Chapter 9
The drive to the Salvatore family mansion felt longer that night.
Vincenzo remained silent the entire time. The phone was still in his hand, his fingers clenched too tightly around the device. The words he had heard kept echoing inside his head, heavy as lead.
“It’s urgent.”
His father never used that tone without reason.
Never.
When the property gates opened, the bad feeling in his chest grew until it became a physical pain.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The mansion was lit up as always. Guards in their usual positions. Staff moving discreetly. Everything looked normal. But Vincenzo knew his family better than anyone. And he knew how to recognize the smell of a storm before it even broke.
As soon as he entered the main office, he found both of his brothers already present.
Sitting.
Serious.
No smiles.
No provocations.
Neither of them dared look directly at him for more than two seconds.
His father remained behind the enormous dark-wood desk, hands resting on the surface, his face hard as stone.
“What happened?” Vincenzo asked, his voice controlled but already charged with tension.
The old Don lifted his eyes. He took a second longer than usual to answer.
“Sit down.”
Vincenzo didn’t like the tone. But he obeyed.
The silence that followed was long.
Unbearable.
Until the father finally spoke, his voice deep and without emotion:
“The war is over.”
Vincenzo frowned. For a moment, he felt a treacherous relief. Months of attacks, ambushes, deaths, betrayals… it had finally ended.
“Did we reach an agreement?” he asked cautiously.
“Yes.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
The father took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling once. When he answered, each word came out like a sentence:
“The price they asked for…”
The office became so silent that the ticking of the old clock on the wall could be heard.
Vincenzo felt something tighten hard in his chest. His expression closed as he already imagined the worst.
“And what is it?”
The old Don looked straight at him.
Without blinking.
Without hesitating.
“A marriage.”
Vincenzo’s heart stopped.
For a full second.
“Marriage of who?”
The father answered without hesitation, his voice firm:
“Yours.”
No one moved.
No one breathed loudly.
The two brothers remained completely still, their faces tense. Because both already knew. They already knew exactly who occupied Vincenzo’s thoughts. They already knew the name he carried in his chest like an open wound.
Vincenzo kept staring at his father. As if he hadn’t understood. As if he were waiting for someone to say it was a joke.
But it wasn’t.
“I refuse,” he said. The word came out low, instinctive, almost a growl.
“Vincenzo…”
“I can’t get married…”
He stood up slowly. The chair scraped across the marble floor with a harsh sound.
Lorenzo, his younger brother, decided to speak up. “Father… If you want, you can put me in his place, we can switch, I can be the future Don too.”
The father remained seated, impassive. His focus was on his firstborn.
“The rival mafia agreed to end the conflicts once and for all. But they demanded a definitive alliance between the families. A marriage that unites the blood of the two houses. With no possibility of future betrayal.”
“Then find another solution,” Vincenzo shot back, his voice already starting to tremble with restrained anger.
“There is no other solution.”
“There’s always another solution!”
His voice echoed through the office. For the first time in many years, Vincenzo was raising his voice at his father. And for the first time in his life, there was something he was not willing to lose.
Sara.
Her name rose in his mind like a silent scream. Her smile. Her soft laugh when he teased her. The way she waited for him to come back, even without promises. The way she said “my legendary prince” with her eyes shining. Everything.
He clenched his fists so hard that his nails dug into his palms.
“I love someone else.”
The silence that followed was brutal.
Cutting.
The brothers lifted their eyes at the same time. So did the father. Because Vincenzo Salvatore rarely spoke about feelings.
In fact… never.
But this time he did. And his voice came out rough, heavy, as if each word cost blood.
“There’s someone. I love someone…” he said in an almost desperate tone.
The old Don closed his eyes for a moment. As if he had already expected to hear that. When he opened them again, there was something different in his gaze — not weakness, but an ancient weariness.
“I know,” he said quietly.
Vincenzo went still.
“What?”
“I know,” the father repeated. “Do you think I don’t know everything that happens in my sons’ lives?”
“How long have you known?” Vincenzo asked, his voice irritated.
“Long enough to know that she’s real. That she’s not just a distraction.”
That hurt more than any punch.
“Then you know exactly what you’re asking of me,” he growled.
“I do.”
“And you’re still going to do this?”
The father stood up slowly. He approached until he was in front of his son. For the first time in years, the difference in height between them seemed smaller.
“You weren’t born to choose, Vincenzo,” he said, his voice low but cutting. “You were born to lead. To protect this family. To make sure it continues existing after I’m gone. I also had to give up things I loved. And look where we are today. Still standing. Still on top.”
