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“I know.” He winks at me.
xxx
As soon as the surgeon comes out with a smile, I know it’s over. The nightmare isover. Dad’s safe.Silver’ssafe, and my life can return to some kind of normalcy.
Then again, not sure there ever will be anormalagain, because I’m never letting that fox out of my sight. Do I sound crazy? Well, maybe I am, a little bit. But he freakin’ made me that way.
He’s the one for me.
The only one.
The surgeon leads me into the small recovery room, where my dad is awake and Silver is still in a groggy sleep after the anesthesia.
“Little Bear,” Dad’s voice is a raspy mess.
“I’m here.” I run up to him and kiss his cheek, unable to give him my full attention with Silver across from him, still hooked up to tubes.
“He’ll be okay,” Dad catches on. “He’s a tough son of a bitch.”
“Does that mean you finally approve?” My smile widens since I know I’m hitting a nerve.
He grunts.
“I’ll take that asyesin bear.”
“Don’t put me back into a coma, please,” he says, making us both laugh. “Listen, hun. I had an epiphany after I radioed him at Nikolaj’s casino. When I saw Ferraro running alongside the bratva pit-boss, I realized what you said is true. There’s good and bad on both sides, and by letting Arosso act alone, I was condemning a… decent man to death.”
My smile is intact.
“Hey.Hey.”He grabs my face with a weak grip. “He’s not clean by any means. And I innoshape or form condone his past. But… he was willing to die for us on a whim, for you. Out of all the rookies I’ve seen, I’m not sure any of them would’ve had the guts to even take a bullet for you, let alone orchestrate a kamikaze operation to keep us alive.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
“Yeah, yeah. But he has to stay out of the game. Not sure I can trust a man like him to do that.”
“Trust? After all that?”
We stare at one another, and I notice his expression soften. He knows I’m right.
“Dad. I love him,” I reiterate.
“I know you do, bear. I won’t stand in your way any longer.”
Chapter 32
Arosso
I see things in a new light.
It’s been a month and I’m finally out of this goddamn boot that’s been cramping my style. It’s been a whirlwind covering up the bratva-police scandal. Painting Ferraro as some kind of hero who uncovered the plot was a hard sell. And the release of Captain Dall was an even harder one. But it was the only way to keep the Dalls and myself out of this mess. It took a lot of convincing with Donny, but ultimately, the don came around by having a face-to-face with the old bear.
That’s behind us now.
Visiting the graves of my late family, I apologized to them for going back on my word. I had told them I’d see them soon. Even if I wouldn’t be admitted into the pearly gates, I’d ask for visitation rights from my party in hell.
Turns out it’s not my time. And I found new purpose in life.
I buy a gift every day for my little firecracker, but today is a special one. I’m on my way to the jeweler, considering how I’m going to ask her to be my wife. Just the thought punches me twice in the gut, for different reasons. Lisa was never true love… but she was a good person. Admitting that hurts more than I can ever explain, and it’s against the code to marry again… especially after what happened.