Chapter 28
The drafty living room settled into a heavy, contemplative stillness. Sophia, completely drained from weeping, had fallen into an exhausted sleep on the worn sofa, covered by Maya’s coat.
The three adults sat around an old pine table. A low foghorn sounded from miles off the coast, mourning the arrival of dawn.
"The freighter drops anchor at five," Elena said softly, staring out the salt-crusted window at the gray horizon. "My new passport and credentials are waiting in Portugal."
"You're still leaving?" Dante asked, his deep voice thick with profound grief. "Luca is broken. Barone’s strike team is wiped out. New York is secure. You can come back, Elena. You can be safe."
"I was never safe, Dante!" Elena gasped, tears spilling down her pale cheeks. "For six years, every time a car backfired, I waited for a bullet. Every time Sophia coughed, I checked for poison. I loved you, but your world is a graveyard. I cannot spend the rest of my days living inside an iron fortress, waiting for the next traitor to finish the job!"
Dante bowed his head. He had no words, because every truth she spoke was an indictment of his life.
Elena turned to Maya, reaching across the rough table to take the younger woman’s hands in a desperate grip. "Maya, I know this is selfish... but Sophia loves you. She spoke for you when she wouldn't speak for her own father. Please. Stay with her. Be the mother she needs in that house."
"Elena, you can't leave her," Maya pleaded, her voice shaking. "She needs her mother!"
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"If she comes with me, she will spend her life running as a hunted fugitive," Elena whispered, shaking her head. "With Dante, she is protected by an army. But she needs love, Maya. She needs light. Promise me you won't abandon her."
The foghorn groaned again, closer this time. The hour of departure had arrived.
