Chapter 11 - FAMILY, BY CHOICE
Cameras captured everything.
That saved them.
Elias couldn't erase the moment.
Couldn't hide it inside an abandoned chapel.
Couldn't purchase every witness.
Hundreds of phones recorded as he stood above Roman Vescari holding a gun and a chained wolf.
Federal agents shouted.
"Drop the weapon!"
Elias laughed.
"You have no idea what you're looking at."
Roman took one step forward.
"I do."
Matteo snarled.
Elias tightened the leash.
The wolf whimpered.
Roman's face changed.
Mia saw it.
Despite everything, Matteo was still his brother.
"Elias."
Roman's voice carried through the street.
"Let him go."
"Still sentimental."
"Still hiding behind other people."
Elias smiled.
"You learned that line from Matteo?"
"No."
Roman looked at Mia.
"Someone smarter."
Mia almost smiled.
Serafina staggered.
One agent moved toward her.
Elias pressed the gun against her head.
"Nobody moves."
The street froze.
"What do you want?" Roman asked.
"The medallion."
Roman touched his throat.
The broken wolf medallion remained there.
"Why?"
Elias's smile vanished.
"Because your family never understood what it possessed."
Serafina looked at Roman.
"Don't."
Elias struck her.
Mia flinched.
Roman's hands curled.
"You have three seconds to stop touching her."
"You still think you're giving orders?"
Roman looked around.
Police.
Federal agents.
Press.
Then back at Elias.
"No."
His voice was calm.
"I'm asking."
Elias stared.
Roman continued.
"That's new for me."
Mia felt unexpectedly proud.
Elias raised the black book.
"This belonged to the Orsini family."
Serafina's expression darkened.
"You stole it."
"I liberated it."
"You murdered my sister."
Roman went still.
Serafina looked at him.
"Eight months ago, Elias came to us first."
Roman's eyes narrowed.
"He wanted the curse."
"Not for Matteo."
Elias shouted, "Enough."
Serafina kept speaking.
"He wanted control over the Vescari bloodline."
Roman understood.
"Matteo was a test."
"Yes."
Elias laughed.
"You make it sound crude."
Mia said, "Turning people into animals feels pretty crude."
His eyes found her.
"Mia Sullivan."
"Unfortunately for you."
"Roman's weakness."
Roman stepped slightly in front of her.
Mia immediately moved beside him again.
"No."
Roman glanced over.
"Don't do the protective-body-shield thing."
"This isn't the time."
"This is exactly the time."
Elias smiled.
"Fascinating."
Mia ignored him.
Roman whispered, "Mia."
She whispered back, "We're discussing boundaries later."
Even one of the agents appeared confused.
Elias's expression hardened.
"The medallion."
Roman removed it.
Serafina cried out.
"Roman!"
Nothing happened.
He remained human.
The curse had already returned to Matteo.
Roman held the broken silver disk in his palm.
"Come take it."
Elias aimed at him.
"Bring it."
Roman stepped toward the stairs.
One.
Two.
Three.
Matteo began pulling against the leash.
Elias kicked him.
Roman stopped.
His face went cold.
"Don't."
Matteo looked up.
For the first time, the wolf's eyes resembled the frightened brother beneath the monster.
Roman continued forward.
Mia understood what he was doing.
Keeping Elias focused.
Federal agents were spreading along both sides.
Serafina saw them too.
Elias did not.
Roman climbed the first step.
Then the second.
"Did you enjoy it?" Elias asked.
"What?"
"Being powerless."
Roman stared at him.
"No."
"Good."
Elias smiled.
"Because men like you should experience it."
Roman's expression didn't change.
"And men like you?"
"I'm different."
"Every coward thinks that."
Elias fired.
The bullet struck Roman's side.
Mia screamed.
Agents opened fire.
Serafina dropped.
Matteo lunged.
The leash ripped from Elias's hand.
Elias turned.
Too late.
The wolf hit him.
Both crashed down the stairs.
"Roman!"
Mia ran.
Roman was on one knee.
Blood spread through his shirt.
"Look at me."
He looked.
"That's becoming a habit."
"Not funny."
"Little funny."
She pressed both hands against the wound.
Tomas reached them.
"Ambulance!"
Below, Matteo stood over Elias.
The wolf could kill him.
Everyone knew it.
Elias knew it.
"Matteo," Roman called.
The wolf turned.
Roman struggled upright.
"Don't."
Matteo growled.
Elias crawled backward.
"Roman," Tomas whispered, "let him."
Roman shook his head.
"If Matteo kills him now, he never comes back."
Serafina stared.
"How do you know?"
Roman looked at her.
"Because the curse is about betrayal."
He looked at Matteo.
"Not punishment."
Matteo's ears moved.
Roman stepped forward despite Mia trying to hold him.
"Matteo."
The wolf stared.
