My breath comes in ragged bursts.
My ears ring, my hands shake, but I don’t lower the weapon until I see he’s no longer breathing.
My name rings throughout the warehouse.
Lucia and Enzo round the corner followed by the other guards.
“Cipi, you’re alright,” Lucia throws her arms around me.
“Where’s Dominic?” I cry.
“Luca is taking him to the hospital. He’s alright. He will live.” Lucia assures me.
It’s only then that I allow myself to finally feel the weight of all my suppressed emotions.
Every bullet fired.
Every betrayal uncovered.
Every face of the people I’ve lost come crashing down on me all at once.
My chest heaves as the adrenaline drains away.
I’ve killed so many people but it feels different when it’s family.
The gun slips from my fingers, clattering to the floor, and I collapse into Lucia’s arms.
Tears flow freely and sobs wrack my body as I finally release all the pent-up emotions.
Lucia holds me tight, her own tears hot against my shoulder.
Nothing will ever be the same again.
But as I stand here, surrounded by the dead who had betrayed me, and held by those who love me, I realize Salvatore and Bruno were wrong.
The queen wasn’t defeated.
She’d made her final move.
And this time, it was checkmate.
Epilogue
One month later
A thin veil of snow covers the ground, turning the cemetery into a quiet, frozen canvas. The autumn wind carries the scent of rain, and my breath exits in white puffs of steam as I kneel in front of my father’s grave.
I lay the bouquet of roses against the headstone. The deep crimson stands bright against the pale gray.
My throat tightens. “I did it, Dad,” I whisper. Tears blur my vision but I blink them away. “They’re gone. Every last one of them. You can rest now.”
The name Vincenzo Capuano stares back at me.
I run my hand along the etched lettering.
The marble is cold beneath my fingers.
Next to my father lies Nonno.
