Page 61 of King of Obsession

Maybe someday,I thought, as I began to clear the dishes from the table. Perhaps one day, I’d be strong enough to permit a man to adore me, to let them into my hidden corners.

Not today.

Not him, especially.

Because I sensed he was the one man who’d detonate my world from within and eviscerate my heart and soul if I submitted to him.

Chapter 12

ALESSIO

Iwas a fixer, a brawler, a man used to force to get his way.

A freak of nature, a tempest of fists and words, a man who made proverbial mountains move and kingpins tremble with my sheer will alone.

A warrior in the game of life, wielding my strength like a weapon to carve out a path in the chaos.

But fuck I was tired.

Exhausted from deciding other’s futures while my own hung in the balance.

Lorenzo’s call a few months ago, letting me know that the Abrazzio problem had been resolved, brought me relief.

Staring then out of the windows of my penthouse into the skies over New York, I’d mulled the signs life was throwing me.

Our enemies had been cut off at the knee in utter and chillingfinality.

Fuck, finally.

It paved the way for a new era for the Calibrese family and, perhaps, for me.

Soon after, the call came about Cleo and Franco’s imminent release.

It hadn’t taken much to persuade myself to relocate to Australia from New York.

After being obsessed with my role as the family’s head capo for so long, my priorities and values became distorted, and I was burnt out from the constant hustle.

I’d departed the Big Apple without regret, escaping its dark mafia underbelly in the relentless pursuit of something better.

I was done with the grind, with the ambiguity of crime, corruption, and competition, which made it easy to forget what mattered.

What I wanted out of life now was a family, perhaps a woman of my own, even a baby.

That’s what my soul yearned for; for some reason, my spirit, my inner oracle, told me I’d find it in the land down under.

I’d also be closer to Lorenzo, Mia, Vitto, and Mauri.

Valerio was still holding out in Napoli, but I was convinced he’d soon change his tune and move near us.

The fence line disappeared into the horizon, acres of rolling green pastures and grazing cattle stretching as far as I could see.

A light breeze ruffled the grass and cooled the back of my neck as I strode the perimeter of Cleo’s farm.

Sunlight bathed the landscape in a golden glow.

I paused, hands on my hips, taking it in. No gunshots echoing in the distance. No smog and grime coating on everysurface. Just open space, fresh breeze, and the tranquil sounds of nature.

I let out a long breath.

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