Chapter 13 - THE SHADOWS FADE
The months following our reunion passed with a strange,
unfamiliar quietness.
For the first time in my adult life,
my phone didn't ring at three in the morning with reports of warehouse fires,
police raids,
or union strikes.
I had handed over the day-to-day operations of Vitelli Logistics to Matteo Rizzo,
who ran the corporation with renewed dedication and absolute loyalty.
Alina spent her days painting in the glass-enclosed studio we built on the penthouse terrace,
capturing the changing colors of Lake Michigan on canvas.
Sophia enrolled in a private academy just three blocks from our tower,
where she learned piano,
french,
and how to ride horses on our weekend trips to the Wisconsin estate.
Sometimes,
watching them laugh over breakfast,
a cold phantom pain would grip my chest,
reminding me of the six stolen years we could never get back.
You're doing it again,
Alina would say softly,
reaching across the marble table to touch my hand.
Doing what,
I'd ask.
Counting the exits,
she would smile,
her gray-blue eyes sparkling with warmth.
You're safe now,
Marco.
We're all safe now.
I know,
I would tell her,
squeezing her fingers.
It just takes time for the armor to melt.
One evening in late spring,
as the sun dipped below the skyline and painted the clouds in shades of copper and gold,
Sophia ran into my study with a stack of poorly folded construction paper.
Daddy,
look,
she announced proudly,
dumping the colorful mess onto my financial ledgers.
What is this,
my angel,
I asked,
picking up a crayon drawing of a stick-figure family standing in front of a giant castle.
It's us,
she explained,
pointing her small finger at the figures.
This is Mommy,
this is you,
and this is me,
never ever leaving again.
I felt a lump form in my throat,
thick and heavy.
I set the crayons down,
picked her up,
and sat her on my lap,
burying my face in her chestnut hair.
Never again,
I promised her,
my voice cracking slightly.
May you like
Daddy is right here.
And nobody is ever taking us apart.
