All Chapters of The Mafia’s Runaway Bride: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

VICENZO’S POV The sound of their footsteps faded into the night.Rosa didn’t turn back. Not once. She hadn’t even stopped to listen to me, to hear me out. She was single minded and kept on moving even as I stood there, bleeding from the inside out, whispering her name like it could anchor her. “Rosa… Rosalinda please listen to me…” But she kept walking. Sofia was in her arms, screaming, reaching toward me with those small hands, her tiny voice shattering something deep in my chest. “Enzo mio!” There was raw pain in her voice and it was gut wrenching to listen but Rosa wouldn’t even pause for a minute. I staggered forward. “Rosa, please…for her sake, can you listen to me?” But Rosa was a machine and kept on walking, her hair flying in the wind, bouncing on her back, our daughter crying out my name, stretching out her hand for me. Sofia stretc

VICENZO’S POVThe click of the hammer was louder than it should’ve been. It echoed in my skull, cold and final. My body locked up. My feet rooted to the asphalt like they were frozen in place. The only thing moving was my heartbeat—pounding fast, and hard, like a warning bell going off inside my chest.A gun. To my head. How? Is today the day I die? Another Pacino? Alive? No. No. Mateo and I had wiped them out. We had made sure. And yet… here he was. A ghost with my death between his fingers. Armani Pacino, alive and breathing. Panic surged within me, white-hot and dizzying. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. I was locked in a dead end and all I could think was Sofia. I would never see her smile again and hear her call my name. Is this how I die with the last memory of my daughter being her shouting my name while her mother walked away from me? “Stop,” I choked, my voice dry, cracking in my throat. “You do

VICENZO’S POVThe city sprawled beneath me, a mosaic of lights flickering against the encroaching darkness. From the penthouse balcony, the world seemed distant, almost unreal. The cool night air did little to quell the heat simmering within me. I took a drag from my cigar, the ember glowing briefly before fading, much like the fleeting moments of peace in my life.Rosa’s face haunted me. Somewhere in that stretch, she was breathing the same air. I couldn’t stop relieving her face. Relieving our conversation…that kiss. Rosa owned me. She owned me and she was missing from me.My hands gripped the cold railing as I tried to steady myself. She had called me a killer. And I hadn’t denied it because it was true. But the truth didn’t sting half as much as her eyes had.The door to the balcony creaked open and I turned to find Bianca poking out her head.“Enzo?” Bianca’s voice was soft, almost rehearsed. “Are you okay?”V I didn’t turn. “Fine.”She stepped onto the balcony, her arms crossed

ROSA’S POVI didn’t sleep that night. I lay on the couch with Sofia curled against me, her small hand wrapped around my thumb like it was the only thing anchoring her to the world. I stared at the ceiling, at the cracked plaster and faded molding, listening to her soft breaths. The Polaroid sat on the table, face down, but I could still see it: her pale cheeks, her curls matted with sweat, the red scrawl of a threat that made my blood run cold. “You have three days. Or she disappears forever.” There was no signature. There didn’t need to be.It was Armano. Of course it was.I knew how he thought. He wouldn’t kill Sofia: he just believed she was leverage. He wanted to force my hand, to drive me straight to Vicenzo. He knew Enzo was the only ally I had. He knew my first instinct would be to run to Don Moretti and then he would go after him and catch him, like a mouse in a trap. I could already feel the trap closing.

VICENZO’S POVEver since I declared I would kill the Pacino siblings, Mateo’s voice became permanent in my ears. Every morning, he was on me. Texts. Calls. His eyes watching me like I was some boy needing reminders. As if I hadn’t already bled for this family. As if I didn’t know what had to be done. I tried to play it off with nods and affirmations. I’ll take care of it. I’ll handle it. But I couldn’t stop imagining Rosa’s face. The softness in her voice when she used to say my name. And Sofia. My daughter with her bright blue eyes. I leaned forward, pressing my hands to my face.How the hell was I supposed to kill the mother of my child? But Mateo wouldn’t stop.“Don’t flinch now. You already did the hardest part.”No. I didn’t.This…this… was the hardest part. Every time I tried to imagine doing it, my throat closed up. My hand went weak. And then I started planning ways to fa