Chapter 9 - The Last NameOne year later, the court returned everything that had been stolen from us.
But I didn't want my father's fortune.
We created a foundation.
It helped families who had lost everything because of organized crime.
David became its director.
I became the executive director.
Alessandro stayed away from criminal operations entirely.
He built legitimate businesses.
For the first time, people knew him not as a mafia boss, but as a businessman who had helped dismantle the organization that once controlled him.
Logan started kindergarten.
He loved dinosaurs.
He hated broccoli.
And he asked too many questions.
One afternoon, he came home holding a school assignment.
"Mommy."
"Yes?"
"Teacher said I need to draw my family."
"Okay."
He opened the paper.
There were four people.
Me.
David.
Logan.
And Alessandro.
I laughed.
"Why is Uncle Alessandro in our family?"
Logan shrugged.
"He saved us."
David smiled.
"Fair enough."
Then Logan pointed at the final drawing.
A house.
"That's our home."
I looked at David.
We had spent years running from houses.
Hotels.
Safe houses.
Hospitals.
Hidden rooms.
Now we had a home.
A real one.
That evening, David took me outside.
He held something behind his back.
"What is it?"
He pulled out a small box.
Inside was the wedding ring.
The original one.
The ring I thought had been buried with him.
He took my hand.
"I lost two years."
"You did."
"I can't get them back."
"No."
"But I can give you every year I have left."
I cried.
He slipped the ring onto my finger.
"I choose you."
I smiled.
"I choose you too."
From inside the house came Logan's voice.
"Dad!"
David laughed.
"Coming!"
May you like
We ran inside.
For once, nobody was chasing us.
