Chapter 73
Chapter Seventy-Three
RICCI
Afew days later we cross the tarmac and board the private jet, the engines are ready and humming.
The cabin is quiet and luxurious. The aroma of fresh coffee wafts in from the galley.
Viola settles into the seat next to me the moment we’re in the air, her body curling protectively around Freddie.
Her head rests on my shoulder, her breath warm against my neck, but I can feel the tension in her.
The way her fingers twist in the front of her shirt, the slight tremor that runs through her every few minutes. She’s still so nervous.
I wrap my arms around her tighter, one hand stroking slow circles along her back, the other resting on her thigh. “Everything is fine,” I murmur against her hair, voice low. “We’ve had time to talk it all through. You’re safe. We’re safe.”
She nods, but I can tell she’s still worried. The kind of worry that doesn’t let go easily. I feel it in the way she presses closer, like she’s afraid the world might reach in and snatch me away if she loosens her grip even a little.
She lifts her head, those luminous green eyes searching mine. Her voice is soft, almost hesitant. “Can I ask you something?”
She’s spoken very little over the past few days so I am surprised. “Of course, go ahead.”
“Why? You were the Godfather. You have the whole world at your feet.”
The question hangs between us. I look directly into her eyes, and let her see everything I’m feeling; the exhaustion, the certainty, the love that’s been burning in me since the moment she walked into my life and changed the rules.
“Do you really think I want to be the godfather of a bunch of criminals and psychopaths for the rest of my life?” I ask, my thumb brushing along her jaw. “This was always going to be the endgame for me. Especially after you came into it.”
She nods slowly, understanding flickering across her face, but the worry doesn’t leave. She shifts, her hand coming up to rest over my heart like she needs to feel it beating.
“But why did you betray them? All the other families.”
“There was no other way,” I say simply.
“We, especially you, will never be safe anywhere in the world after what you’ve done,” she whispers. “We might be flying away, but will we ever be safe again?”
I smile, small and sure, and press a kiss to her forehead. “I have a plan. Do you trust me?”
She doesn’t hesitate. “I do.”
The words settle warm in my chest. She falls asleep not long after, her breathing evening out, her body finally going soft and heavy against mine.
I hold her close, watching the clouds drift past the window, feeling the steady rise and fall of her chest. For the first time in years, the weight on my shoulders feels lighter.
Not gone, never gone, but lighter because she’s here.
A little while later I wake her gently, my hand smoothing over her hair. She stirs, blinking up at me in confusion, still half-asleep and so fucking beautiful it makes my throat tight.
I hand her jumpsuit and parachute to her. Freddie is already strapped into a specially sewn front pouch in my jumpsuit.
Her eyes widen, shock flashing across her face as she stares at the pack in my hands. “Ricci… what—”
I explain it all, calm and steady, my fingers working to help her into the harness, adjusting the straps over her shoulders, across her chest, making sure everything is tight and secure.
“The pilot will jump after us as well. It has been the plan all along,” I tell her.
“We’ll jump into the sea. There’s a boat waiting to pick us up.
The world needs to think we’re dead. As long as they believe that we’re not, we’ll never be safe.
We’ll always be looking behind our shoulders but if everyone thinks we’re dead…
if the plane crashes and they find burnt bodies… we get to start over.”
She’s in shock, her hands are trembling as she touches the straps. When I ask her again if she trusts me, she looks straight into my eyes and says yes. No hesitation.
We get ready together.
When we are flying over the agreed coordinates, the pilot gives me the agreed signal, and I pull the emergency door open myself. The roar of the wind rushes in instantly, cold and wild, whipping through the cabin and stealing the breath from our lungs. Little Freddie starts barking like mad.
“It’s okay,” I comfort gently while caressing his head.
The ground is a long, dizzying drop below us. Under fluffy clouds, the ocean is an endless blue plane stretching out forever. I take her hand, lacing our fingers tight, and pull her close to the opening. The wind tugs at us, trying to pull us out before we’re ready.
“Remember, you do not release your parachute unless I tell you to,” I command.
We jump together.
The free fall is chaos and silence all at once — the world rushing up, the air screaming past us, my heart slamming against my ribs.
I wait until it is time, then I deploy my parachute. It gives us a sharp, violent jerk that yanks us upright. The canopy blooms above us, bright white against the blue, and suddenly we’re floating, drifting, the wind gentler now as we glide down toward the sea.
We hit the water soon after — cold, shocking, the impact knocking the air from my lungs for a second.
I surface fast, and retrieve Viola. Her gasp is loud and ragged as she clings to my shoulders.
The boat is already there, waiting exactly where it was supposed to be, engines idling low.
Strong hands reach down, pulling us aboard, and soon we’re wrapped in blankets.
Ahead of us the plane explodes in the air.
The sound is deafening even from this distance — a deep, rolling boom that shakes the air.
Fire blooms across the sky, orange and black, the wreckage tumbling down in pieces toward the water.
As far as the world will know, we’re both dead.
Their plane crashed into the sea. Their burnt bodies recovered in pieces. The news will run it for days.
We watch the pilot gently parachuting down. He will be picked up by another boat, and he will disappear from sight and never have to work a day in his life again.
At that point, we are quickly urged below deck into the small cabin.
In the cabin, the world narrows down to just us again.
The boat rocks gently beneath us as it speeds away, the engines a low, steady thrum.
I watch her wrap a towel around little Freddie.
He seems in good spirits. The dunking in the water was apparently fun for him.
She puts him down, and he starts to explore the cabin.
I pull her into my lap once more, her wet hair dripping onto my shirt, her body trembling from the cold and the adrenaline and everything we just survived.
I wrap the blanket tighter around her, my arms locked around her waist, my forehead pressed to hers.
She’s safe.
We’re safe.
And for the first time in my life, the future doesn’t feel like a cage. It feels like ours to do what we want with it.
I kiss her slowly and taste salt water, sheer relief, and the woman I would burn the entire world down for all over again if I had to.
This is the beginning.
Not the end.