ELDEN HOLLOW –
MORNING
The morning sun slipped quietly into the room, brushing its light over soft blankets and tiny sneakers on the floor.
"Daaaddy…"
Leo's small voice broke the silence as he tried to pull his little pants up on his own. "Pants stuck!"
Lewis looked over from his wardrobe, already dressed in his sharp black shirt and watch glinting. He strode over, knelt down, and fixed the twist in the waistband.
"There," he said. "Now the right way up."
Leo beamed. "I big boy!"
Lewis gave him a rare, warm smile. "The biggest."
Leo wobbled to his shoes, then paused. "Daddy… tie?"
Lewis raised an eyebrow. "Tie?"
Leo pointed at the drawer. "Red one. Wike matchy."
Lewis smirked. "Trying to outdress me?"
Leo giggled. "I boss too!"
With his red clip-on tie and tiny shoes in place, Leo waddled beside his father as they headed to the black SUV parked at the mansion entrance.
Every morning for nearly two year , this had been their routine.
And Lewis hadn't missed a single day.
The sun had barely risen when the sleek black SUV rolled out of the estate gates.
Inside, Lewis sat behind the wheel, precise in a dark charcoal suit, his jaw set, eyes steady on the road ahead.
In the back seat, strapped securely into a custom leather car seat, Leo clutched his stuffed lion and hummed softly to himself.
"Daaaddy…"
Leo kicked his little shoes against the seat. "We go 'gain?"
Lewis glanced at him in the mirror. "Yes. To work."
"Your wowk?" Leo said, bright-eyed. "Leo help?"
"You can try," Lewis said, voice dry but not unkind.
The city came into view — steel and glass shimmering through morning haze.
It wasn't the De Salvo family tower that rose in the skyline…
It was his.
A separate world.
No silver spoons, no inherited empire — just cold, relentless work. His own blood. His brother's sacrifices. Every floor of that building had been built with something earned, not gifted.
And now, Leo entered it like he belonged there.
Because he did.
Lewis parked in the underground level. Jack was already waiting near the elevator, tablet in hand.
"Morning, sir."
Leo wriggled as Lewis unbuckled him.
"Jacky!"
Jack smiled. "Hey, boss junior."
Leo clung to Lewis's thumb with one hand and held up his lion in the other.
"Come, Daddy. I wawk too."
They stepped into the private elevator — just the three of them — as the polished doors slid shut behind them.
Lewis looked down at the boy standing proud beside him. He didn't say it aloud, but the thought lingered:
Leo would inherit this world. Not the old one. Not the family's.
This one — forged by fire and choice.
But what he hadn't accounted for…
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