71. Chapter Seventy-One
Chapter Seventy-One
Mateo
I ’m exhausted, but sleep refuses to come. Every time I close my eyes, my mind twists itself into knots. And worst of all, my restlessness is keeping Mari awake.
“Talk to me, amore ,” she whispers into the darkness, her voice full of concern. She snuggles deeper against me, pressing a soft kiss to my chest.
I let out a slow, heavy breath. “I don’t even know where to start. My mind is a mess.”
She’s quiet for a moment, then softly asks, “You can’t understand why your brother would want to give up his life for Ella?”
My fists clench and unclench involuntarily. “No, it’s not that.”
I shake my head, frustration bubbling beneath my skin.
“I get why he needs to save her. I really do. But he’s not thinking clearly. He hasn’t considered all his options. His fear for her is clouding his judgment.”
Mari sighs, her fingers tracing absentminded circles over my heart.
“He feels the pressure of time, Teo. As much as I hate to say it, both Tiero’s and Ella’s time is running out.”
“But they can both make it.” My voice is firm, edged with desperation. “Uberto is close to finding a match. We just need more time.”
She stills. “So… you haven’t called him off like your brother asked you to?”
“Of course not.” The idea alone makes me nauseous. “I won’t cut off the only chance we have of getting them both what they need. Once we have a match, Tiero will see reason.”
Silence stretches between us. Then Mari murmurs, almost to herself, “What a huge coincidence that they have the same blood type, and that their tissues match.” She hesitates, but adds, “It’s as if…”
“It was destined to be?” I finish for her.
She nods, her breath warm against my skin.
I exhale sharply, shaking my head. “I don’t want to believe that.”
I refuse to accept that only one of them can survive.
“We can save them both. And then they can have another chance. Together.”
“But Ella doesn’t want this life. It’s why she ran from your brother,” Mari says gently. “And Tiero, he can’t just walk away.”
I swallow hard. “Why the hell not?”
My voice is barely a whisper, thick with emotion. “It’s better than dying.”
I jolt awake when the phone on the bedside table rings.
No one calls at this hour unless it’s bad news.
Oh God.
Mari is sitting up too, her gaze finding mine. I see the same dread there that’s clamping my heart. Snatching the phone without even checking the display, I hit the accept button.
“Yes,” I bark, bracing myself for the worst.
“Signor De Marco,” Dr. Romolo’s voice comes through the line.
A beat of silence. My heart stops.
“We found a donor.”
I grip the phone tighter, barely hearing the rest of what Dr. Romolo says.
A donor.
A tear slips down my face. Mari’s expression shifts, her brows drawing together.
“What is it?” she whispers, clutching her chest.
“We have a donor,” I whisper back.
She exhales sharply, her head falling back in pure relief before she throws her arms around me.
“I want to be the one to tell my brother,” I say to Romolo. “I’ll be there soon.”
My exhaustion vanishes, replaced by a rush of hope so intense it makes me lightheaded. I pull Mari closer, laughing, giddy, almost disbelieving.
I kiss her, thoroughly.
This is it. The miracle we’ve been waiting for.
Tiero is sitting up in bed when I get to the hospital an hour later, looking weaker than I’ve ever seen him.
If he’s surprised to see me and Dr. Romolo this early, he doesn’t show it. His eyes meet mine, widening slightly, an unspoken invitation to speak.
I take a breath. “We’ve found lungs for you,” I say. “Will you please reconsider your decision?” My voice is raw, pleading.
He frowns. “How?”
“A twenty-six-year-old man, car accident. It’s all above board.”
His next question is the one I dread.
“What about the heart?”
Doctor Romolo steps in. “It’s not viable, sir.”
I turn back to Tiero, desperate.
“Please,” I whisper. “I will move heaven and earth to find a heart for Ella. Give me a little more time.”
But he shakes his head.
“We don’t have time. She needs one now.”
Turning to the doctor, he says with quiet finality, “Everything will proceed as planned.”
When his gaze meets mine again, regret is written all over his face. “I’m sorry, Teo.”
I can’t breathe.
I want to scream, to shake him, to demand he choose life.
“It would be the worst kind of torture to be given another chance at life, just to watch Ella die,” Tiero says softly after Dr. Romolo leaves the room.
I try again, grasping at anything that might change his mind. “But—”
He shakes his head, firm but gentle.
“My mind is made up. I’m content.” His voice is calm, steady, soothing even. The way he used to talk to me when I was little, right after mamma died.
The finality of it slams into me like a death sentence. My throat tightens further, my eyes burn, but I force myself to nod.
There’s nothing more I can say.
I turn to leave, but he stops me.
“And, Teo? Ella must never find out I declined. Promise me.”
I swallow hard and nod, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. I step outside and close the door behind me, feeling like I’ve lost him already.
I try to shake off this morning’s disappointment as best as I can, unsuccessfully.
I don’t leave Tiero’s side for the rest of the day, acutely aware of how little time I have left with him, unless I can change his mind.
Ella stays with us too, and despite everything, our time together is bittersweet yet peaceful.
The transplant is scheduled for the morning two days from now, delayed because one of the specialists had to be flown in from the U.S.
Tiero insisted the doctor have forty-eight hours to acclimate and recover from jet lag. Or perhaps, though he’d never admit it, he isn’t quite ready to leave this world behind.
