Chapter 7 - The Reunion
The Bella Vista was quiet when they arrived.
The 'CLOSED' sign was in the window,
but the lights inside were warm.
Vincent led the woman through the front door.
Maria was waiting in the lobby,
her face lighting up when she saw them.
"She’s upstairs,"
Maria whispered.
"She wouldn't go to sleep."
"She said she had to wait for the boss to finish his work."
The woman didn't wait.
She ran for the stairs,
her footsteps echoing on the marble.
Vincent followed slowly,
his movements heavy with exhaustion.
He reached the door of his suite just in time to see Sophie fly into her mother's arms.
The girl was crying now,
the loud,
soul-wrenching sobs of a child who had finally let go of her fear.
"Mama!
Mama!"
"I'm here,
baby,"
the mother cried,
burying her face in the girl's hair.
"I'm here."
Vincent stood in the doorway,
unobserved.
He watched the way they clung to each other,
as if the rest of the world had ceased to exist.
He felt like an intruder in a holy place.
Tony and Marco stood behind him,
looking at their shoes,
their hard faces momentarily softened.
"Boss,"
Tony whispered.
"The police are at the factory."
"They’re calling it an electrical fire."
"Good,"
Vincent said.
"Keep it that way."
He walked into the room,
and the mother looked up,
tears streaming down her face.
"How can I ever repay you?"
she asked.
"I don't have anything."
Vincent reached into his vest pocket.
He pulled out the crumpled five-dollar bill.
He walked over and placed it in Sophie's hand.
The girl looked at him,
confused.
"Why are you giving it back?"
she asked.
"The job is done,
isn't it?"
"The job is done,"
Vincent said.
"But in my business,
we have a rule."
"For a client like you,
the first job is always on the house."
"Keep your money,
Sophie."
"Buy yourself something nice."
"Or save it for a rainy day."
The girl looked at the bill,
then back at Vincent.
She stood up and did something that no one had ever done to Vincent Torino.
She hugged him.
She wrapped her small arms around his waist and squeezed.
Vincent froze.
His heart hammered against his ribs.
He didn't know where to put his hands.
Slowly,
awkwardly,
he patted her on the head.
"Okay,"
he muttered.
"That’s enough of that."
But he didn't pull away.
For a moment,
the ruthless Mafia boss was just a man.
A man who had done something good.
May you like
A man who had earned something more valuable than gold.
He had earned the gratitude of a child.