"You wanted everything I had."
Roman breathed through pain.
"You can have one thing."
Silence.
"A choice."
Matteo looked at Elias.
Then Roman.
"Don't become me."
The wolf trembled.
Elias whispered, "Kill him."
Matteo snarled.
"Do it!"
The wolf lunged.
Mia flinched.
But Matteo didn't bite Elias.
He bit through the black book.
Pages exploded across the steps.
Elias screamed.
"No!"
Matteo ripped it apart.
Serafina gasped.
Wind swept through the street.
Pages spun upward.
The broken medallion in Roman's hand became burning hot.
He dropped it.
Matteo convulsed.
Black fur pulled backward.
Elias crawled away.
Federal agents tackled him.
Matteo screamed.
Human.
A man's hand struck the pavement.
Then another.
Minutes later Matteo Vescari lay naked and shaking beneath a police jacket.
Human again.
Roman stared.
Matteo raised his head.
Their eyes met.
"I'm sorry."
Two words.
Roman's face tightened.
Matteo began crying.
Not beautifully.
Not quietly.
Like someone whose entire life had finally collapsed under the weight of everything he'd done.
"I hated you."
Roman said nothing.
"I hated you because Dad chose you."
Vittorio appeared behind the police line.
Matteo saw him.
"And I hated myself because I knew why."
Vittorio closed his eyes.
Matteo looked at Roman.
"You were better."
Roman shook his head.
"No."
Matteo stared.
"I was just older."
A pause.
"And somebody finally taught me better."
Roman looked at Mia.
She was crying without realizing it.
Sirens surrounded them.
Agents took Elias into custody.
Another arrested Matteo.
Roman didn't interfere.
Matteo looked back before entering the vehicle.
"Roman."
Roman waited.
"Cookie?"
Mia's mouth fell open.
Roman stared at his brother.
Matteo smiled faintly for the first time.
Roman pointed toward the police car.
"Get in."
Mia started laughing.
Then Roman collapsed.
Three weeks later, Roman Vescari sat across from federal investigators voluntarily.
Doyle's recorded confession survived.
So did the gala recordings.
Digital specialists proved most evidence against Roman had been manufactured during the period he was missing.
Explaining where Roman actually was remained complicated.
Tomas suggested claiming he'd been held captive.
Mia suggested nobody mention dogs.
Roman agreed.
Elias faced conspiracy charges, attempted murder, financial crimes and enough additional accusations to keep several prosecutors employed.
Matteo cooperated.
Not for immunity.
Roman refused to request it.
Matteo accepted whatever came.
Serafina disappeared after giving testimony.
Before leaving, she gave Mia one sentence.
"Some curses survive because families keep choosing them."
Mia thought about that for months.
Roman didn't return to the old organization.
Not exactly.
Vescari Holdings remained.
Shipping.
Construction.
Restaurants.
Real estate.
Anything illegal was shut down.
Some men objected.
Roman invited them to leave.
Most did.
The few who threatened Mia discovered Roman had become legitimate, not harmless.
Mia refused his offer of an apartment.
Then refused his second offer.
Then discovered he had quietly paid the delinquent property taxes on the building where the diner operated.
She marched into his office furious.
"You bought my workplace."
Roman looked up.
"No."
"You absolutely did."
"I bought the building."
"That's worse."
"The previous owner planned to sell it."
"Roman."
"The diner would've closed."
"Roman."
"I preserved jobs."
"You preserved Lucy's ability to gossip about us for eight hours a day."
"Public service."
Mia tried not to smile.
Failed.
Roman stood.
He wore no tie anymore.
Mia liked him better that way.
"There's one more thing."
"No."
"You don't know what it is."
"If it cost more than fifty dollars, no."
"Technically—"
"Roman."
He handed her an envelope.
Mia opened it.
Inside was an enrollment form.
Her old college.
She looked up.
"I didn't pay anything."
She narrowed her eyes.
"I called."
"Roman."
"You said you wanted to finish."
Mia stared.
"I also said I couldn't afford it."
"So I asked about scholarships."
She blinked.
"You asked?"
"They have one for adults returning after financial hardship."
Mia read the form.
"You're not paying?"
"No."
"You're not secretly funding the scholarship?"
Roman looked offended.
"No."
"Did you threaten anyone?"
"Also no."
"Bribe?"
"Mia."
"Just checking."
He smiled.
"You earned it."
Her eyes filled.
Roman stepped closer.
"This is what you wanted before everybody else started deciding what you needed."
Mia looked at him.
"How do you remember that?"
"I remember everything you said when you thought I couldn't answer."
She laughed.
"That's still creepy."
"It's useful."
She folded the paper carefully.
Then kissed him.
Roman froze for half a second.
Mia pulled back.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You look surprised."
"You usually warn me."
"Would you prefer paperwork?"
"No."
