Chapter 4 - The Manor on the Hill
One month later.
The morning sun broke through the autumn mist, shining brightly over the grand stone facade of the Russo estate in Brookline. The high wrought-iron gates were open, guarded by men in crisp black suits who greeted every incoming car with respectful nods.
Inside the grand master suite on the second floor, sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating a room filled with fresh flowers, velvet armchairs, and expensive oil paintings.
Elena stood in front of a massive gilt mirror, wearing a soft cream cashmere sweater and a flowing skirt. Her cheeks were full, her hair glossy and bright, her health completely restored by the best doctors in New England.
A pair of strong, warm arms wrapped around her waist from behind.
Dante rested his chin on her shoulder, his dark eyes looking at her reflection in the glass.
"You look beautiful," Dante whispered, pressing a soft kiss to the side of her neck.
Elena smiled, leaning back into his broad chest, placing her hands over his. "It feels like a dream, Dante. Every morning I wake up in this warm bed, and I keep thinking I'm going to hear the cold wind in that tannery basement again."
"The tannery is gone," Dante said gently, turning her around in his arms to look directly into her green eyes. "I bought the building three weeks ago and tore it down to the ground. We're building a community art center there in your name."
Elena’s eyes filled with tears of quiet happiness. She reached up, gently tracing the line of his jaw. "And Moretti? Silvio?"
"They will never bother anyone again," Dante said simply, leaving the dark details in the shadows where they belonged. "Our family is safe, Elena. Permanently."
The bedroom doors flew open with a joyful crash.
"Mommy! Daddy! Look!"
Clara, Maya, and Lily tumbled into the room, dressed in matching dark blue velvet dresses, their hair brushed into shiny auburn curls. Behind them ran a big, golden retriever puppy Dante had bought them for their sixth birthday last week.
Maya held up a large sheet of thick drawing paper covered in colorful oil pastels.
"We painted a picture for you!" Maya chirped, hopping onto the master bed.
Dante and Elena walked over, sitting on the edge of the mattress together as the three little girls crowded between them.
The drawing showed a grand stone house surrounded by green grass, five bright yellow suns in the sky, and five figures standing hand-in-hand: a tall man in a suit, a smiling mother with long blond hair, and three tiny girls holding a puppy.
At the top of the paper, written in Clara’s careful six-year-old handwriting, were four words:
May you like
OUR REAL HOME NOW.
Dante looked at the paper, then reached out, pulling all three of his daughters into a massive bear hug, lifting them off the bed while they squealed with laughter. Elena wrapped her arms around all four of them, her laughter joining theirs in the sunlit room.
