Mafia Legacy

Chapter Thirty Seven-Charlotte

2 months later...

"Another margarita for the lady?" Luca stood above me with a silly smirk on her face, holding a glass. I loved how relaxed he looked, hanging out here on the beach in Hawaii with our kids and friends. We had so desperately needed this trip, and after only a few days, I was already seeing the difference it was making for all of us.

When I suggested a family vacation, I had been thinking about a little weekend getaway to San Diego or Miami or something like that. Instead, Luca and Marco and Angelo had run with the idea and planned the most extravagant of vacations to a secluded resort in Kauai. We had only been here a few days, but so far, it was absolutely incredible. We had all the sun and food and drinks and adventure we could want, and everyone was having a ball.

After a day of kayaking yesterday, most of us were just hanging out at the resort today. Hailey and I were lying around in the sun, most of the kids were playing in a sand volleyball game just down the beach from us, and Marco and Luca had just gone up to the bar for a few more drinks. Julia and Angelo had taken the kids to a water park. They were still young and not able to entertain themselves like ours were, and I had never been happier that Luca and I had kids early. We let them do their own thing for the most part, and we were all more than happy with that.

"You read my mind." I smiled, taking the glass from him. "This place sure is beautiful, isn't it?"

Luca settled into the chair next to me. "Incredible. In fact, what do you think about us buying a retirement home here?"

"You?" I peaked over my sunglasses at him. "Retirement?"

"You tried that once, remember?" Hailey laughed. "I'll give you the cliff notes. It didn't work."

"Yeah." Luca chuckled. "But this time it would be different. I'm ready to hand the reins over."

These last few months had been rough, to say the least. After Luca and Angelo's stint in prison, the hell we all went through to get them out, and the realization that Carlo was the one who had betrayed us all, I wasn't sure we'd ever recover. Luca especially. For the last few weeks, he'd seemed so worn out and lost, Carlo's betrayal still weighing on him heavily. He was constantly second guessing whether or not he'd made the right decision. There was nothing anyone could say to help, although we all tried. It was just something he needed to work through on his own.

Carlo was safe in a rehab center in Upstate New York right now, and would be there at least for a year. Once he got out, Luca could decide what to do, and I could only hope that it wouldn't dredge all of this old hurt back up. I didn't know what the answer was, but I trusted Luca with everything I had, and I knew he wouldn't take this lightly. Whatever he decided to do with Carlo once he was out, I knew he would make the right choice. We had time to come to terms with everything, and hopefully, at that point, we'd all be in a better place. Right now, it was still too fresh and raw. Even thinking about it felt like salt in an old wound, and that was why we'd decided that we needed this distraction.

"Bullshit." Marco grinned, joining us again. He handed Hailey a drink and sat at the end of her chair. "You'll never be ready for that."

"Did you look?" Luca asked Marco, ignoring all talk about his retirement.

"Oh, yeah." Marco chuckled. "It's happening."

"Damn right it is!" Luca and Marco High-fived.

"What are you two scheming about?" I asked.

Marco and Luca shared a laugh. "Did you notice that Viv and Leo aren't playing volleyball with the rest of the kids?"

"No..." Hailey said.

"That's because they're hanging out on a little date in the pool." Luca chuckled.

"What?" I shirked, bolting up and looking over my shoulder towards the pool.

"Don't make it obvious." Luca slapped my leg playfully.

"You're okay with your daughter alone with a boy in the pool?" Hailey arched her eyebrow at Marco.

"Only because it's Leo." Marco said. "I know Char would bust his ass if he was ever anything but a perfect gentleman to her."

"Good point." Hailey said.

"This is exactly how Marco and I planned it." Luca beamed. "Now, they're going to get married and take over the empire and we get to retire to Hawaii."

"You're giving me a headache." I laughed, taking a sip of my margarita. I actually loved the thought of Leo and Viv ending up together. It was just hard to think of my babies growing up so fast. Growing up so much that we were actually having a legitimate conversation about them taking over for their fathers.

"Then don't look now." Hailey rolled her eyes. "They're making out."

"What?" Marco shot up, turning into papa bear.

"Easy killer." Hailey grabbed his hand and leading him back toward the hotel. "Let her live a little. Let's go back to the room and I'll take your mind off of it."

"But what about..." He tried to protest.

"See you guys later!" Hailey ignored, tugging him along the beach.

"Poor Marco." Luca laughed. "I remember the first time I saw Layla kiss a boy."

"Yeah, she was eight in Aruba." I reminded him, laughing at the memory.

"Ugh." Luca groaned, laying back so his head was resting on my stomach. "Speaking of that, where is she? She's not down there with them either."

"She went back to the room a little bit ago. I think she's FaceTiming Hunter."

Luca covered his eyes. "Is that really still happening?"

"Yes, and you're going to be nothing but nice to that poor kid. He saved both of our lives, you know."

"After helping them arrest me in the first place..."

"He was young and stupid, Luca. You were once, too."

"Of course I was, but he's dating my daughter, so I get to be a little critical."

I ran my fingers through his hair. "I'll give you a little leeway because you're cute, but if you do anything to embarrass her..."

He cut me off with a kiss. "Want to go back to our room and you can take my mind off of my daughter's relationships?"

"I think that could be arranged...." I smirked, leaning down and pressing a kiss to his lips.

An alarm on his phone started going off. "Oh, fuck." He groaned, rolling off of me. "Can you hold that thought for like...an hour?"

"Why?" I whined, pushing my lips out into a pout.

"Because I have a few things to take care of." He gave me one last kiss before slipping a shirt on. "But I promise it'll be worth it!"

"Okay, I'll just lay here all hot and bothered by myself, I guess." I rolled my eyes, settling myself back into the beach chair.

"I'll be back in plenty of time to take care of that before dinner, my queen." He called over his shoulder.

I watched him jogging away and couldn't help but smile. It had been a while since I had seen the goofy, carefree side of him and I was realizing how much I had missed it. It wasn't often that he let things get to him the way this had, and I was glad he was finally able to let his guard down a little. It felt nice to be worried about nothing other than our children's relationships and when we needed to be ready for dinner. It felt nice, and it felt normal.

And even after all of these years, and how much I loved our mafia family, sometimes I still craved normalcy.