Chapter 7 - The Marriage Built on Two Different LiesThey brought Gabriel back to New York under medical protection.
Elena visited every day.
Roman never complained.
He sometimes joined.
Gabriel’s memory came in waves.
Some mornings he recognized Roman immediately.
Others, he called him Lorenzo.
Roman did not correct him when that happened.
The old man looked happier believing his friend was alive.
Three weeks passed.
Victor remained in federal custody.
The immediate danger had faded.
That should have made Roman and Elena closer.
Instead, it exposed the things crisis had hidden.
One evening, Roman returned to the Queens house and found Elena packing.
His entire body went cold.
“What are you doing?”
Elena looked over.
“Moving.”
“No.”
She raised an eyebrow.
Roman caught himself.
“Why?”
“My father needs me.”
“He can come here.”
“He needs a medical environment.”
“I can build one.”
“Roman.”
“I can.”
“I know.”
That was the problem.
Roman approached.
“Then why are you leaving?”
Elena sat on the bed.
“Because I don’t know who I am here.”
He frowned.
“My wife.”
“That is not enough.”
For Roman, it almost was.
For Elena, it could not be.
She continued.
“For eight months, I lived beside you partly because Victor forced the situation.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“And partly because I was investigating.”
“Yes.”
“And now?”
“Now Victor is gone.”
Roman stared.
“Not gone enough.”
“You know what I mean.”
Elena looked at him.
“I need to know whether I stay because I choose this or because we survived something terrible together.”
Roman felt fear.
Not gunfire fear.
Something worse.
“If you leave, are we finished?”
“I don’t know.”
Roman looked away.
Old instincts returned.
Control.
Orders.
Solutions.
He could buy a house near Gabriel’s facility.
Move doctors.
Change schedules.
Remove uncertainty.
Elena watched him fight himself.
Finally Roman said, “Where will you go?”
“My old apartment.”
He hated the answer.
But nodded.
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
He wanted to say no.
Instead he asked, “Do you need help?”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“That’s not the answer I expected.”
“I know.”
She stood.
Roman stepped closer.
“I love you.”
“I know.”
“Still.”
“I know.”
He touched her cheek.
“But if you need to leave to know whether you choose me…”
His voice caught.
“…then go.”
Elena began crying.
Roman frowned automatically.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because you’re making this harder.”
“That was not my intention.”
She laughed.
Then kissed him.
The kiss was slow.
Painful.
Full of things neither could promise.
The next morning, Elena left.
Roman did not send guards openly.
He sent Matteo.
Elena discovered him on the second day.
She called Roman.
“Seriously?”
Roman looked at the phone.
“What?”
“Matteo is across the street.”
Roman remained silent.
“I can see him.”
Matteo’s voice sounded faintly in the background.
“Tell him I said the coffee here is terrible!”
Roman closed his eyes.
“You were followed last week.”
“By journalists.”
“One could have been armed.”
“Roman.”
“One guard.”
“No.”
“Half a guard?”
“That is not a thing.”
They compromised on a monitored alarm system.
Again.
Dating his own wife was surprisingly complicated.
They met for dinner two nights later.
No security entourage.
No business.
Roman arrived early.
Elena stared.
“You’re early.”
“I am always early.”
“You were forty minutes late to our first family dinner.”
“That was strategic.”
“It was rude.”
Roman held her chair.
She looked suspicious.
“What?”
“You’ve never done that.”
“I have manners.”
“You hide them aggressively.”
Dinner was awkward at first.
Then easier.
Roman asked about Gabriel.
Elena asked about Roman’s plan for the Duca businesses.
For years, illegal activity had mixed with legitimate construction, shipping, restaurants, and real estate.
Roman had begun dismantling the criminal operations.
Some captains resisted.
Others welcomed the chance to stop living under constant threat.
Matteo called it “the least glamorous revolution in mafia history.”
Roman called it survival.
“What will you do when it’s legitimate?” Elena asked.
Roman stared.
“No idea.”
“You need something.”
“I have companies.”
“I mean something you want.”
Roman had no answer.
Elena noticed.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out too.”
For the first time, they were equals in uncertainty.
Not boss and wife.
Not protector and protected.
Two people deciding what life looked like when danger stopped making decisions for them.
Then the restaurant television changed.
Breaking news.
VICTOR SOLERNO RELEASED PENDING TRANSFER AFTER COURTHOUSE ATTACK.
Roman stood instantly.
Elena turned.
“What?”
The reporter explained.
A transport convoy had been attacked.
Two federal officers injured.
Victor gone.
Roman’s phone rang.
Matteo.
“Boss.”
“I see it.”
“We have another problem.”
“What?”
“The attack came from inside federal scheduling.”
Roman’s blood cooled.
Victor still had someone powerful.
A message arrived on Elena’s phone.
She stared.
Unknown number.
A photograph.
Gabriel sleeping in his care facility.
Taken that afternoon.
Roman saw it.
Everything inside him changed.
“Elena.”
She looked at him.
The message underneath:
YOUR FATHER SURVIVED ME ONCE.
HE WON’T TWICE.
Elena went pale.
Roman called the facility.
No answer.
He called security.
Busy.
He and Elena ran.
By the time they arrived, police surrounded the entrance.
Roman’s chest tightened.
Elena jumped from the car before it stopped.
“Dad!”
Roman followed.
A nurse intercepted them.
“Elena!”
“Where is he?”
“He’s safe.”
Elena nearly collapsed.
“What happened?”
“Someone tried entering his room.”
Roman looked around.
“Who stopped them?”
The nurse pointed.
A man sat handcuffed beside police.
Enzo Marchetti.
Roman froze.
Enzo looked up.
Roman approached.
“You.”
Enzo smiled weakly.
“I told you Victor destroys everyone eventually.”
“You saved Gabriel?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Enzo looked toward Gabriel’s room.
“Because I spent twenty years doing what Victor told me.”
His face hardened.
“I wanted one day where I didn’t.”
Roman studied him.
“Where is Victor?”
Enzo shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Roman believed him.
For the first time.
Enzo continued.
“But he has a target bigger than Gabriel.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“Your mother.”
Elena inhaled.
Roman turned toward Matteo.
“Call Isabella.”
Matteo did.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Roman’s expression changed.
Then his own phone rang.
Isabella’s number.
He answered.
“Mother?”
Victor replied.
“Not exactly.”
Roman closed his eyes.
Of course.
Victor laughed softly.
“You destroyed my empire, Roman.”
Roman’s voice dropped.
“If you hurt her—”
“Always the women.”
Roman looked at Elena.
Victor continued.
“First your mother. Then your wife. You surround yourself with weaknesses.”
Roman smiled coldly.
“No.”
Victor went silent.
Roman continued.
“You keep misunderstanding that.”
He looked toward Elena.
“They’re the reason you’re going to lose.”
Victor hung up.
Elena stepped closer.
“What does he want?”
Roman already knew.
Not money.
Not evidence.
Not escape.
Victor wanted Roman angry.
Wanted him violent.
Wanted to prove nothing had changed.
Roman looked at Matteo.
“Find my mother.”
May you like
Then at Elena.
“And this time, we don’t give Victor the ending he wants.”
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