No way will he go back to the life, he doesnt need to nor would he want to. Everyone wants a high profile mob boss in 2025, its not going to be Merlino.
By the way, with all the bs about the 5 families being upset with him, Merlino just had a huge dinner at Rao's , a well known mob hang out. I think the notion of putting Merlino on the shelf is rather ridiculous considering he isnt involved. How do you shelf a man thats not part of the life? He walked away the same way as JR Gotti did, they both walked.