Page 364 of Marcello

“Can it wait, my friend?” Dario asked. “I’m exhausted.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but it can’t.”

“Hey – ” Adriano barked.

Dario held up one hand to silence Adriano, then turned back to Giorgio. “What’s on your mind?”

“Something Marcello said back in Naples stuck with me. He asked if I had ever loved a woman with all my heart. When I told him yes, he said, ‘Then you know that nothing else matters. Nothing.’”

Dario smiled kindly. “Emilia.”

Giorgio nodded. “I wanted to propose to her, but she refused to get married as long as I worked for your family. No offense.”

“None taken.”

“I told her I couldn’t leave, that I didn’t want to leave, and we broke up. But after everything that’s happened since then…”

“You’ve begun to rethink your decision,” Dario said quietly.

“It’s not that I’m not grateful to you and your family. I am, I truly am. But… I don’t know if I can go on living without her. I’m not sure I want to go on living without her.”

Dario smiled again, then nodded. “You saved my life, Giorgio… and it’s thanks to you that my wife and child are alive. I owe you a debt I can never repay. You have my blessing to leave.”

“Thank you, Don Rosolini,” Giorgio murmured gratefully.

As he said it, most of the tension left his body –

Most. But there was still a little worry left as he looked at Adriano. “Boss – ”

“Come here, asshole,” Adriano growled, and wrapped him up in his arms. “I fuckin’ hate to lose you.”

Giorgio hugged him back, and that was when he fully relaxed. “I’m gonna miss you, too.”

“Of course you will,” Adriano joked as he let go and stepped back. “I’m the best goddamn boss ever.”

I just snorted.

“Consigliere,” Dario said to me, “we rewarded Marcello for helping us get revenge. I think we owe something to the man who saved my life.”

I nodded. “I’ll have Roberto take care of it.”

Giorgio looked embarrassed. “Sir, that’s really not necessary – ”

“It is,” Dario reassured him. “For your sake, I hope that everything works out with Emilia. But if it doesn’t, know that the door is always open.”

Then Dario embraced Giorgio.

When he released him, Giorgio’s eyes were wet with tears.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Thank you,” Dario replied. “Now… go and get your woman.”

142

Emilia

Florence