Maybe, in his own way, he’s giving himself one more day with Ella and me.
Tonight, I’ll stay by his side. Tomorrow, for his last night, Ella will be here.
Time is slipping away, but I refuse to give up hope. I instructed Dr. Romolo to retrieve the lungs from the donor and ensure they remain viable until needed.
Uberto found a potential heart donor. A Swiss woman in her twenties, who might be a perfect match for Ella and, by extension, Tiero.
We still need to confirm tissue compatibility. Under a pretense, her doctor called her in for a routine checkup and took a blood sample. It’s currently being analyzed, and so far, things seem promising.
It’s already been determined that her heart is the right size. The issue of course is that she’s still very much alive.
But that’s not something Ella will ever have to know. I’ll ensure the woman’s passing is peaceful and painless.
The lights in the hospital are dimmed, the machines casting a faint glow that seems more pronounced in the darkness.
The steady beeping and the hiss of the ventilator fill the silence between us. I sit beside Tiero’s bed, elbows on my knees, watching him sleep.
There are too many tubes, too many wires, too much evidence of how fragile he’s become. It makes my stomach twist.
Tiero shifts slightly, his eyes opening and meeting mine.
After a beat he asks, “Remember the treehouse?” His voice is hoarse, barely more than a whisper.
I huff out a breath. “Yeah. You made me do all the work while you sat up in the tree, barking orders.”
His lips twitch. “Born to be the Don.”
I shake my head, the memory playing out in my mind like a scene from another lifetime. It might as well be.
“You fell right through the damn floor,” I remind him.
A weak chuckle escapes him, but it quickly turns into a wince. My hands clench into fists. I hate this. Hate seeing him like this.
“I remember. You built the floor like that on purpose to teach me a lesson. To show me up.”
He reaches for something on the tray beside him, but his hand trembles too much. I catch it, steadying him as he presses something into my palm.
I don’t have to look down to know what it is.
The necklace.
Our family’s legacy.
The matching piece around my neck seems heavier now, the broken earthenware coin burning against my skin.
“It’s yours now,” he murmurs.
My stomach plummets. This isn’t how it was supposed to happen. Tiero was meant to wear this for decades. He was meant to rule, to lead, not lie here, handing over the reins like it’s already been decided.
I pull my necklace over my head and place the two pieces side by side. The two fragments of the coin fit together like puzzle pieces, leaving a gap where the third and final piece belongs.
“The last one…” His voice is faint now, a shadow of its usual strength. “It’s hidden in the only cave on my island. Stars marked on the wall will lead you. Loose stone. Ella’s birthday, backwards, opens the box.”
I nod, committing it to memory, even though I don’t need to. It’s not the kind of thing I’d ever forget.
Tiero studies me, his gaze sharp despite the exhaustion dragging him down. “You were born to lead. You’ll make a great Don.”
I shake my head. “I’d rather have you around to tell me when I’m screwing up.”
His smirk is faint, but it’s there. Then his expression sobers.
“You don’t have to stay in this life,” he says. “I paved the way. Do you remember where to find the information?”
I meet his gaze, my chest tightening. “Yeah. I remember.”
He exhales slowly, his body sinking further into the bed, his breathing growing heavier. His eyes flutter closed.
“I’m tired of this life, Teo,” he murmurs. “It took Ella turning everything upside down to realize just how much. We were born into this family and trained to be who we are. We’ve never known anything else.”
His voice is slow, deliberate, like he’s unburdening himself.
“I became head of la famiglia when I was twenty-four. I never questioned my role, always accepted it as a given. Not once did I stop to think about what I wanted out of life.
“Even finding Ella, I took as inevitable. Papà made us believe there was one woman out there for us. But I never expected my One to have a mind of her own.”
A tired chuckle escapes him. “ Mamma was so in love with papà . But she was also the perfect Mafia wife. Obedient. Happy to accept whatever direction papà took. That’s what I imagined would happen for me too.”
His eyes flicker open and he gazes at the ceiling. “Ella fought me every step of the way, and you know what? It was the best thing for me. It forced me to wake up, to see other possibilities.”
I stay silent, listening. Letting him talk.
“We’ve been raised to be unwaveringly loyal to our family, to the De Marco name and everything our forefathers built. But Teo, there’s more to life than upholding somebody else’s vision. Have you ever asked yourself what you really want?”
I don’t answer right away.
He sighs. “I never did. Until Ella ran away because of who I am. I love her, and I believe she loves me too. But I can’t give her what she wants out of life. Not in our world.”
He turns his head, looking at me. “You still have a chance. Get out while you can. Live a happy life with Mari, far away from all of this.”
My time with Mari in Tuscany flashes through my mind. How happy we were, just the two of us. No family business hanging over our heads. A bubble of bliss.
Could we have that forever? What has Tiero worked out?
His breathing has evened, his face slack with exhaustion. He’s asleep.
I should get some rest too. But I don’t move.
I watch him instead.
His words keep circling in my head. Get out while you can.
That’s preposterous.
A betrayal of everything I’ve ever known.
I exhale slowly, staring at the two broken parts of the coin in my palm. My future, my duty, my entire existence pressed into the shape of something fractured. Incomplete.
Could I really walk away?