Vincenzo felt something hot rise in his throat. Rage. Frustration. Pain. All mixed together.
“But there’s a difference…” he murmured, almost to himself. “You’ve always been in love with Mom…”
The father didn’t answer right away. He just looked at his son with an expression Vincenzo had never seen on him before.
“I know…” the old Don said, almost with affection.
“But I also know that you understand what’s at stake.
If you marry that woman who doesn’t even belong to our world, several people will die and our family will be in danger, and I’m certain you wouldn’t be able to live with that woman and know what you lost…
So my son… There is no right choice, only choose what brings you less suffering.
What you decide to do with your life afterward is your problem…
But for now, I need you to get married and guarantee an heir… ”
Vincenzo closed his eyes. For a second, it seemed like he was going to collapse. But he didn’t. Men like him didn’t collapse in front of anyone.
◆◆◆
The next morning, already without the strength to keep arguing, he was taken to the rival family’s property to meet the chosen woman.
She was sitting in an internal garden, elegant, beautiful, impeccably dressed. But her eyes were as tired as his.
Vincenzo approached her but remained standing, hands in his pockets. Neither of them smiled. Neither of them pretended.
The silence lasted a few long seconds.
She didn’t look into his eyes at first, only lifted her gaze and deduced that he was her fiancé. Until she spoke first, her voice low:
“I don’t want to marry you.”
Vincenzo blinked, surprised by the sincerity… He expected her to be embarrassed, shy, since he intimidated the vast majority of women, but he didn’t expect to hear that.
She sighed, running a hand over her face.
“Sorry. Maybe I should have started with a greeting.”
That almost made him laugh. Almost.
“That doesn’t… bother me at all, Eleonora…” he answered, his voice rough.
She lifted her gaze to him for the first time, looked into his eyes, and seemed to hate looking at him. The effect he had on women did nothing to her. Eleonora was beautiful, dark hair and light eyes, curls at the ends; she looked a little like his Sara… But she looked at him with indifference.
“Really? I’m almost touched by that… But can I know why it doesn’t bother you? I’d be very lucky if you admitted you were gay,” she asked directly.
Vincenzo looked away toward the garden, then around, and then up. Armed guards were on the upper floors patrolling the property.
“I don’t want to marry you either, Eleonora…” he murmured. “I love someone, but I’ll have to give her up thanks to your family, so you’re not the only one feeling this anger.”
The young woman closed her eyes, seeming both relieved and sad.
“Then we’re condemned together… I’m sorry, Vincenzo… And I have no interest in the businesses my father does, but you men always want more than you have, you’re never satisfied with anything.”
Vincenzo liked her temperament. He wasn’t afraid of anyone, but if she ever used that temperament against his Sara, he would have to kill her, and that wouldn’t be good. “You seem like a fierce woman… You could be an excellent ally…”
“I believe I’m the devil in the form of a woman…
But the man I love doesn’t seem to have the slightest problem with that…
He’s the only one… If you go after him to remove him from your path, I swear I’ll kill you, Vincenzo Salvatore.
I’ll marry you to guarantee this damn heir that the man I unfortunately have to call father wants so much, but don’t interfere in my personal life. ”
Vincenzo showed no offense at any moment. He remained silent. If that were truly true, it would be an incredible gift — maintaining a marriage only for appearances, at least that. But he was still worried she might be lying; he needed to investigate further…
“Then we have an agreement… Because I can say the same to you…”
Eleonora remained serious; she didn’t seem worried about that.
If he was truly protecting someone the way she was, there would be no reason to fear.
But he could be lying just to want to assassinate any competitor in his way, and she would rip his balls off before killing him if he dared challenge her.
“I’ll see you at the altar… Vincenzo Salvatore.”
Her tone was pure threat when she turned her back and walked back toward the property.
For the first time, both of them let a few tears fall after they were alone, both worried about the people they loved, both afraid of losing their loves and willing to fight to the death to keep them safe.
When Vincenzo finally left the property and got back into his car, it was already almost nightfall; the sun was setting on the horizon…
He left the property with green fields as far as the eye could see.
When he passed through the gates, he followed a deserted road with trees around it and the sun’s rays against the car’s windshield.
The fear grew more and more as he realized where he was going, who he was going to see for the last time.
Sara.
In a few hours he would need to look into her eyes. He would need to destroy everything they had built with so much care.
He closed his eyes, resting his head against the leather seat. His hands still trembled slightly on the steering wheel.
Killing men was easy.
Facing enemies was easy.
Commanding an empire was easy.
But nothing seemed more impossible than saying goodbye to the woman he loved.
And for the first time in many years…
Vincenzo Salvatore felt fear.