Luca held the beaded bracelet under the dim garage lights.

“Sarah wore this the day she died,” he said softly.

I recognized the uneven beads immediately.

“Sophie made it,” I whispered.

“Yes,” Luca said. “But Sarah didn’t want me to keep it. She wrote in her journal that if anything ever happened to her, I was to give it to the woman who would truly protect Sophie.”

He stepped closer to me.

The cold, hardened mafia boss was completely gone.

Standing in front of me was just a father, battered and exhausted, asking for grace.

“I failed her, Claire,” he said, his voice breaking. “I let Vanessa into our home because I thought it was the only way to keep the peace. I thought I was protecting Sophie. Instead, I let a monster punish her.”

I wiped a tear from my cheek.

“You didn’t know.”

“I should have,” he said fiercely.

He gently placed the beaded bracelet into my palm and closed my fingers over it.

“You stood up for my daughter tonight. You faced down men with guns to protect her. You love her.”

“I do,” I said, my voice thick. “She’s my blood.”

Luca shook his head.

“She’s yours because you chose to stay when things got dark.”

He turned and unlocked the SUV doors.

Sophie scrambled out and practically flew into her father’s arms.

Luca caught her, burying his face in her neck, holding her so tightly I thought he might never let go.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he cried softly into her hair. “I’m so sorry. Nobody will ever make you hide your mother’s pictures again. Nobody will ever take your dinner away. You are safe. I swear it.”

Sophie cried against his shoulder, her small hands gripping his ruined suit.

For the first time in a year, the heavy shadow of grief seemed to lift from the little girl’s shoulders.

She pulled back and looked at him.

“Is Vanessa gone?”

“Yes,” Luca said firmly. “She’s gone forever.”

Sophie looked over at me.

She reached into her own pocket.

“Claire,” she said. “I have something for you.”

She handed me a small, folded note written in blue crayon.