Chapter 12 - THE MATRIARCH
The man raised his gun.
I squeezed my eyes shut, shielding Leo with my body.
BANG.
The gunshot deafened me in the tiny closet.
But I didn't feel any pain.
I opened my eyes.
The man with the gun was slumping forward, his eyes wide in shock, a neat bullet hole in the side of his head. He collapsed onto the bathroom tile.
Standing in the bedroom doorway, holding a smoking pistol, was Teresa Moretti.
I stared at her, completely stunned.
"Teresa?" I choked out. "How... you're in prison!"
"I made a deal," Teresa said coldly, stepping over the dead man. She was wearing a black raincoat, drenched from the storm. "Antonio paid a lot of money to secure my release yesterday. He knew the Romanos had a mole tracking Dominic. He knew they would find you."
"Where is Antonio?"
"Finishing the Romanos in Chicago," Teresa said, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the closet. "He sent me to finish the trash they sent here. Move!"
More shouting came from the living room. "Frankie? What was that shot?"
Teresa pushed me and Leo toward the back window of the bedroom. "Climb out. Run for the treeline. Don't stop until you reach the main road. My driver is waiting there."
"What about you?" I asked.
Teresa turned toward the bedroom door, raising her gun. "I owe my brother a debt. I owe Lucia a debt. I intend to pay it."
Two men rushed into the hallway.
Teresa didn't flinch. She fired twice, dropping the first man instantly.
"Go, Caroline!" she screamed.
I threw open the window, pushed Leo out into the freezing rain, and climbed out after him.
We ran.
We ran through the mud and the pine needles, the storm raging around us, masking the sounds of the gunfight echoing from the cabin.
Leo was crying, but he didn't stop running. He held onto my hand with a death grip.
We burst through the treeline and hit the asphalt of the main road.
A pair of headlights flashed twice. A black sedan was idling on the shoulder.
The driver threw open the back door. We dove inside, soaking wet and shivering.
"Drive!" I yelled.
The car peeled out, leaving the cabin far behind.
I pulled Leo into my lap, hugging him fiercely. We were safe.
Four hours later, the car pulled through the familiar iron gates of the Moretti estate in Chicago.
The sun was just beginning to rise, casting a pale pink light over the mansion.
I carried an exhausted, sleeping Leo through the front doors.
Standing in the grand foyer, surrounded by his men, was Antonio.
He looked battered. His arm was in a sling, and his suit was covered in dirt and soot. But when he saw us, his eyes lit up with a profound, overwhelming relief.
He walked toward us. He didn't say a word. He just wrapped his good arm around both of us, pulling us against his chest.
"You're safe," he whispered into my hair. "It's over."
"The Romanos?" I asked, pulling back to look at him.
"Gone," Antonio said firmly. "Dominic and I dismantled their leadership tonight. They will never touch this family again."
"And Teresa?" I asked softly.
Antonio’s expression tightened. "She didn't make it out of the cabin, Caroline. But she took the rest of the hit squad with her. She died protecting the family she helped break."
Tears pricked my eyes. It was a brutal end, but it was the redemption she had wanted.
Antonio looked down at Leo, who was snoring softly against my shoulder.
Then he looked at me.
"I told you I was done building things out of fear," Antonio said quietly. "And I meant it. The estate is secure. The business is clean. The war is over."
He reached up, his hand cupping my cheek, his thumb wiping away a smudge of dirt from the rain.
"Will you stay, Caroline? Truly stay?"
I looked around the grand foyer. It wasn't just a house of secrets anymore. It was a home. And the man standing in front of me wasn't a mafia boss; he was the man I loved.
I smiled.
"I'm not going anywhere, Antonio."
May you like
He kissed me, a soft, lingering promise of a future we had fought through hell to earn.
And as the morning light flooded the mansion, warming the cold marble floors, the Moretti family finally stepped out of the shadows, and into the sun.
