Page 30 of The Don

The fingers on my free hand twitch, remembering the feeling of Shae’s skin, as my brain tries to work through the information Flavia has given me.

“Pleasepleaseplease.” Her pleading is giving me a headache.

Without looking, I lift the gun and pull the trigger twice. Flavia’s pathetic whining stops. For good. I can finally think. This relief might be fleeting, but it is no less sweet.

“Everything is fine. Tell Tommaso there is some trash I need him to attend to.”

“Si, padrino.”

13SALVATORE

Some menin my line of work — many, actually — feel sullied by what we do. Men who imagine that they — we — are better than we are. We are not, and I refuse to shrink away from culpability for the life I chose. I am exactly who I wanted to be.

I’ve made sacrifices for power. I’ve killed to gain it and keep it. I’ve killed to enrich someone else’s bank account and my own. I’ve killed for revenge. I’ve killed to make an example.

But Flavia is the first time I’ve killed someone to set myself free. And I’d do it again. Not just because she’s now out of my life but because it felt good.

When I ascend from the cellar, I feel like a brand-new man. I stop at the top stair and close my eyes, taking a deep breath in through my nose. I hold the crisp, fresh sea air in my lungs for a moment and then exhale the past two decades with my wife and all the obligations to her family that she represented.

“Padrino?” Lorenzo says carefully.

I hear him but from far away. I’ve wanted to be rid of Flavia since the moment I tethered the fate of my ambitions to her family name. I used to hope that one day she would disappear, but deep down, I always knew one of us would have to die, and I’ve fantasized about all the many ways I could kill her when I was ready — assuming she didn’t kill me first. Not for lack of trying.

If I’m honest, I always assumed it would be my hands around her throat; something personal, intimate. She was my wife, after all.

And then I met Shae.

After twenty-two years, the most intimacy Flavia and I share at the end is the same air of a cool cellar and whatever infinitesimal drops of her blood on my clothes. That is all, and it’s still more than she deserved.

I open my eyes with a smile, the memory of Shae’s smiling face brightening even the darkest parts of my soul. I pass the gun into Lorenzo’s waiting hands. “I’m ready.”

Tommaso’s house has a beautiful view of the sea. Lorenzo and Federico lead me out onto a balcony that wraps around his estate. They walk at a brisk pace, but I slow down, enjoying the way the lighter blue of the sky meets the darker blue of the water on the horizon.

I don’t think I’ve ever done that before, just soaked in the beauty of a moment. Maybe with Shae. It all comes back to her.

“Padrino.” I refuse to focus on that voice long enough to tie it to a name. My hand and jaw flex in something like irritation. I want to go home. I want to fall into the warmth of Shae’s body. I want this to be over.

I turn to my men and nod, allowing them to lead me away.

Tommaso greets me on a large terrace. One of his men stands by, silent and not too close, not a threat. He and Tommaso hide their nerves well enough, but I can feel it, the terror that fills you when the devil you know is made flesh.

“Padrino,” Tommaso says in greeting.

“I have a plan.” My gaze flickers to the other man on the balcony.

Tommaso glances quickly behind him. “That is Carlo. I trust him above all others.”

I nod slowly. “Then, if any of this gets out, I know who to kill.”

Tommaso stiffens, but he nods. I look to Carlo, and he nods as well. We all know the risks.

I beckon him over with a friendly wave. His steps are jerky at first, but they get stronger, and I smile approvingly at Tommaso. “I will make sure to tell Giulio about you two.”

They grin happily at one another briefly before the smile on my face falls.

“Here is my plan,” I say gravely because this is the most serious thing I’ve ever done. Shae’s life and the life we can build together depends on the plan I cobbled together hastily while the scent of gun smoke hung in the air.

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