Chapter 10 - The Last Gift
The late afternoon sun began to dip below the horizon, painting the sky in breathtaking shades of violet, orange, and deep gold.
Sofia came running up the terrace steps, her hair messy from playing, clutching something tightly in her small hand. Kaiser followed closely behind her, wagging his tail.
"Look, Lorenzo! Look what Mommy and I found in the study!" Sofia cheered, climbing into my lap.
She opened her small hand.
Resting in her palm was the carved wooden horse I had given her on the night of the breach—alongside a second, identical carved wooden horse that Elena had found tucked inside her father’s old journal.
Two wooden horses, carved fifteen years ago in a quiet olive orchard in Palermo, finally reunited side-by-side.
Elena walked over, kneeling down beside my chair, placing her arm around my waist as we looked at our daughter holding the two wooden toys.
"They belong together," Sofia declared with absolute five-year-old authority. "Just like us!"
I let out a rich, warm laugh—a genuine sound of happiness that hadn't echoed from my chest in over fifteen long years. I pulled Sofia close into my arms, wrapped my other arm around Elena’s shoulders, and rested my hand on Kaiser’s broad head as the dog sat faithfully at our feet.
May you like
The blood was scrubbed away. The shadows of Palermo were finally gone.
The man everyone had feared as the devil of the Duca empire had finally found his way back home—not in a palace of iron and marble, but in the warm, unshakeable sanctuary of love, family, and truth.
