Chapter 2 - The Long Absence
Six months earlier, the world outside our fortified compound in Sicily and our satellite properties in California had been on the brink of an all-out turf war. A powerful coalition of rival syndicates across Europe was challenging the Rossi dominance, threatening supply lines, safe houses, and our entire financial architecture.
As the head of the family, I couldn't delegate the stabilization effort. I had to go.
The morning my private helicopter lifted off from the courtyard, the rain was coming down in sheets, blurring the edges of the manicured gardens. Grace had stood beneath the stone colonnade, wearing a loose floral dress, her left hand resting tenderly on her growing, nine-month-ready baby bump.
Her eyes had been swimming with unshed tears, but she had tried to smile for my sake.
“You'll be home before our baby is born... right, Dante?” she had whispered, her voice trembling slightly against the roar of the twin turbine engines.
I had stepped down from the boarding stairs, pulled her into my arms, and kissed her forehead with a fierce, protective urgency.
“I promise,” I had vowed. “Nothing in this world could keep me away for the birth of our child.”
But the underworld is a labyrinth of betrayals. One negotiated ceasefire turned into an ambush in Milan; a supposed diplomatic meeting dissolved into a week-long lockdown in a safe house near Marseille. Weeks bled relentlessly into months.
Yet, throughout the chaos, Grace and I maintained our lifeline.
Almost every single night, no matter how late or how dangerous the situation, we connected through encrypted video calls.
She would sit in the rocking chair in the pale-blue nursery, showing me the tiny knitted sweaters she had bought, the stack of classic children’s books on the shelf, and laughing softly whenever our little boy gave a vigorous kick after hearing the sound of my voice through the speakers.
“He’s a fighter, just like his father,” she would laugh, her eyes glowing with pure, unadulterated love.
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Then, during the final two weeks before my scheduled return...
Everything changed with terrifying suddenness.
