Revenge for Mom: Destroying His Mafia World

DeLuca Crime Family, promised he

in the hospital, he chose a

ed. He was in Aspen with Isabella, and I could hear her laughing in the background. He dismis

as. Instead, my phone lit up with an Instagram post of him

ic declaration, a judgment on my mother's worth, and my own.

then walked out of the hospital and called the one numb

hicago. I'm leaving this life, and I'm

pte

sia

mised he would burn the world down for me. But when my m

t my raw nerves. An hour ago, I was wiping down my mother's kitchen counters, the scent of lemon c

shaking so badly I could barely keep the phone to my ear. He was my anchor, my future, the man who had plucked me from

d on the t

ng?" His voice wa

n's bright, tinkling laughter. I

y voice trembling. "She's in the h

s end. "Jesus, All

doctors are with her

lap. "Isabella and I just landed in Aspen. It's a business trip, a

A chill, sharp and painful, slid down my spin

his voice dropping to that low, commanding t

hun

f my car. I sat there for a moment, hollowed

terms. Mauling. Deep lacerations. The dog, he told me, belonge

lack missile of muscle and teeth she called her "bab

"It was just an accident, honey," she whispered, but her hand trembled in mine

d. A text from

s dog attacked her. The doctor is worried

says the dog has never done anything like this. It was

ding Isabella. He wa

nitor the only rhythm in the world. Hours passed. Her fever spiked. I called Caden again, my vo

n't ca

s a picture of her and Caden, their faces close, smiling in the warm glow of a roaring f

o be mine-to my mother's frail form, lost in a tangle of tubes and wires. A quiet, cold flame ignited

they sipped hot chocolate. The docto

oice long before he boarded that plane. The trip, the alliance, this picture-it was all a declar

died at

r. Then I walked out of the hospital, into the grey l

had made me memorize years ago, a number I was never to

d on the f

id, my voice a hol

with a grief I hadn't heard in twe

im, the decision crystallizing in

ng to burn ev