"Good."
He kissed her again.
Six months later, rain fell sideways through the city.
Mia left evening class carrying three textbooks and an umbrella that had already surrendered.
Roman waited outside.
No driver.
No convoy.
Just Roman.
And beside him sat an enormous black rescue dog.
Mia stopped.
"No."
Roman smiled.
"He needed a home."
"No."
The dog wagged its tail.
"He was going to be euthanized."
"That's emotional manipulation."
"I learned from you."
Mia crouched.
The dog immediately put one massive paw on her shoulder.
"Oh, you're terrible."
Roman leaned against the car.
"So?"
Mia scratched the dog's neck.
"What's his name?"
Roman looked innocent.
"I thought you should choose."
She looked at him.
Then at the dog.
Then back at Roman.
"Cookie."
Roman's expression collapsed.
"Absolutely not."
The dog wagged harder.
Mia laughed.
"Cookie."
"No."
"Cookie Vescari."
"Mia."
"He's family."
Roman shook his head.
"You've become drunk with power."
Mia stood and took his hand.
"You're the former mafia boss."
"Former being the important word."
The new Cookie walked between them.
Rain struck the sidewalk.
A year earlier, Mia would have hurried through it alone, counting cracks and calculating rent.
Now Roman squeezed her hand.
She looked up.
"You know something?"
"What?"
"The first Cookie was better behaved."
Roman stared.
"That's insulting."
"He understood commands."
"I understood them."
"You ignored them."
"Different thing."
Mia laughed.
Roman stopped beneath the streetlight.
"What?"
He looked at her.
The same gray-green eyes she'd seen in a bleeding animal at the mouth of an alley.
Only now there was no mystery left inside them.
Not exactly.
There were scars.
Regret.
A past neither of them pretended had disappeared.
But there was something else too.
Choice.
Roman lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles.
"You said something that night."
"When?"
"When you found me."
Mia remembered.
From today, I'm your family.
Her throat tightened.
Roman smiled.
"I didn't believe you."
"Smart."
"I thought nobody said something like that without wanting something."
Mia looked at their joined hands.
"And now?"
Roman glanced at the ridiculous dog beside them.
Then toward the apartment they now shared six blocks away.
Then back at her.
"Now I think family might be the people who stay after they discover exactly what you are."
Mia smiled.
"No."
Roman frowned.
"No?"
"Family is the people who stay while expecting you to become better."
Roman considered that.
"That's much less comfortable."
"Exactly."
Cookie barked.
Roman looked down.
"Don't agree with her."
The dog barked again.
Mia laughed.
Rain kept falling.
Cars passed.
Somewhere behind them, the city continued doing what cities always did—forgetting yesterday's headlines and finding tomorrow's scandal.
Roman Vescari's name would probably always carry stories.
Some true.
Some exaggerated.
Some terrible.
Mia couldn't rewrite them.
Neither could he.
But Roman no longer wanted an empire built on fear.
And Mia no longer believed survival was the same thing as living.
Together they walked home through the rain.
Not boss and waitress.
Not cursed man and rescuer.
Not debtor and savior.
Just Roman.
Just Mia.
And one extremely large dog who had absolutely no idea why his name made Roman Vescari sigh every time someone called it.
For the first time in years, Roman didn't look over his shoulder.
For the first time in years, Mia wasn't counting what she owed.
And the silver wolf medallion?
It remained locked inside a small wooden box beneath their bed.
Broken in two.
Powerless.
At least, that was what they believed.
Until one night, months later, Mia woke at 3:17 a.m.
Cookie was standing beside the bed.
Not barking.
Not growling.
Staring toward the wooden box.
Roman sat up.
"What is it?"
Mia switched on the lamp.
From beneath the bed came a tiny metallic sound.
Click.
Roman went still.
Mia slowly reached down.
Pulled out the box.
The lock had opened by itself.
Roman whispered, "Don't."
But the lid was already lifting.
Inside, the two broken halves of the wolf medallion were no longer broken.
They had fused together.
Perfectly.
And beneath them rested something that had not been there before.
A small silver pendant.
Stamped with a different animal.
A raven.
Mia stared at it.
Roman's face lost every trace of color.
"Roman?"
He didn't answer.
"What's the raven?"
Roman looked at her.
And for the first time since Saint Agnes, Mia saw fear return to his eyes.
"My mother's family crest."
Outside their apartment, the elevator stopped on their floor.
Ding.
Footsteps entered the hallway.
Slow.
Measured.
Then came three knocks.
Roman rose.
Cookie growled.
Mia reached for her phone.
A woman's voice spoke from the other side of the door.
"Roman."
He froze.
Because the voice belonged to someone who had been dead for fifteen years.
His mother.
And she said,
May you like
"Open the door, sweetheart. We need to talk about the curse your father never told you about."
END OF THIS ARC
