All Chapters of The Last Thing I Gave Him: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

By morning, the information came back. The man who had taken Yvette had been found in a town two hours away. He was brought to the estate. He sat in the chair across from Dante's desk, hands cuffed in front of him, and did not look afraid."Who sent you?" Dante said.The man was quiet for a moment. Then he laughed. "You destroyed my business. I could not touch you. But someone told me your wife was worth something. They said you would pay.""Who told you that?""A woman. She came to me. She knew where your wife would be that night. She told me to wait at the gas station. She said if I took your wife, you would bleed."Dante leaned forward. "Describe her."The man described her. He described her hair, her voice, the way she moved. He described the car she drove. He did not need to say her name. Dante already knew.He had Serena brought to him. "Yvette lost the child," Dante said. "Did you know that?"Serena's face did not change. "She was always talking about that child. Was she not?""

The doctor arrived that evening. Dante took him to Serena's room without knocking. Serena was sitting on the bed, her hands folded in her lap, her back straight, like she had been waiting for something. She looked up when they entered, and her face changed. "What happened?" Her voice was calm, but there was something underneath it."A doctor," Dante said. "He is going to examine you.""I do not need to be examined. I am fine.""You are pregnant. A pregnant woman needs to be examined."She did not move. The doctor waited. Dante stood by the door. The room was silent for a long moment. Then Serena spoke again, her voice flat and cold."You do not believe me. You think I am lying. You think I made it up to keep you from sending me away." She laughed, a short, dry sound. "That is what Yvette told you, is it not? That I would do anything to hold onto you.""She did not tell me anything. I don’t know where she is.""Then why are you doing this?""Because you have been here for three days an

Dante drove there himself. It took him six hours. The town was small, quiet, with narrow streets and a harbor full of fishing boats. He walked through the main square, past a café, past a bookstore, and stopped in front of an old building near the water.It had been a warehouse once. The front had been repainted, the windows replaced, and a new sign hung above the door. It read "Il Nido."He stood there for a long time, looking at the name. She had taken it with her. She had kept the name, but she had left him behind.He did not go in that day. He watched from across the street as a man came out of the building, a man he did not recognize. He was tall, with dark hair and a quiet way of moving. He carried a set of blueprints under his arm. He walked to the café next door and sat down at a table by the window.Dante watched him for a while. Then Yvette came out of the building. She walked to the same café and sat down across from the man. She looked different. Her hair was shorter. She w

A few months later, the new Il Nido opened its doors. It was not a grand opening. There was no ribbon cutting, no champagne, no speeches. Just a small sign in the window and a handful of people who came to look at the space.Marco and I stood in the middle of the room as the first visitors walked through. They looked at the exposed beams, the high ceilings, the windows facing the harbor. They nodded and said it looked good, and then they left.We stood there in the quiet after they had gone."It is done," Marco said. He looked at me. "Are you happy?"I thought about it. "Yes," I said. "I am happy."He smiled and walked to the door. "Come on," he said. "I will buy you coffee."Four years passed. Il Nido had become a known name in the region. I worked on projects across the coast, designing homes and small public spaces, always with the same principle: keep it light, keep it open, let the light in.Dante had not come back to Porta Vela. I did not know if he had stopped looking or if he h

Elena came to the conference. She sat in the back row and listened to the whole thing. Afterward, she walked up to me with the same slow, steady gait she had always had."You did well," she said.She looked at me for a long moment. "I have news. Serena tried to come back. She said she had changed. I sent her away. She will not bother you again.""I was not worried about her.""I know." She paused. "Dante is still in the city. He does not come to Porta Vela anymore. He does not talk about you. But he has not remarried. He has not moved on. I do not think he knows how."I did not say anything."I am not telling you this to make you go back," Elena said. "I am telling you because I think you should know. He is not the same man he was. He is quieter now. He spends more time alone. He works, but he does not build anything new."I looked at her. "You still care about him.""He is my grandson. I will always care about him. But you are my granddaughter too, and I have watched you become someth