonardo chuckled, “Women”, he shook his head with disapproval. Colin held up his sippy cup, as if he was agreeing. I laughed, these boys have a sense of humor, indeed.

“Yes, yes. We are ready”, Marabella’s sweet voice filled my ears. I whipped around and faced the stairs. Three kids later, and my wife still looks as stunning as she did the day I married her. Expect, now she has a brunette, hazel-eyed princess by her side. “Wow, ladies, you both look absolutely stunning”, I uttered. “Thank you, papa”, Miriam said, bouncing on her toes. “Yes, thank you, love”, Mara said with a smile on her face.

My eyes were still locked on Marabella. She still takes my breath away every time I lay eyes on her. “Wow, ma”, Leonardo said. Mara chuckled, “Thank you, Leo”, she curtsied. “Mama”, Colin cooed. I took Mara’s hand and pulled her to me, making her gasp. “Luca”, she murmured. “Yes, baby girl?”, I whispered. Her chest lifted and fell heavily with each breath she heaved.

My eyes slowly fell on her cleavage. I swallowed hard as the smoothness of her skin tempted me. “Ma, Pa, we are late”, Leonardo complained. I chuckled as I leaned in and kissed their mother. “You are right, like usual”, I told Leo. “Shall we get going then? I do not believe God would like us to be too late”, I said, taking my beautiful little girl’s hand, and swooping up Colin so that Mara only had to worry about Leo. Which is the easiest task of all.

Leonardo and Miriam are twins. They are almost five years old. And Colin is almost three years old. After Leo, and Mir were born, Mara and I decided that church might be a good thing for us. And it has been, even the rest of the family has started going with us. Which, they are all already there, waiting for us. “Leo, go get in”, I said, opening the passenger door for Mara to get in. I put Colin in his seat next and strapped him in, before placing my princess in her’s.

I jumped in the driver’s seat and tossed it in gear. I couldn’t ask for a better life. I have love from a beautiful woman, and three beautiful children. I have an amazing family who are there for me. Marabella’s life has also got better with time. She has successfully merged her skills with our business. We now design and build greenhouses all over the east side.

I’m very proud of Mara. School after the twins was rough on her. But, I made sure that the children were taken care of, so that she could focus on schooling. It was a tiring year, but well worth it. Mara and I are also working with the cities surrounding us to have fruit trees planted along the roads and highways. We have also cut homelessness within the city by 60%. Marabella designed efficient one and two bedroom homes that are completely self-sustainable. They were also insanely cheap to build, so I had no problem with donating the money to make it happen.

When we arrived at the church, Mara tried to step out, but I locked the doors. “Don’t move”, I told her, looking at her with ‘you know why’ eyes. I jumped out and ran around the SUV to let her out first. Leo unbuckled himself and got out on his own, while I helped Miriam, then got Colin. Marabella took Miriam and Leo’s hands. She looked so elegant, as she waltzed through the church doors.

She walked to where my family sat, alongside her mother, Sherry. “My babies”, Sherry whispered excitedly. “Gramma”, the children greeted her with a hug before hugging my ma, and settling down between their two grandmothers. “Mara you look beautiful as always”, Sherry muttered to Mara, as she hugged. “Thank you, mom. You do too”, Mara responded.

Sherry has done well at staying clean. Five years sober is a job well done, I must agree. She hasn’t had one relapse, which, according to the doctors, is absolutely outstanding. I’m proud of the impact my beautiful wife has had on not just my family, but hers as well.

Franky still sits in my dungeon, though. I visit him every day to return the agony that he had inflicted upon Marabella for years. Mara knows where I go, what I am doing, but she doesn’t say anything about it. I think that she still needs more time to fully decide what to do with her father. Which, I can not blame her in the slightest. It’s a precarious situation indeed. It’s crazy that I am thinking about that volatile man, as I sit in a church of God.

I felt Mara’s hand touch my face, drawing my attention to her. “Are you okay?”, she whispered. I smiled, softly, “Oh, absolutely”, I answered her. I placed my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to me. Mara placed her hand on my knee, and I placed my hand on top of hers, entwining our fingers.

Being able to sit in church with my family is one of my favorite activities to look forward to during the week. Crazy, right? Marabella has changed me immensely. Then having children, that only pushed me to be a better person even harder. I have done everything in my power to ensure that any operations that we undergo are done with morality. Have I taken any lives in the last five years? Yes, I have. Am I proud of it? No, I am not. I did what needed to be done to protect my family.

As for Zera’s father, the rat, he managed to escape the country before we were able to get our hands on him. He has also managed to avoid my men thus far as well. I’ll give credit where it is due. He is a smart little bastard. But when I get my hands on him for all the money that he has stolen from me, and for working with Franky for all these years, he’s going to wish for death.

I have not got softer. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. I have become more fierce and protective. I have little princes, a princess, and a Queen to keep safe. But, I also have an image to maintain with them as well. I need them to know how to properly behave. I want my sons to know how to treat their future wives, and my daughter to know how her future husband should treat her.

I show them every day that we are strong, and not to be trifled with. Leo has even begun training with me already. Of course, I take it easy on him because of his young age, but I love to see his motivation to be a leader. I am excited to see how well-defined he is as a young adult. I hope to teach him to be a better man than I could ever dream of.