Mafia's Redemption: Terzo - Chapter 104: Chapter 104

TERZO
“What the fuck, Siciliano? So you’re just gonna let her go without a fight?”
I ignored Linden’s scrutinizing gaze as I sipped the scotch. I was waiting for Katie to arrive and give me a report of the job I asked her to do when Linden spotted me. He left his billionaire friends to sit with me. And then I ended up telling him about my failed marriage with Dani.
Well, not exactly a failure, but she deserved safe surroundings and a husband who could protect her— that was not exactly my place, and I was only overprotective, but could not keep her from harm.
“I’m not giving up, but that was what we agreed upon before we got married. When she asked for it again, I had to honor it because I gave her my word, and I would not break it.”
“That’s bullshit. I know you better than that. I also know you love your wife more than anything. She’s your Ariel, asshole, and you crossed the ocean for her. What the fuck is going on in your mind right now?” His words cut through me like a sword, slicing my heart.
A muscle ticked in my cheek. I was in so much pain. I was conflicted between my love for her and giving her the freedom she deserved. If she stayed with me, her life would always be in danger.
Dani had a lot of life ahead of her. She deserved to explore many options, and if I kept her on a short leash, she wouldn’t be able to live the life that truly made her happy.
“I already opened my dangerous world to her, and look where it got her?”
He drew a deep breath and drank his scotch. “You can’t leave that life for her? You legalized most of your business, why not start a new life for good?”
“Everyone knows my family fears that name. Even if I start a new life somewhere, I’m still that man deep inside. The Siciliano blood runs in my veins— it’s who I am, and danger will always follow me everywhere, Linden. I can’t leave my family. I promise my father to continue his legacy now that he’s retired and wants to start a new life on his own, and so does my sister. That being said, the responsibility is left to me. I can’t run away from it. Before I was born, this responsibility was already put down to me.”
“That sucks. I understand what you mean, but you can’t do it for love?”
“Of course, I can. Dani told me she loved me, but not as much as I love her.” With a heavy heart, I admitted it to him. “That’s why I have to let her go. If she wants to come back, she knows where to find me.”
“You guys are insane. Now that the threats are over, that’s the time you’ve decided to separate. You’ll make cute kids. Don’t waste those genes, and you need an heir to keep the business running. Trust me, things change, like your perspective and priorities, once you have kids.”
“You’re an asshole, you know.” I gestured to my empty class at the bartender. “You know my wife is leaving, and here you are telling me that I should have kids. Fuck you.”
He smiled. “Don’t do it, Siciliano. Give her space. She needs it after what she’s been through, but don’t leave Dani. Don’t divorce her. Anyway, you two came from the same line of business, so why not turn it into a big empire?”
“That’s not up to me, asshole.” I grabbed the glass that slid towards me. I sipped it. No matter how strong the scotch, it didn’t make me numb. I still felt the intense pain in my chest. “I never thought I would fall in love, let alone get married.”
“Welcome to the club. The pussy-whipped club, Siciliano.” Linden raised his glass with a smirk before sipping it. “And you’re paying for this drink.”
I raised mine and emptied it, allowing it to burn down my throat. “Can you help me with it?” He knew what I was talking about.
“Of course, provided that you don’t know the identity, because I know you, man. You will keep tabs on her, and that’s not how it should work.”
“I know what you mean. I gave my wife my words. Once she leaves, she’s on her own. I won’t find her unless I get intel that she’s in danger, then it’s another story.”
“Fine. I’ll send it to her once it’s done.” He rose to his feet and patted my back. “Good luck mending your broken heart, Siciliano.”
Katie entered the door, joined me, replacing Linden’s empty seat. “Done. I made sure she wasn’t capable of faking another identity anymore.”
“Thank you.”
“Payment first before thank you, asshole.”
I chucked. “Consider yourself paid.”
My phone vibrated. It was a message from Celestina,
CEE: Her ex-mom was not coerced. Kill that bitch.
I showed the message to Katie. “I’ll even double the payment.”
Two months ago, my Dani, my wife, left me. I thought I would recover. I thought time would heal my broken heart, but it was bullshit. As each day passed, it got even worse. I felt like a walking zombie since that day.
I lost my sense of will to live. I lost direction in life. I drank every night and got back to work every morning like clockwork. I missed her every damn day. Though the business was thriving, not my God damn personal life.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had a good meal or had taken a shower, or held a razor and shaved my beard. I was a hobo living in a twenty-million-dollar compound.
I just wanted to end the pain, my suffering, and every time I put the gun to my temple or under my chin, and closed my eyes, her face flashed in my thoughts. What if she came back to me? What if she thought of me the same way? But I knew it was another bullshit.
She was probably sipping cocktails somewhere in the Bahamas or dancing with some random dudes in the nightclub in Brazil. But I still loved her with all my fucking shitty life.
My life was a mess because my Ariel swam away, taking my heart with her.
Today, my hangover took longer than yesterday, and I started to get resistant to painkillers, or I forgot to take them. I couldn’t remember. I opened the drawers in the desk, but there were no Tylenol bottles.
“Tristan!” He became my assistant since my father finally left for an undisclosed location with my sister. I received their videos every week, and I did not ask where they were. I wanted them to have fun.
The door swung open. My head just got worse, and I had to shut my eyes and press my temple. “Where’s the bottle of painkillers? There was one in my drawer yesterday.”
“This will destroy your liver, Terzo.”
For a moment, I froze at that angry voice.
With my jaw dropping, I cracked my eyes open. “Sis, what the hell are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in Entalula Beach, swimming with whales?”
“There are no whales in Entalula, moron!” The look on her face was difficult to paint. She was pissed off, disappointed, even disgusted.
I tried to stand up, but my head felt like it was about to implode.
“I never thought I would say it one day.” Celestina shook her head. Her tone was tight. “You were the most responsible, hardworking, generous, and selfless man I’d ever known. You were even better than our father. Right now, you’re nothing but a major disappointment, Terzo. This is your fault. You let her go, and now you’re destroying your life.”
“I don’t know where she is, and I promised her freedom.”
“Bullshit. You didn’t even try. Even if the agency has abandoned you, you still have Linden, the Osmium, and Mr. Braddson if you ask for their help, and you still have the will, the resourcefulness, and ingenuity in you, but you did not even try. You just gave up and destroyed your marriage. That’s not the man I once knew—”
My nose flared. I forced myself to stand straight because she started to piss me off, too.
“Then maybe that man is gone, Celestina! The brother you once knew is gone. Whether you like it or not.” I gestured at my loser self. “This is me now.”
“A loser.” Her eyes narrowed as she focused, particularly on me. “I found her without even trying hard.”
“Where is she?” I asked breathlessly. My voice softened.
“Fuck you, fratello.”