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Her mother downplayed the bruises. Her father coughed too much for her to believe his reassurances.

Tati clung to her arm and wouldn’t let go.

‘They never blinked,’ the little girl whispered, her voice breaking as she buried her nose in Savvine’s nape. ‘Those drones. They spied on everything. I didn’t cry, though. I kept the babies quiet in the shelter. I was brave.’

‘You are more than fearless,’ Savvine murmured, stroking the child’s curls. ‘You are a Bianchi.’

Savvine stayed for five days.

Between resettling her parents and family in their home, she reclaimed her old quarters and made herself useful.

The residents of the Venantia Eterna were still standing. Still strong, still Bianchi.

However, many were ragged, hungry, and worn thin.

Along with Lelah and Dorian, she distributed rations of fresh fruit and vegetables harvested from hydroponics.

She helped with diagnostics on the water purification system and recalibrated it with Miral’s assistance.

She also purged the ship of all crat tech and repaired comms.

Santi, Boaz, and Kaal worked with Leiko, the security team, and the engineering crew to mend the battered dreadnought.

Savvine spent hours with Abby rewiring the network arrays and catching up with her best friend.

She visited Julia and her new niece, Nina, and hung out with Tati to give her sister and her husband some downtime.

Helena Bianchi was MIA throughout the sector until Miral found her and her entourage in a cruiser streaking toward Pegasi.

At Savvine’s request, Mak and Zev flew a Signet gunship to intercept them and reported their apprehension soon after.

The Syndicate Commission, with the blessing of the Bianchi Elders, sentenced her via a virtual courtroom to a minimum of 10 years in prison for her crimes in racketeering, kidnapping her son, drug manufacturing, conspiracy, and the illicit trade of koko.

Miral showed the news holo clip of the sentencing to Savvine one morning. ‘Helena’s going to love spending the rest of her days living among metas and shifters in Sombra’s prison wing.’

‘Good fokkin’ riddance,’ Savvine murmured. ‘The fact that she kidnapped her son and stashed him in her koko drug farm so she could take over the flotilla as freakin’ empress is unbelievable. Delusional.’

Later that day, Savvine also sat on a hastily assembled committee, including her father and the general, that determined Eugene was not of sound mind and needed special care.

She reached out to Xander, and he offered a solution.

A day later, Eugene was shipped away in a hush to a Signet medical ship where a team of detox and rehab specialists waited to treat him.

With Eugene gone, Eterna’s residents got a fireworks show, one in which Miral sent a missile from the última X into the heart of the Veleno di Sogni .

The pleasure yacht exploded in spectacular fashion, lighting up the void to the cheers and claps of the Bianchi clan, watching through the observation dome on the ark ship.

Savvine lay on a cot that night and messaged Xander from her comm tab.

Savvine: Sante, baby, for your help with Eugene.

Xander: My fokkin’ pleasure. Still in bed. Santi tried to make me consume more regen paste. Twas a chewy, oily, gamey tangle of awful.

Savvine: You must eat whatever it takes to save your ass.

Xander: It insults my Spanish culinary lineage.

Savvine: You need to unlearn getting so offended.

Xander: FU, my love. How’s your mother?

Savvine: She is one stubborn woman. She attempted to help my sister, Julia, give birth with one good arm.

Xander: Now I know where you get your grit, mi cielo. How’s your new niece?

Savvine: She’s the cutest little cherub ever. I want one.

Xander: I’m ready to go. Tell me when and where.

She smiled at the small glowing screen in the dark.

Savvine: I miss you, handsome.

Xander: I miss you more. Come back soon. The bed’s colder than usual. It’s scented with you, and it’s driving me wild.

Savvine: Always so savage.

Xander: You love it.

Savvine: Two more nights. Promise.

The second evening, she helped Tati fall asleep, combing through the knots in her curls, telling her stories about nebulae and planets made of crystal.

