Chapter FORTY-NINE

"Tell me, Fred, how are we doing?" I ask the man Santiago hired to help me ruin Ivan. "We have destroyed a good number of his restaurants here in the US, the Costanzo family is also doing an excellent job with his businesses in Europe, good is what I would say, Ma'am." "That's good to hear, has he visited any of the places we have destroyed?" "No, he hasn't." "None?" I ask, a little shocked. "Yes, none." "That is odd, I am sure it's only a matter of time before he comes out of his hiding place." "I believe so too." "Hopefully soon. We can end here for today. Thank you." "You are welcome, Ma'am," he says walking out of the meeting room. I follow him once I gather my things. I am fifteen weeks pregnant; my belly has grown a little, but you can't really tell if I am pregnant or not. I walk out of the meeting room to meet Emily so we can go back to the office, I had the meeting at one of our warehouses. Emily doesn't know it is not building materials we keep here. I wish I could tell her about my family's business, but I think it's best she doesn't know. I step out and don't find Emily waiting for me outside the boardroom. I walk over to Santiago's office to see if she is with him, but I doubt it. It won't hurt to check regardless. I arrive at Santiago's office, what I see happening outside the door, in front of me makes a smile grace my face. Santiago is kissing Emily; I can't believe they made up. I hoped for them to make up, and I am happy it has finally happened. I think Emily knew deep down that Santiago loved her. She just needed someone to tell her that it was ok to forgive him, and I did. I am so happy for them. "I love you," Santiago says, smiling, sounding out of breath as his forehead is against Emily's. "I love you too," Emily says with the same expression on her face as Santiago's, still trying to catch her breath. They look so in love; this makes me very happy. "I am happy you guys finally made up," I say, smiling as I walk closer to them. "Boss, you are done." Emily says, looking flustered, caught kissing Santiago. "Yes, I am, why didn't you guys tell me you made up?" I ask. Feeling a little hurt, that I had to find out this way. "We didn't know the best time to tell you with everything going on," Santiago says, lacing his hands with Emily's. "I understand. I am happy for you guys." I am guessing they got back together around the time I lost Stefano. They must have felt it wasn't the right time to tell me they made up when the love of my life just died. "Thank you." Emily says, smiling. On the drive back to the office, Emily speaks up. We are both sitting in back, the driver and my bodyguard sit in front. I have been doing a lot of damage to Ivan's properties, it is necessary to protect the baby and me at all times. "I am sorry I didn't tell you about Santiago and me. When we made up, it was not the best time to share such good news with you," Emily says. "I totally understand. You don't have to explain yourself again." "Thank you, but I wanted to tell you something else." "I am listening." "I know about your family's real business," Emily says. "What are you talking about?" I ask, pretending I don't know what she is talking about. "Santiago told me everything." "Everything, what exactly is everything?" I ask, still pretending not to know what she is talking about. "I know about the mafia business," she says, whispering into my ears. I am sure she doesn't want the guys in front to hear her. If only she knew they were more involved in the mafia business than any of us. "Hold on a second," I say clicking on my phone to call Santiago. I have known Emily half of my life, but you can never be too safe. "Hi, Sis, did you forget something?" Santiago asks once he answers. 'Le dijiste a Emily sobre nuestro negocio familiar? (Did you tell Emily about our family's business?" I ask. 'Lo hice, hay algún problema con eso? (I did, is there a problem with that?) 'No hay problema, solo quería asegurarme de que ella obtuviera la información de usted. (There is no problem; I just wanted to make sure she got the information from you)." 'Oh, lo entiendo (Oh, I understand)." 'Sí, y que le cuentes sobre nuestro negocio significaría que debes estar locamente enamorado de ella. (Yes, for you to tell her about our business would mean you must be madly in love with her)." "Sí lo soy (Yes, I am)," he says, even if I can't see his face; I can imagine the smile on his face right now. 'Estoy feliz de que hayas encontrado una mujer que te haga feliz. (I am happy you found a woman who makes you happy). 'Yo también, adiós, tengo cosas que hacer. Te hablaré más tarde (Me too, Bye, I have things to do. I will talk to you later)." "Adios (Bye)," I say hanging up. "What was that all about?" Emily asks once I drop the call. "Making sure you got the information from the right source." "Oh." "I know it might sound like I don't trust you, but you have to understand the kind of business my family does. Trust is not something; we exercise easily." "I understand." "Thank you for understanding, and welcome to the family." "Why are you welcoming me to the family? I am not married to your brother." "Not yet, but you will be soon," I say, smiling, I know Santiago must have told her about our family because he sees a future with her. We arrive back at the office after a few minutes of driving. I walk into my office and take my seat behind my desk. I am about to open a document and start reading it when I feel a cold metal pressed to my neck. "Hello, my Love," Ivan says as his disgusting breath fans my neck. "Hello Ivan," I say reaching for my gun behind my pants, but stop once he speaks. "Do not even think about it," he says taking my gun. "I have missed you like crazy these past few months." He says, walking away from me. He walks to the middle of the room and starts blabbering rubbish. I don't care about listening to him, all I want to do right now is find something to shut him up. I see what I can use and put it in my hand before he turns around. As he continues to blabber, I use this opportunity to execute my plan of shutting him up. I carefully take off my shoes and walk away from my desk. I walk closer to him, once I am close enough, I take action. I stab him in the neck with my pen, I take it out and stab him again. I repeat this until my face is covered with his blood. I move back so that his body can fall, I stand above him after taking the guns from him. A beautiful smile is on my face as I watch him hold his neck to stop the bleeding. I shoot him in the head and heart multiple times to make sure the motherfucker never comes back. My whole body is covered in his blood by the time I am done, I release a heavy sigh as I smell his blood everywhere around me. "Beautiful," A voice says behind me. The second the voice registers in my brain, tears escape my eyes. I know that is what he would have said, if he saw me right now. "I could not be prouder to be the father of your baby," The voice says again, I know for sure that I am hallucinating now. Stefano is standing in front of me. I blink my eyes a couple of times to drive the image of him away, but he is still in front of me. "I have missed you, my Love," Stefano says, walking closer to me. "You are not real. Why won't you leave?" I ask, shaking my head. "I am real mi Amore," Stefano says, placing his warm hands on my bloody face. I try to speak, to ask him how, but I choke on my words. All I can do is release tears of joy as I realize the love of my life is standing in front of me, he is not a hallucination, he is a real human being. "How?" I finally manage to ask. "It's a long story mi Amore, and I have all the time in the world to tell you," Stefano says, pulling me into a hug. He doesn't care that I am covered in blood. I also don't care, I hug him tight, I never want to let go again.