“Is nothing compared to the amount of money I have,” I interrupt him with a wide grin. “It needs to be done. We need a bigger headquarters for our bigger, combinedborgata. Something like this would’ve been impossible in Hell’s Kitchen, but it’s quite feasible here with Beverley’s help.”
Beverley smiles and nods. “I’m happy to do it for you, Gabriel. Honestly, it’s all aboveboard…mostly. You have the money and I have the permits, so getting it all approved and into your hands wasn’t an impossible feat.”
“This is amazing,” Florian continues. “Camille’s going to be thrilled.”
“I hope so. I hope that she won’t be upset about moving the headquarters for the Grecos here to Tribeca.”
“Nah, she won’t mind that at all,” Florian chuckles. “Hell’s Kitchen holds some fond memories for her but also some painful ones. She’ll be happy to be able to stay in Tribeca ‘round the clock now.” His brow furrows and I wonder which part of this plan he’s found issue with. “The only thing that I don’t understand is why you didn’t tell Camille about this?” he asks as he looks between me and Bev. “She thinks you’re sneaking around.”
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” I smile. “I wanted to make sure Bev and I could get the whole thing approved and ready to go before I told anyone. Besides, she should know that she never has to worry about me sneaking around. I love the woman more than life itself.”
“I get it,” he nods. “But you have to understand that Camille has been betrayed more than once in her life—by herborgata, by her best friend—and I’d imagine that leaves a scar.” He’s right. I hadn’t really thought of that before now.
“Well, now that it’s all handled, I just need to wait for the official stamp on the documents by the city council and then I’ll tell Camille. I plan to bring her right to the section of the city I purchased and where we’ll build the new headquarters, and give it to her as a surprise.”
But when I get back to my apartment later in the morning , Camille seems unusually upset and emotional. “Where have you been?” she asks in a cracking voice. Her lips are pressed together in a pout, and it looks like she’s holding in tears. I don’t at all understand why she’s so upset with me.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, thinking that something else must be causing her to be so upset. “Did something happen?”
She shakes her head as her cheeks flush red. “What’s wrong?” she asks angrily. “You’re sneaking out before dawn, not telling me where you’re going, and then coming back here as if nothing has happened. You’re having an affair, aren’t you? Already? We’ve only just gotten married, and I thought everything was finally perfect. I’m a fool! I never should’ve agreed to be part of any of this, and I never should’ve married you!” Her words hit my chest like a knife plunged into my flesh, and for a second I reel from her accusation. But I realize that this is all my fault. How was I supposed to think she would feel and react? “We’re supposed to be able to trust each other, Gabriel. Why is it that there are no men on the face of this planet who are trustworthy?”
“Camille,” I say quickly as I reach out and wrap my arms around her to pull her into me. She tries to bat me away in anger, but I hold her close anyways because I know that this is all just a misunderstanding, one entirely my fault and that I need to make right. “I’m not having an affair. I’ve been meeting with the mayor so that I can buy a section of the city for you.”
“What?”
“It’s true, you can ask Florian.” I release my grasp on her when she settles down and starts to listen to me. “I saw him following me and brought him along so he could see what I’ve been doing. He knows everything. I’ve purchased an entire section of Tribeca so we can build a new, bigger headquarters for our combinedborgata. I can even show you the blueprints if you want. You’ll be able to lead theborgataby my side—together.”
“But why didn’t you just tell me?” she cries with tears of relief.
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” I smile.
Camille reaches up to clasp my face in her hands and kisses me. I can feel her sense of relief as her lips press against mine.
“I’m sorry I made you worry,” I apologize. “But I swear to you that I’ll never give you reason to doubt me. You have my whole heart, and you can always trust that, Camille. I’m sorry for having kept a secret from you.”
“It’s okay,” she says as she lets out a long breath. “And to be fair, I have a surprise for you too.”
“You do?” I ask in surprise.
“Yes, and as big as your surprise was, I think this one is even bigger,”
EPILOGUE: SEVEN YEARS LATER
CAMILLIE
It’s hard to believe that seven years have passed since the night I told Gabriel I was pregnant. It’s even harder to believe that Sofia has grown into such a strong, beautiful young girl. I see parts of myself in her—all the best parts that I wanted to flourish when I was her age, and that got trampled on as I got older. But for Sofia, things will be different. Gabriel and I are making certain of it.
“Sofia is beautiful, curious, and headstrong, just like her mother was at her age,” Florian laughs as he watches my daughter climbing up the side of the fire escape like a cat with nine lives.
“Get down from there!” Gabriel calls to her. “If you fall, I can promise you that you won’t jump back up with eight more lives.” I chuckle at how much he and I are always thinking the same thing at the same time. Sofia listens to her father and gets down, but not without a small look of disappointment resting on her small face. I hug Gabriel and tell him what a good dad he is, to soften the blow of his daughter’s fury at getting told to stop climbing on the side of the building. And then I look out at the changed neighborhood.
“Seven years has changed a lot of things here,” he says as he looks out at what we’ve accomplished too. The entire structure of the mafia in the city has been shaken up thanks to our efforts. Ourborgatais large and strong, the first of its kind to model a sort of new combined crew. Gabriel and I lead together side by side as one point of strength. We complement each other, and once all of the kinks were worked out, our people complement each other too. Nick and Florian are indistinguishable as far as who serves asconsigliereto whom. They both work for both of us, and our entire family no longer sees a line drawn in the sand. Everyone identifies as part of ourborgatawith no one caring any longer who is a Greco and who is an Adami.
Thanks to our stronghold in the city, both in territory and in numbers, we are the prominentborgatanow, and we work to ensure that things in Tribeca are handled with a level hand and a keen eye. Sure, there are still violently profitable underground channels that support our business dealings—there will always be danger in mafia life. But together, Gabriel and I have a tight hold on things. And perhaps most importantly, we’re carving and building a path forward for our daughter in the future.
My parents tried to do the same for me, and they were powerful and respected leaders and wonderful parents. But the thing they fell short on was their inability to see that reality was going to push back at me during my adulthood when they were gone. Gabriel and I are ensuring that mistake doesn’t happen again for our own daughter. We raise Sofia differently than my parents raised me—bringing her into the daily activities of our business, as long as it isn’t dangerous, of course. My parents tried to shield me from much of it, and it allowed me to think that everything was within my reach without fear of being challenged. But for my daughter, I want her to know how hard she must work. I want her to see the gritty underside of things, how theborgataruns and how to lead it one day.
And because Gabriel and I have already broken the traditional mold and shaken up the structure of how theborgateare run, I want Sofia to be able to lead one day all on her own—not as a married woman if she doesn’t want that, but independently in charge of theborgata. Gabriel and I have blazed the trail, and now we’ll make sure our daughter is strong enough to walk it, if that’s what she chooses to do. And while I’ve been grooming our daughter to be strong starting from a very young age, Gabriel has been grooming theborgatato be ready to accept and respect a woman to lead them someday, with or without a husband. Every single member of thisborgataknows that one day, when Gabriel and I are no longer here, it’s Sofia they’ll answer to.