She repaired a solar relay, met with the surviving officers from the ship’s bridge, and oversaw the reprogramming of the internal nav-system.

But her thoughts never strayed far from Xander, her heart having long since taken root beside his.

On her final night on the Eterna , she ate a quiet dinner with her parents as she filled them in on recent events.

After she ended her sojourn, her mother reached for her hand without words. ‘We came so close to Hades , stared at its ass, and survived; for that, we are all grateful.’

Her father studied her over his glass of wine.

‘He must be exceptional,’ he quipped.

Savvine blinked, glancing up from her wrist tab. ‘Who?’

Her father offered a wry smile. ‘The man you message like your soul already belongs to him.’

She didn’t argue.

‘Tell us about him,’ her dad invited.

It was now or never.

She took an inhale and launched into her diatribe.

‘His name is Xander, he’s Signet’s Commander. He’s also a shifter. A mostro , as some call them in our world. Yet he’s the most amazing, kind man I’ve ever known bar you dad, and I adore him.’

As she spoke, her eyes lit up.

Her parents sat back, studying her, giving her nothing to work with.

‘Well?’

Her parents exchanged glances.

‘Are you happy?’ her mother demanded.

‘I am.’

Her father grinned, surprising her. ‘Then that’s all we need to know.

Did you think we’d have a problem? We’ve seen how Signet’s strong guard have worked to safeguard our asses out here.

Hell, he saved your life a few times now, Savvine.

He sent his men to salvage this ship and rescue us from the clutches of some alien maniac and Helena.

If anything, he’s a hero in our eyes, more so seeing how the mention of him lights you up. ’

Her heart beat raced, elation starting to dance in her soul. ‘What about the decree? That says I am forbidden to date or even partner with a shifter or meta?’ ’

Enrico’s mouth twisted, then he spoke with such vehemence that Savvine blinked.

‘ Fokk that shit. During this tumultuous time, the people who came out to help us in our hour of need were not the other mafia families. It was those whom we’ve decreed against. Goes to show who the true monsters are.

I’ll be petitioning the Syndicate to do away with such a fear driven, piss poor law.

If they refuse, I’ll get the Bianchi elders to adopt it as an urgent measure.

Meanwhile, love and be loved by your man. We can’t wait to meet him.’

‘I’m so happy to hear that, Papa. I love him very much,’ Savvine confessed, clapping her hands to her hot cheeks.

Her mother gave her a warm smile. ‘Then return to him, it’s only a couple of hours’ jaunt away.’

‘Really? Won’t you miss me?’

‘ Ovviamente , but we’ve lived apart these last few weeks and survived. We’re made of strong stuff, us Bianchis.’

‘I don’t even know whether he has a place for me. We haven’t even had those discussions.’

‘Then have them,’ her father asserted. ‘Hash it out, make a home, and give us some grand babies.’

Savvine gasped, shocked. ‘You two are incorrigible. Is that all you’re after?’

‘ Naam ,’ her mum insisted with a twinkle in her gaze.

Savvine rolled her eyes. ‘Fates help me.’

After a beat, she smiled. ‘I will return to him, but no promises on grandchildren. Also, I won’t leave until after the Bianchi family council tomorrow to discuss the vacuum of leadership we face.’

‘Should be interesting,’ her father quipped.

‘Indeed.’

The atrium of the Eterna had never been so full, packed to overflowing.

Light poured through the great domed roof, a masterpiece of curved crystal panes and solar-harvesting latticework, casting golden ribbons down onto the mass of gathered Bianchi extended clan.

Hundreds stood beneath the arching vault, elders wrapped in ceremonial shawls, younger crew in patchwork uniforms, children perched on shoulders to see the stage at the far end.

Days of rationed water and sleep deprivation did not dull the pride in their spines.

Their ship had been reclaimed.

Their people were free.

The haunting whine of surveillance drones had finally fallen silent.

Now it was time to rebuild.

