Chapter 9 - The Shadows of the Past
The weeks that followed were a strange mixture of peace and paranoia.
We moved to a secluded estate on the coast,
far from the prying eyes of the city and the remnants of the Vasquez family.
It was a house filled with light,
with gardens that Sofia loved to run through and a view of the endless blue sea.
Elena was slowly regaining her strength,
though the shadows of her captivity still lingered in her eyes.
She would wake up in the middle of the night,
screaming for Sofia,
and I would have to hold her until she remembered she was safe.
I,
too,
found it hard to adjust.
I had spent so many years as a wolf that the role of a father felt like a foreign language.
I didn't know how to play tea party,
or how to tuck a child in without checking the perimeter of the room for threats.
But Sofia was a patient teacher.
She showed me how to draw with crayons,
how to find the best seashells on the beach,
and how to laugh at the simple things.
One afternoon,
while we were sitting on the porch,
Victor arrived with a folder of documents.
"The cleanup is complete,
Boss,"
he said,
his voice low so Elena wouldn't hear.
"The Vasquez assets have been liquidated or absorbed."
"The mole in our organization has been dealt with."
It turned out it was the mortician,
a man who had been on my payroll for years.
Ricardo had offered him more,
along with a threat to his own family.
I didn't ask what Victor did with him.
I didn't want to know.
"There's one more thing,"
Victor said,
hesitating.
"The Commission."
"The other families are nervous,
Adriano."
"They saw what you did to Ricardo."
"They think you're becoming too powerful,"
"too unpredictable."
"They want a meeting."
I looked at Elena,
who was watching Sofia chase a butterfly in the grass.
She looked so happy,
so free.
I knew that if I went to that meeting,
I would be stepping back into the darkness.
I would be the wolf again.
But if I didn't go,
they would come for us.
They would see my silence as weakness.
"Tell them I'll be there,"
I said.
"But not in Stonebridge."
"Tell them to meet me at the neutral grounds in the valley."
"And tell them to come unarmed."
Victor nodded and left,
his expression unreadable.
Elena walked over and sat on the arm of my chair,
her hand resting on my shoulder.
"You have to go back,
don't you?"
she asked softly.
"Only to finish it,
Elena,"
I promised.
"Only to make sure they never look our way again."
"I'm not the man I was eight years ago."
"I have something to live for now."
She leaned down and kissed me,
a bittersweet taste of love and fear.
"Just come back to us."
May you like
"Always,"
I said.
