Page 69 of Mafia Don's Secret Heir
Her head jerks up, eyes wide with disbelief. “You’re…inviting us to come back?”
“If that’s what you want,” I say, each word cutting into me like glass. “I won’t force you, Valentina. I can’t keep doing this—missing you, hoping you’ll stay. It’s your choice. But there’s one thing I need.”
Her lips part, like she’s going to argue, but she doesn’t. She just waits.
“I need you to let me see him,” I continue, my voice soft but firm. “Our son. And I want to contribute to his life. His education, his future—whatever he needs.”
She nods slowly, tears spilling over again. “Okay,” she whispers.
I reach out, brushing the tears from her cheek. She leans into my touch, just for a moment, and it’s enough to shatter what little resolve I have left.
“I love you,” I say, the words quieter this time, almost to myself.
She stands, clutching the envelope, and turns to leave.
Look back,my heart shouts soundlessly.If only once, so I can see your face, your eyes, your mouth one last time. Turn around, Goddammit.
She opens the door.
Please.
Her head angles to the side, and her eyes wash over me. My heart all but stops.
Then, she’s gone.
The hours remain suspended in complete agony as I prepare to return without my wife and son. The next afternoon rolls in, and I head to the airport in a state of disarray. What does it matter what people think, if the one person I would lay this life down for will not accompany me? Will not grow old with me?
Voices echo in the vast terminal, footsteps pounding against polished floors, but all I hear is the relentless thrum of my own heartbeat. It’s a mocking rhythm, loud in my ears, as if reminding me of how close I am to losing everything.
The ticket agent hands me my boarding pass. I clutch it tightly, the edges bending under the pressure of my grip. My mind races. I’ve faced death more times than I can count, but this? Standing here, waiting for a plane to take me away from my son, from her—it’s unbearable.
I sit in the hard plastic chair near the gate, my boarding pass folded neatly in my hand, the edges wearing thin from my restless fingers. Around me, life hums along—families chatting, business travelers barking orders into their phones, a toddler screaming bloody murder two rows over.
I hear none of it.
All I can focus on is the weight of the silence she left behind.
I glance at the digital clock above the gate. Fifteen minutes until boarding. My stomach knots tighter.
I thought giving her the choice would bring some peace. That I could find solace in doing the right thing for once. But all it’s done is crack something open inside me. I can’t stop picturing her face when she left the hotel last night. The way her eyes glistened with unshed tears, how her hand lingered on the doorknob before she walked out.
I rub a hand over my jaw, the stubble scraping against my palm. Days of sleepless nights are catching up to me, but I don’t care.
I close my eyes, leaning back against the unforgiving chair, and let the memories come.
Her laughter, bright and defiant, the first time she challenged me.
The softness of her voice when she told me she was pregnant.
The fire in her eyes every time I underestimated her.
I thought I could bend her to my world, shape her into someone who fit seamlessly into the chaos. But she was never meant to be tamed.
And now, I’m about to lose her for good.
The boarding announcement cuts through the din, and my eyes snap open.
"Flight 217 to Naples, now boarding."