Savvine sat beside her parents on her left, Abby at her right, as the final few seats in the vast auditorium filled.

The fake Eugene loyalists and Helena Bianchi aficionados had been secured in a repurposed security wing.

Their treachery had been recorded, and a tribunal would soon decide their fates. However, the real question still hovered above the crowd like static in the air.

Who would lead them now?

The answer came in murmurs. In rising voices followed by rousing chants.

‘Rico! Enrico Bianchi!’

Her father was quiet and stunned.

Until, led by the overwhelming surge of cheers, General Arasteh himself strode forward to Enrico’s side.

‘The people have spoken.’

Savvine caught the disbelief in her father’s face as he wrung his hands with engineering grease still under his nails.

They clapped, stomped, whistled, and shouted.

He resisted. Of course he did.

Savvine understood Enrico’s reticence, which he expressed with his shaking head bowed, and his lips pressed together.

Still, the entreaties didn’t stop.

The old guard stood and clapped.

As did the technicians, the young ship-born, the matriarchs of the other families.

They all cheered his name.

He turned to his wife, and Gaya hugged him, brimming with pride.

Savvine bestowed him a nod of approval and a wink, and he sighed. ‘Seems I have no choice. Va bene .’

He gave in with a wry smile and a surrender of his hands, rising to a deafening cheer.

Escorted by the general, he strode the steps to the dais, shoulders tense.

He shuffled behind the rail, blinking against the lights. Silence fell, every eye in the room on him.

‘I’m just an engineer,’ he began, half a protest.

Laughter rippled through the crowd.

‘That’s exactly why,’ someone called.

‘We don’t need another showboat!’

‘Just fix our ship!’

Savvine grinned despite herself.

General Arasteh stepped forward and took the dais, his command ironclad.

‘Enrico Bianchi is not a warlord. He is not a demagogue. He doesn’t seek influence for the sake of power.’

He turned to face the assembly, his keen eyes sweeping the room.

‘He is a builder, and in times like these, we require a leader who understands systems. Balance. Restoration. Someone who knows how to keep us alive, not with slogans or synthetic charisma, but with calm logic, humble competence, and a steady hand.’

A rumble of approval moved through the crowd.

‘No more madness. No more koko -fueled ghost speeches from the back of velvet rooms. No drones and droids arresting our residents at will, and no dry rations,’ he added dryly, to a burst of grim laughter.

‘This family needs order. Vision, the best pasta, vino, aperitifs, and a return to what made us strong in the first place. Our unity.’

He turned back toward Savvine’s father. ‘You, Enrico Bianchi, are the most capable man to become our new Don. You have my blessing. You have your wife and daughters’ approval. And from the sound of it, ' he nodded to the audience, ‘you have everyone else’s, too.’

It was Abby who began the applause, surging to her feet. ‘ Brava Enrico!’

Followed by Rocco, clapping with fervor. Newlywed Dorian let out a piercing whistle. Soon, the entire atrium erupted.

Savvine reached for her mother’s hand.

Gaya’s eyes shimmered with tears, her other arm wrapping around her daughter’s shoulders.

They held each other as the man they loved, quiet, humble, forever reluctant, stepped forward to the podium.

Her father raised a hand. The crowd quieted.

‘I suppose,’ he stated, voice steadier now, ‘if you want me to rectify things, well, I’ll need access to every deck schematic. However my first orders as Don will be to assign a tech fix the damn gravity dampeners on Deck 14 and to commission a fest, because hell, we need to celebrate!’

The roar of approval that followed sealed it.

Savvine’s soul was awash with affection as Enrico stood before the clan he now led, awkward yet proud and dignified.

Peace settled in her spirit. She could now leave the Eterna confident it was in safe hands.

She leaned against Gaya and smiled as the crowd surged to its feet once more.

Their people had been shaken but were not broken, and now, they had a worthy leader to shepherd them to Pegasi.