Chapter 10 - THE AWAKENING
The surgical suite was silent except for the rhythmic, electronic beep of the heart monitor.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
I sat in an uncomfortable vinyl armchair beside the hospital bed.
I had showered in the private doctors' lounge.
I wore clean black trousers and a soft cashmere sweater Teresa had brought me.
My hands were scrubbed raw, the smell of hospital soap replacing the stench of cordite and blood.
The sun was high in the sky now, streaming through the blinds in bright, golden bars across the white sheets.
On the bed lay Alessandro.
His face was pale as chalk, hollowed out by blood loss and five hours of surgery.
A thick white dressing covered his left shoulder and chest.
Tubes ran from his arm into clear plastic bags of saline and plasma.
His breathing was shallow, but steady.
Unbroken.
On the bedside table sat a small velvet tray.
Resting on the velvet was my wedding ring.
Enzo had retrieved it from the ashes of the estate library and delivered it to me an hour ago.
The platinum band was scratched, smudged with soot, but whole.
I picked it up.
The metal felt warm in my palm.
The door to the room clicked open softly.
Teresa walked in, carrying two paper cups of black coffee.
She handed one to me and sat on the low windowsill.
"The Commission just concluded their emergency vote in the chapel downstairs, Sofia," Teresa said.
I took a sip of the bitter coffee.
"And?"
"Carmine has been stripped of his seniority," she said.
"He is being escorted to a retirement villa in Naples tomorrow morning."
"He will never see Lake Michigan again."
"And the Russo family?"
"Marco’s lieutenants surrendered their weapons at dawn," Teresa replied with a grim smile.
"The terminals on Racine Avenue are under your direct control."
"The city is quiet."
I looked down at Alessandro’s sleeping face.
"He almost died for a lie, Teresa."
"He almost died because he didn't trust me."
"He didn't trust the world, Sofia," Teresa corrected gently.
"He grew up in a house where his uncle murdered his father."
"He thought love was a weakness that his enemies could smell."
"He had to learn that love is the only thing strong enough to hold an empire together."
Teresa stood up, touching my shoulder with her gloved fingers.
"I’ll leave you two alone."
She walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
I sat in the quiet.
I reached out and took Alessandro’s right hand in mine.
His skin was cool, his calloused fingers limp against my palm.
His thumb twitched.
Once.
Twice.
His dark eyelashes fluttered against his cheekbones.
He let out a low, ragged groan from the depths of his chest.
His head turned slowly toward me.
His amber eyes opened, cloudy with anesthesia, squinting against the sunlight.
He saw my face.
He saw my hand holding his.
His fingers tightened, a desperate, trembling grip that dug into my skin.
"Sofia..." he rasped, his voice barely a whisper through cracked lips.
"I'm here, Alessandro," I said softly.
Tears welled in his eyes, spilling over his dark lashes onto the white pillow.
"You... you came back..."
"I didn't come back for you, Alessandro," I said, my voice steady, though my heart was breaking with relief.
"I came back for my land."
He let out a weak, breathy laugh that ended in a cough of pain.
"The land... was always yours..." he wheezed.
"I know," I said.
I picked up the platinum wedding ring from the velvet tray.
I held it between my thumb and forefinger.
Alessandro’s eyes locked onto the ring.
His breath hitched in his throat, pure terror flashing through his gaze.
"Please, Sofia..." he begged, his voice cracking with raw, unvarnished agony.
"Don't leave me."
"I will burn the rest of the city."
"I will give up the throne."
"Just don't take your name away from me."
I looked down at the man who had ruled Chicago with an iron fist.
The man who had faced firing squads and snipers without flinching.
Now weeping on a hospital bed, begging for a ring he thought he had lost forever.
I leaned forward.
I took his left hand.
I slid the platinum band back onto my fourth finger.
It clicked into place, cold and permanent against my skin.
"I am not leaving, Alessandro," I whispered against his ear.
May you like
"Because from this day forward,"
"you answer to me."
