The Don's Regret: She Saved His Life

instead of a ring, I gav

o, I spent five years making her fal

, the woman I thought don

crawl over hot coals, and locked her in a freez

d, pulling the plug on h

r body on the autopsy tab

awless. It was Elen

ney. Elena saved me w

ove a knife into my own c

e up ten years in the p

ance to fix it. I saved her fathe

school courtyard, ready t

't look at m

with absolute,

one who remembered

pte

ante had bought me for our fifth anniversar

d in, a gun pressed t

ered, the name d

an who ruled the underworld with an iron fist and a hear

ted whiskey, were now two chips

ersary, Elen

as devoid o

ather-a man who had spent his life saving others-was trembling, hi

rling into himself. "Dante, do

it better,"

ol. The metallic *click* echoed li

a luxury I'm

ing uselessly over the delicate fabric of my dress.

ii

larbone to my waist, exposing my bra, exposing the jagged scars on my chest,

d, crossing my arm

fingers digging in like steel talons, forcing my face t

lted on its

let the Don die on the table. He broke Omertà. He took my father, and in return, I too

omance. It wa

ered 'I love you' was a bullet he ha

aten away by dementia, left her smiling vacantly,

y doors," Dante

e by the arms, wrenching me back. "Dante, sh

ue as the glass doors slid open, lettin

below, walked toward the brightness of the street. She didn't see

right ove

h of tires and the sickening, wet thud of a de

screamed-a sound of

then at me. His eyes

you pay for m

n. Not toward the door, b

d,

vaulted over the rail

the impact. I couldn't feel anything except the mechanica

ificia

f vengeance. He checked his wa

I was a stain on his shoe. "My doctors tell me that without the tran

e-sandalwood and gunpowder-f

nst my ear. "I intend to make e

r opene

glowing with health, holding onto Dant

ed, her voice like ho

"Yes. Elena, meet Sofia. My fiancée. And the woman who gave me her kid

as a

one who lay on that table, *I* was the one who ruined my hear

hell, Elena,