Chapter 9 - The WeddingOur wedding was small.
No reporters.
No politicians.
No criminals.
Only family and a handful of people we trusted.
Amelia carried flowers.
Adrian slept through most of the ceremony.
Dominic stood beside me in a dark suit.
His hands shook.
I smiled.
"The feared Dominic Moretti is nervous."
"Terrified."
"Of me?"
"Completely."
I laughed.
The ceremony ended quickly.
Then something unexpected happened.
Dominic's former lieutenant approached.
Vincent.
He handed Dominic an envelope.
"One last thing."
Dominic opened it.
Inside was a photograph of a man.
Marco's former partner.
A man named Salvatore Rizzi.
He had escaped before the arrests.
The photograph was recent.
On the back:
He knows about the children.
Dominic's face hardened.
I touched his hand.
"Not tonight."
He looked at me.
"What?"
"Tonight, you're my husband."
He smiled.
"Tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow we deal with him."
For once, Dominic listened.
We danced.
Amelia laughed.
Someone played piano.
Rain began outside.
The same kind of rain that had fallen the night I first walked toward Dominic's table.
I remembered the baby screaming.
The fear.
The danger.
The moment everything changed.
Dominic whispered:
"Do you regret it?"
"What?"
"Walking toward me."
I looked at him.
"Never."
He kissed me.
Our lives had begun in chaos.
But that night felt peaceful.
Until the lights went out.
The room went dark.
A gunshot shattered the silence.
Everyone screamed.
Dominic pushed me behind him.
"Stay down."
Security rushed in.
But nobody had been shot.
The bullet had struck a framed photograph.
A warning.
On the wall was a message written in black paint:
THE FAMILY ISN'T SAFE.
Dominic looked at me.
"We're leaving."
We moved the children first.
Then guests.
Within minutes, the property was surrounded by security.
No attacker was found.
But Salvatore had disappeared.
The next morning, police discovered his abandoned car.
Inside was a list.
Four names.
Dominic.
Me.
Amelia.
Adrian.
And one more.
The final name was crossed out.
Sofia Moretti.
Dominic stared at the list.
"He isn't after us."
"Then who?"
"He wants to finish what Marco started."
I squeezed his hand.
"We'll stop him."
Dominic looked at me.
"You shouldn't have to live like this."
I smiled.
"I didn't choose the mafia."
He laughed.
"No."
"I chose you."
He kissed my forehead.
"And I'll spend the rest of my life making sure you never regret it."
The search for Salvatore lasted six weeks.
Then police found him.
Not in Chicago.
Not hiding.
He had gone to Sofia's hometown.
He was looking for something.
Something Sofia had hidden before her death.
May you like
A final piece of evidence.
And if he found it first, everything we had built could collapse.
