Chapter 10 - The Last Song
Two years later, the lawn of the Vermont estate was transformed into a beautiful, sun-drenched garden filled with white roses, wild butterflies, and the joyful chatter of our new neighbors.
It was a wedding, but it didn't look like any wedding a Russo had ever had. There were no armed guards in the bushes, no tense handshakes between men in dark suits. There was only laughter, the smell of fresh wood smoke, and the sound of children playing near the edge of the lake.
I stood in front of the full-length mirror in the sunroom, adjusting the simple lace veil that sat atop my dark curls.
The door flew open, and the triplets came bursting into the room. They were six years old now, their identical curls bouncing, their faces bright and glowing with life. They wore matching lavender dresses, and each of them held a small bouquet of purple wildflowers.
"You look like a real fairy queen, Mommy Clara!" Mia cheered, throwing her arms around my waist.
"The prettiest queen ever," Chloe agreed, adjusting a stray piece of lace on my sleeve.
Ava looked up at me, her brown eyes deep and intelligent, carrying a wisdom that had survived the storm. "Daddy is waiting outside. He looks very handsome, but he keeps checking his watch because he wants to see you."
I smiled, a thick lump of gratitude forming in my throat as I pulled all three of them into a tight hug. "Thank you, my beautiful girls. Let's go make him wait no longer."
As I walked out onto the wooden deck and down the steps into the grass, the acoustic guitar began to play a soft, familiar melody—the old Sicilian folk song, rearranged into a beautiful, sweeping wedding march.
Standing at the end of the aisle, next to a rustic arch of pine and white roses, was Dominic. He wore a simple navy suit, his dark hair touched with a few elegant strands of silver at the temples. The moment his eyes landed on me, the stoic, untouchable expression he had worn for the world for decades completely melted away, replaced by a radiant, tearful smile that took my breath away.
The triplets walked ahead of me, scattering lavender petals onto the grass, their voices joining together in a soft, spontaneous hum that harmonized perfectly with the guitar.
Dominic reached out, his large, warm hand closing over mine as I reached the altar. He didn't look like a feared mafia boss. He didn't look like a man who carried the weight of a city on his shoulders. He looked like a father, a husband, and a man who had finally found his peace.
"You're here," he whispered, his eyes shining with a profound, unshakeable devotion.
May you like
"I'm here," I whispered back, locking my fingers through his. "And I'm never leaving."
As the minister began the vows, the wind swept through the pine trees, carrying the sound of our daughters’ laughter across the water. The silence was finally gone, replaced by a song that would never end.
