When they reached the waterfront, Gino stopped when he saw the boats that Juan and his men had arrived on. It all made sense now, Juan and his men got this close to them because they had come on low powered boats. Being in the building made hearing their arrival impossible. They must have been watching the docks waiting for them to leave. The whole ambush was planned out.

The two men that were guarding the boats had froze for just a moment before lifting their guns aiming at them. Gino shoved Elena hard causing her to fall to the ground as two shots rang out, one hitting him and the other just missing her. Gino grunted but fired back hitting one of the guys and the other dropped getting cover by a boat.

Gino continued to fire at the boat as he moved closer, not giving the guy time to return the shots. When his gun went empty, he tossed it to the side pulling another out as the guy looked up over the edge Gino fired one last shot killing him. Sucking in a deep breath, Gino glanced down at his side while lifting the front of shirt. The bullet had gone straight through him, shaking his head he lowered his shirt.

Elena grabbed the gun she dropped while falling then quickly climbed to her feet and ran towards Gino as he slowly turned to face her. She saw the crimson color starting to soak the side of his shirt as his hand went to where his wound was. She stopped just short of crashing into him with tears falling from her eyes.

"Gino?" her frantic voice caught his attention.

"I'm fine, it's just a flesh wound." He smiled softly at her but knew she did not believe him, and he had to put her focus somewhere else. "We can't stay here. If any of Juan's men are alive, they will head in this direction to get away."

"Where do we go, clearly you do not want me inside and nowhere out here is safe either?"

"Just follow behind me and try not to make any noise."

They walked along the waterfront over to towards a tree line he knew they could use as cover. Once in the trees he led them back towards the front of the building hoping to see Moretti men outside of it. Elena stood close to his back with one hand tightly holding on to the back of his shirt and the other still gripping the gun she had.

When they reached the edge of the trees close to the house, Gino had Elena stay behind one of the trees as he watched the building. She kept her eyes on the area behind them as he stood watching the front, things seemed quiet. He knew well enough that could change at any moment. Elena's safety was the only thing that mattered, he wanted to return to the building and help but that was not an option with her.

Gino pulled his phone out and looked to see if Vinny and the rest of the guys made it yet. There was one message on his phone telling him they had been there and were inside. Gino sent a message to Lorenzo letting him know he was with Elena and they were currently outside the building. He said nothing further than that just in case someone else received the message.

Moments later Lorenzo limped out of the building screaming her name. "Elena!" he had been in the building searching all over for her. "Elena, Gino!"

She heard his voice but stood in her place looking over at Gino and he nodded with a small smile. That was that all she needed knowing it was good for her to go out in the open. Elena ran out of the tree line and straight towards him. "Lorenzo!" she screamed back and watched as he quickly turned towards her.

The relief was clear on his face as she ran towards him until her body slammed against his. Lorenzo wrapped his arms around her small frame pulling her even closer. At that moment the pain in his leg did not matter as he lifted her from the ground burying his face into the crook of her neck breathing in her scent. They were both alive and that was the only thing that matter to him.

After finding Tony, Vinny and Sal had arrived with backup. Lorenzo and Tony went in search of Gino and Elena. They had first gone to the bar Lorenzo left Elena in but she was gone and there was one additional body laying there. He did not know what to think of it as he called for her as they swept through the building. Receiving Gino's text had been more relief than he realized.

When her feet touched the ground again Elena looked up into his eyes then suddenly spun around pulling away from him. Lorenzo grabbed her hand trying to stop her, but she yanked it away from him. The movement shocked him and he watched as she jogged back towards Gino, who was walking slowly towards them.

"Elena?" Lorenzo was confused on why she left his side.

"Gino was shot." She yelled over her shoulder as she reached the slow walking man. "Are you still ok?" she asked wrapping her arm around his good side and walked with him.

"I'm fine, just a little worn out." he smiled down at her as he slung an arm around her shoulders then looked up seeing Lorenzo limping towards them with concern across his face. "It's just a flesh wound. Through and through."

"I owe my life to you." Lorenzo reached his hand out to Gino, they shook hands. "My Queen is uninjured and alive, you made sure of that. A feat I know was not easy." He glanced at her to see she was glaring at him.

"Had Elena had her way we would have not left that building without you. I had to trick her and believe me she was not happy about it." Gino said with a smile on his face. "You owe me nothing, Capo. Elena is family and we protect our family."

"You both need medical attention." She said looking between them and they both nodded.

They all glanced toward the building to see Tony walking out of it holding pressure to his shoulder with a smile on his face. "Vinny and the men are doing a sweep then clean up. The injured will be loaded on the boat. We should head back. Doc and his team are waiting at the compound."

The three men continued to talk as Elena looked between them. All three of them had meant something special to her, they had all been shot but were all alive. What Gino had said was true, this was her family. Her anger towards Gino had not mattered any more, losing him would have been like losing a brother. Knowing any of them could have died today was enough for her to let that go.

Being far off the mainland meant the whole incident went unheard. Lorenzo wanted everything kept quiet, with the exception of one. He needed Juan's body to be found so all would know that The Moretti Family was a force to be reckon with. Taking out a rival family in a war sent a message to all other families.

Sal came to the small circle taking Gino from Elena and helped the wounded man to the boat. Elena looked over at Lorenzo and he pulled her closer to him and placed a soft kiss to her temple. The sun had set long ago and the cover of night made it easy for them to return back to the dock off the compound.

