Chapter 8 - When the Mafia Boss Begged
Sophia woke to someone arguing.
“No.”
Alessandro.
“You haven't slept in thirty-eight hours,” another voice said.
Dante.
“I said no.”
“You smell terrible.”
“Leave.”
“You look worse.”
“Dante.”
Sophia opened her eyes.
“Personally, I agree with Dante.”
Silence.
Alessandro turned.
For several seconds, he simply stared.
Then he crossed the hospital room so quickly he nearly knocked over a chair.
“Sophia.”
His hand hovered above hers.
He didn't touch.
She noticed.
“You can hold my hand.”
His fingers closed around hers.
Carefully.
“You were shot.”
“I gathered that.”
“You lost a lot of blood.”
“Also gathered.”
“You stopped breathing during surgery.”
She looked at him.
His eyes were red.
“Oh.”
“I thought…”
He couldn't finish.
Sophia squeezed his hand.
“But I didn't.”
“No.”
“Where's Matteo?”
“Safe.”
“Marie?”
“Safe.”
“Raymond?”
“Alive.”
“Vale?”
Alessandro's expression hardened.
“Gone.”
Sophia sighed.
“Of course.”
“He escaped through the river tunnels.”
“Then we'll find him.”
“No.”
She frowned.
“No?”
“When you leave this hospital, you're leaving Bellhaven.”
“Excuse me?”
“I have a property in Switzerland.”
“You have lost your mind.”
“Probably.”
“I'm not going to Switzerland.”
“Yes, you are.”
She tried to sit up and immediately regretted it.
Alessandro caught her shoulders.
“Don't.”
“Listen carefully.”
“Sophia—”
“You do not get to fall in love with me for eight years and then ship me across an ocean the moment I become inconvenient.”
His face changed.
“Six.”
“What?”
“Six years.”
“You watched me for two before that.”
“That wasn't love.”
“What was it?”
He hesitated.
“An extremely concerning level of interest.”
Sophia laughed, then winced.
“Don't make me laugh.”
His expression softened.
Then she remembered.
“You never answered.”
“What?”
“If you still love me.”
Alessandro went completely still.
“Sophia.”
“Answer.”
“Yes.”
The word was almost whispered.
“I have loved you every day since I was twenty-four years old.”
Her eyes filled.
“Even when I didn't know you existed?”
“Especially then.”
“That is both romantic and disturbing.”
“I know.”
“Even when I dated other men?”
His jaw flexed.
Sophia smiled.
“Oh, this should be good.”
“I respected your freedom.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“I hated every single one of them.”
She laughed again.
Pain stabbed her side.
Alessandro immediately panicked.
“Stop.”
“You stop being funny.”
“I wasn't trying.”
“I know.”
Silence settled.
Sophia looked at their joined hands.
“I don't forgive what happened when I was eighteen.”
“You shouldn't.”
“I don't forgive you deciding things for me.”
“I know.”
“And if we're ever going to have a real marriage, I choose it.”
Alessandro stared.
“If?”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Don't ruin your chances.”
His thumb moved over her knuckles.
“Understood.”
Three days later, Dante arrived with bad news.
Vale had the flash drive.
But Matteo had information.
For seven years, Vale had forced him to maintain offshore accounts and hidden payment networks.
“He kept records,” Alessandro explained.
“Where?”
“In his head.”
Matteo entered.
He looked healthier, though scars remained across his wrists.
“I can rebuild most of it.”
Sophia smiled.
“Good.”
Matteo sat.
“But there's something else.”
He looked at Alessandro.
“Father knew I was alive.”
The room changed.
Alessandro stared.
“No.”
“He knew.”
“Vittorio died believing you were dead.”
“No, Alex.”
Matteo's voice softened.
“He visited me.”
Alessandro stood.
“That's impossible.”
“Three times.”
“Why didn't he bring you home?”
“Vale threatened both of you.”
Matteo looked toward Sophia.
“And her.”
Sophia's stomach tightened.
“Vittorio made a deal. He allowed Vale to keep using Caruso shipping routes in exchange for keeping me alive.”
Alessandro looked devastated.
“So my father…”
“Wasn't innocent.”
Matteo shook his head.
“But he wasn't the monster we thought either.”
Dante's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What?”
Everyone looked at him.
Dante turned on the television.
Bellhaven News filled the screen.
A reporter stood outside police headquarters.
“Federal authorities have issued arrest warrants tonight for Alessandro Caruso and several senior members of the Caruso organization following the release of documents allegedly connecting the family to decades of racketeering, bribery, and multiple homicides.”
Sophia stared.
Vale.
The flash drive.
He had altered the evidence.
Dante cursed.
“They're raiding the estate.”
Alessandro immediately looked at Sophia.
“You're leaving.”
“No.”
“Sophia.”
She pulled the hospital blanket aside.
“You've spent six years protecting me.”
She stood despite the pain.
“Now it's my turn.”
Then Matteo spoke.
“There may be one way to prove Vale fabricated the files.”
Everyone turned.
May you like
He looked at Sophia.
“But to do it, she'll have to publicly admit she's Alessandro Caruso's wife.”
