Michel chuckled.
Charles passed Michel a glance before tucking the baby into the crook of his arm. He ran a fingertip down the slope of the baby’s nose, still speaking to him all the while. “But that’s grand to take after him, ain’t it? I hear this father of yours, Antony, does amazing things every day. And I suspect you are one of them, child. I have time to make up for here.”
Well, then …
Michel let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding in until just that second. Anxiety had a funny way of manifesting, but just like that, it was gone.
“Grazie,” he told his own father.
Dante smiled.
Like he just knew. And Michel supposed he did considering he was the father of a daughter himself. How would Dante feel if he had spent close to a decade estranged from his only daughter because of his own mistakes? Would he take the chance to close the distance, even if it meant admitting his stupid pride?
Michel would bet yes.
“Forgiveness sometimes begins with taking the first step,” his father replied. “Even if you weren’t the man who forced the distance.”
Yeah.
Michel would remember that.
A NOTE
I remember a subset of my readers asking for Michel and thinking, “But why?” I had, by that time, made it perfectly clear Dante and Catrina’s son would not be in the family business, at least not in their kind of way. And yet, some people still wanted him. So, I figured, how would this son of a mafia Don and a Queen Pin—this child raised by the highest positions in criminal power—who refused to be a made man be received? What would you all think when you considered Michel and his choices in life or business?
I wrote him with the intention of everyone—from the characters in the book to the readers enjoying his story—underestimating him. I thought, people will assume he isn’t like his family because he didn’t choose their path, too.
And I wanted him to prove the characters in the book, and any reader who underestimated him, entirely wrong. Because he is still their son, but he is also more.
Thanks for coming on this journey with me, loves.
—BK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bethany-Kris is a Canadian author, lover of much, and mother to four young sons, two cats, and three dogs. A small town in Eastern Canada where she was born and raised is where she has always called home. With her boys under her feet, a snuggling cat, barking dogs, and a spouse calling over his shoulder, she is nearly always writing something ... when she can find the time.
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OTHER BOOKS
Renzo + Lucia
Privilege
Harbor
Contempt
Andino + Haven
Duty
Vow
John + Siena
Loyalty
Disgrace
Cross + Catherine
Always
Revere
Unruly
The Companion
Naz & Roz
Guzzi Duet
Unraveled, Book One
Entangled, Book Two
DeLuca Duet
Waste of Worth: Part One
Worth of Waste: Part Two
Standalone Titles
Dirty Pool
Effortless
Cozen
Captivated
Dishonored
Donati Bloodlines
Thin Lies
Thin Lines
Thin Lives
Behind the Bloodlines
The Complete Trilogy
Filthy Marcellos
Antony
Lucian
Giovanni
Dante
Legacy
A Very Marcello Christmas
The Complete Collection
Seasons of Betrayal
Where the Sun Hides
Where the Snow Falls
Where the Wind Whispers
Seasons: The Complete Seasons of Betrayal Series
Gun Moll Trilogy
Gun Moll
Gangster Moll
Madame Moll
Deathless & Divided
Reckless & Ruined
Scarless & Sacred
Breathless & Bloodstained
The Complete Series
Maldives & Mistletoe
The Russian Guns
The Arrangement
The Life
The Score
Demyan & Ana
Shattered
The Jersey Vignettes
Find more on Bethany-Kris’s website at www.bethanykris.com.
Copyright © 2019 by Bethany-Kris. All Rights Reserved.
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted material is illegal and punishable by law. No parts of this work may be reproduced, copied, used, or printed without expressed written consent from the publisher/author. Exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in reviews.
eISBN 13: 978-1-988197-83-8
Editor: Elizabeth Peters
Proofreaders: Tracy A., Mia B., Tori W. and Felicia F.
Cover Design © London Miller
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations, corporations, locales and so forth are a product of the author’s imagination, or if real, used fictitiously. Any resemblance to a person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.