The Marzano men had kept the compound secured when Sal and Vinny took a large group with them to the island. Two men tried to get pass the compound gates but Enzo's men had eliminated them before they could get close to any of the homes.

When Lorenzo returned to the compound things did not get any better for them. At the same moment Juan and his men had ambushed the island and tried for the compound, they had a group of men in New York. The Marzano family had been hit up north. The northern hit was harder for them to take, it had not been because of the amount of loss but who they had loss.

Enzo and his men left Miami shortly after Lorenzo returned to the compound. He had wanted to leave once he received the call but could not leave without letting his nephew know what had happened and who they had loss. Lorenzo had wanted to join Enzo back to New York, but he had to stay back to finish handling the problem they were currently in the middle of.

Within a couple of hours all the men were patched up and resting. They had lost three of their own men but knew the numbers could and should have been higher. Coming to terms with what had happened, who he had loss, who he could have loss was not easy for Lorenzo. Elena had given Lorenzo time alone to process everything that had happened. She had reminded him that she was there for him and when he was ready all he had to do was come for her.

When Lorenzo came out of his office he glanced around for Elena, expecting her to be near. One of the guys walking by told him she was out by the water when noticed Lorenzo looking around. With a nod Lorenzo walked out of the mansion and glanced towards the beach. Sal was leaning back against the retainer wall watching over her.

Lorenzo walked over to him placing his hand on Sal's shoulder for moment then walked over to where Elena was sitting. The sun was coming up and the beautiful colors danced around her frame. She was the only reason he had not lost his shit and his sanity was still intact. Had it not been for her he would have been flying to Cuba to eliminate all that he could. With a smile on his face, he stepped next to her and looked down as she looked up at him.

He held his hand out and she placed hers in his as she stood on her feet. "I promised you a walk on the beach when got back here."

"With everything you're going through, I understand if we do this another day." She said with a small smile. "Plus, your leg needs to heal and we should make arrangements to go to New York."

"I need this Elena, walk with me."

"Then let's walk." She leaned up on her toes and placed a soft kiss to lips.

Pulling her to his side, Lorenzo and Elena walked towards the water then along with it as the water crashed at their feet. She had her arms wrapped around his waist. The last forty-eight hours had been complete hell on them with the last twenty-four hours being the worse.

He glanced down and saw the smile he loved on her face as she looked ahead of them. At that moment Lorenzo knew the queen he had longed for was now by his side and would always be there. She was strong, loyal and in her own way a force to be reckon with. Elena would have his back as much as he would have hers. Unlike others in his line of work, Lorenzo planned on running his empire with her by his side not behind him. She was going to be seen and treated as his equal.

The timid girl he had married almost four years ago was gone and in her place stood the Queen of the Moretti Family. And now all knew if anyone threaten or harmed her in any way, their life any life connected to them was coming to an end.

When she looked up at him with the smile still in place, he leaned down capturing her lips with his own. Elena's hands slid up his chest circling around his neck. Lorenzo deepened the kiss as he lifted her from her feet. When he pulled back from the kiss he smiled down at her.

"I love you."

She smiled up at him. "With all my heart." She responded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few months later their year long whirlwind had come full circle. Exactly a year to the day their life had started to change. There had been more downs than ups, but it was different now, they were different now. The night of their four year anniversary Elena came walking down the stairs towards Lorenzo, who had been waiting patiently for her. It would be the first anniversary they would spend together as husband and wife, King with his Queen.

She slowly descended the stairs her eyes lock with his. The smile on her face bringing a twinkle to her eyes. Lorenzo slowly lowered his eyes down her body, the black dressed clung to her body hugging her in all the right places. His eyes stopped on the small but noticeable baby bump she now had. Bringing the memory of her telling him to mind.

A few weeks after their trip north, Lorenzo had been sitting in his office going through the books with Tony. Elena walked in with a smile stretched across her face as she walked towards them. She stopped for a moment next to Tony speaking to him in a low voice then placed a soft kiss to his cheek as he stood up.

Lorenzo had raised his eyebrow at their interaction, but Tony just smirked at him and excused his self, leaving the two of them alone. Elena had walked over to him and pushed back from his desk giving her space to stand in front of him.

"What was that about?" he asked motioning to where Tony had been sitting moments ago.

"I just told him I needed to speak with my King alone." Elena smiled down at him as he smirked at her.

She leaned back against his desk and lifted herself up on it crossing one of her legs over the other. That was when he noticed the small paper in her hand. When he reached for it she pulled it back holding it to her chest.

"Ok," he said raising his eyebrow at her. "We're alone, what can I do for you?" he placed his hand on her knee as he stood up in front of her, slowing sliding it higher.

Elena smiled at him as she slowly flipped the paper around for him to see. The gray and black image was not a whole lot to see yet but was unmistakable non the less. He looked down at her stomach then back at the image again before looking up at her face. The smile slowly stretching across his face. For the first time in his life no words could come to his mind. Lorenzo reached forward placing his hands on her face pulling her to him and crashing his lips against hers.

Snapping back to reality Lorenzo smiled down at her as she stepped off the last step in front of him. "Beautiful as always, I love you."

"I love you too." She said smiling up at him.

An: Thank you to all the readers that stuck through this with me to the end... I know there were some horribly long waits between some of these chapters but I can finally close this with a smile on my face and hopefully yours also. Book 2 is in progress and once I have enough of it written I will post it. I really enjoy reading all the comments and seeing how you guys were just as emotionally invested as I was through the whole story. Once again THANK YOU