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The air around us was calm as we walked and shot, only six men had shown up, but the place was bigger than it looked. There would be more. I picked up guns as we went, but once the ammo ran out, once they brought in an army…
We would still be standing side by side.
And would go down that same way.
After all, a warrior doesn’t shield another warrior… they bleed by their side.
Gunshots echoed through the next dark, damp hallway. I stumbled a bit, Katya tried to keep me upright, but she was weak too from being nearly dead. We were sitting ducks.
“I think I changed my mind about the olives.” She laughed through her tears. “I think I’d take an olive right now.”
“Green or black?” I asked, trying to distract myself from the pain.
“Both,” she whispered.
We took a right, the hallway was empty, long and empty, it led to darkness, but I had my light right next to me. So with my right hand, I held my gun at my side, and with my left, I grabbed hers and whispered. “I, Santino Sinacore, take Katya Petrov-Sinacore, to be my wife, forever and always, as long as we both shall live.” We took a few more steps as more gunshots rang out.
“I, Katya Petrov-Sinacore, take Santino Sinacore to be my husband forever and always, as long as we both shall live.”
“Through war, death, sickness, health,” I whispered, “I take you.”
“Through war, death, sickness, health—olives,” she added, “I take you.”
Our walk ended the way our relationship began.
In utter darkness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“No gangster is ever happy when he’s at peace. The main reason he’s in the business is to eliminate his enemies.” – Lorenzo Carcaterra, Gangster
Katya
Time stood still for us in the darkness. I felt him though. I felt him everywhere. I trusted him to save us, to save me, I trusted him enough to kill me or make me look dead as much as possible, and I trusted that he’d revive me. I trusted.
The only lies between us were the ones we told ourselves and the ones we told each other to keep each of us safe.
If that wasn’t love, I really didn’t know a proper definition.
I’d rather go out with Santino by my side than sit in that bedroom in my brother’s house and feel sorry for myself. I was exhausted, but I wasn’t afraid because I had Santino.
Just like when I’d had Pace, I just knew, I could use his strength and that he’d give it without question, without me even asking him. It was a given.
I would have followed Pace anywhere—and had.
And now, I was most likely following Santino the same way I followed Pace, except this time, I wasn’t sure about the ending, but I knew the beginning had been beautiful and wasn’t that all you could ask for in the end?
Pieces of your life that finally fit into place, beauty out of agony and darkness, and an ending that may not be what you expected but is perfect for you and your story.
I wondered what the stars looked like as we walked through that dark hallway toward certain death.
Were they shining down on us?
Watching?
Were old family members cheering us on?
What about the Petrov Family I’d never met, never knew, other than those brief years with my mom and dad?
