Chapter 10 - The Vow
I screamed his name and rushed across the blood-slicked deck to reach him.
Alessandro was completely unresponsive, his pulse dangerously weak from the severe shrapnel wound and exhaustion.
I managed to drag him to the yacht's communication radio and screamed for emergency medical assistance.
I knew we could not go to a normal hospital, so I contacted the underground doctor he had mentioned weeks ago.
The loyal syndicate medics intercepted the yacht and rushed him into an illicit, high-tech surgery room.
I sat in the waiting room for twelve agonizing hours, holding Mia and praying to a God I had almost stopped believing in.
The surgeon finally emerged, exhausted but smiling, to tell me that Alessandro was going to survive.
Three months later, the violent mafia wars in New York were nothing but a distant memory.
Alessandro had completely dismantled his criminal empire, transferring his wealth into legitimate corporate holdings.
We moved to a heavily guarded, beautiful estate in the peaceful countryside of upstate New York.
He legally adopted Mia, vowing to protect her and raise her as his own flesh and blood.
We were married in a quiet garden ceremony, completely free from the ghosts of our past.
I finally had a home, a true partner, and a beautiful family where love replaced fear.
On Mia's first birthday, we hosted a small party in the sunlit courtyard of our new home.
The butler approached me with a beautifully wrapped silver box that had arrived without a return address.
I smiled, expecting it to be a lavish gift from one of Alessandro's legitimate business partners.
I opened the box to find a perfectly preserved, antique silver rattle resting on black velvet.
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A small note attached to the ribbon simply read, "She has her grandfather's eyes."
I looked up just in time to see the shadow of the man we watched die in the river fall across the doorway.
