Chapter 14 - Nobody Sacrifices My Wife
The study door opened.
Sofia stood there.
“Basement. Now.”
Matteo lowered the weapon slightly.
“What happened?”
“Generator sabotage.”
“Where is security?”
“West gate. There’s a breach.”
June understood immediately.
Same strategy as before.
Create chaos outside.
Move inside.
“Giovanni has people in the house.”
Sofia nodded.
“Caterina is missing.”
Matteo swore.
Not again.
They moved toward the secure basement.
Then June heard something.
A chair scraping inside the ballroom.
She stopped.
“Someone’s there.”
Matteo grabbed her hand.
“No.”
“Caterina could be there.”
Sofia whispered, “Go. I’ll get security.”
Matteo and June entered the ballroom.
Emergency candles flickered across the long tables.
The chandeliers were dark.
At the center stood Caterina.
Untied.
Beside Giovanni.
June stopped.
Caterina looked ashamed.
“Matteo.”
His expression broke.
“You helped him.”
“I thought I could reason with him.”
Giovanni smiled.
“My wife has always believed family can be repaired.”
Caterina looked at him.
“You promised nobody would be hurt.”
“I lied.”
Three armed men appeared.
Matteo moved June behind him.
Giovanni sighed.
“You see? Predictable.”
“What do you want?” Matteo asked.
“The trust.”
“It’s worthless now.”
“Not the companies.”
Giovanni looked toward June.
“The evidence.”
June understood.
There were still copies capable of dismantling political and financial connections beyond the DeLuca family.
“You want Elena’s archive.”
“Yes.”
Matteo said, “No.”
Giovanni smiled.
“Then your wife dies.”
Caterina whispered, “Giovanni.”
“Quiet.”
He raised a gun.
June’s heart hammered.
Matteo stood perfectly still.
“Let her leave.”
“Give me the archive.”
“No.”
June looked at him.
Not fear.
Trust.
He had learned.
He would not bargain away truth to protect her without her consent.
Giovanni became irritated.
“You think love makes you noble?”
Matteo answered, “No.”
“Then what?”
“It gives me something you never understood.”
Giovanni laughed.
“And what is that?”
“A reason not to become you.”
Outside, gunfire erupted.
Security.
Giovanni’s men turned instinctively.
June moved.
She knocked a silver serving tray from the table.
It crashed loudly.
Matteo lunged.
Caterina struck Giovanni’s arm with her cane.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
One guard grabbed June.
She drove her heel backward.
He cursed.
Matteo hit him.
Sofia entered with two security men.
Within seconds, the room transformed into chaos.
Giovanni crawled toward his gun.
Caterina stood over it.
Her husband looked up.
“Give it to me.”
She stared at the man she had once loved.
“No.”
“Caterina.”
“No.”
Federal agents stormed the ballroom.
Giovanni was arrested again.
This time under armed escort nobody within his network controlled.
As agents led him away, he looked at Matteo.
“You destroyed your inheritance.”
Matteo looked at June.
“No.”
Giovanni followed his gaze.
Understanding arrived too late.
Matteo said, “I finally chose it.”
The aftermath lasted weeks.
Hearings.
Search warrants.
Financial audits.
News coverage.
Matteo’s name appeared everywhere.
Some called him a cooperating witness.
Some called him a traitor to organized crime.
Some still called him a mafia boss.
He stopped reading headlines.
June returned to work.
For one day.
Then reporters surrounded the courthouse.
Mrs. Kaplan told her to take leave.
Rose told June to quit.
Anthony suggested opening a bakery despite neither sibling knowing how to bake.
June ignored everyone.
She eventually transferred to a state legal-compliance office assisting with fraud investigations.
It suited her.
Paperwork mattered there too.
Matteo surrendered control of compromised companies.
Legitimate businesses were placed under independent management.
Thousands of jobs survived.
Illicit accounts funded restitution.
Lena received legal recognition as Anthony DeLuca’s daughter.
She rejected a large inheritance and accepted enough money to start a nonprofit helping families affected by predatory lending.
Sofia apologized to June.
Badly.
“I remain unconvinced red was the correct wedding color.”
June stared.
“That’s your apology?”
“I’m working on warmth.”
“You’re failing.”
“I know.”
Caterina apologized better.
She admitted that secrecy had poisoned the family long before crime did.
June forgave slowly.
Matteo did not ask her to.
That mattered.
Then came the reception.
Not required.
Not strategic.
Not contractual.
Rose insisted that a courthouse ceremony followed by multiple shootings did not count as a proper wedding.
So three months later, they gathered in a ballroom.
Crystal chandeliers.
Flowers.
Music.
Guests.
June wore the red gown again.
This time by choice.
She stood beside Matteo as he held her hand.
Then Sofia approached.
June almost laughed when she saw the cream envelope.
“You cannot be serious.”
Sofia’s mouth twitched.
“One final document.”
June opened it.
Divorce papers.
Blank.
On top sat a pen.
Sofia lowered her voice.
“You should sign them if you still want to.”
June looked at her.
Sofia continued.
“No pressure. No family. No obligation. Matteo instructed me to give you the choice privately.”
June’s heart tightened.
Even now.
Freedom first.
She looked across the ballroom.
Matteo stood speaking with Anthony.
He glanced toward her.
Their eyes met.
He did not move.
He would let her decide.
June folded the papers.
Before she could speak, Carlo’s former ally, an older cousin named Renato, appeared nearby.
His face was cold.
“You should take the opportunity.”
Sofia stiffened.
Renato continued.
“She was never supposed to become part of this family.”
June looked at him.
Matteo heard.
He crossed the ballroom.
The room quieted.
Renato said, “You destroyed decades of work for an outsider.”
Matteo took June’s hand.
“No.”
He looked around the ballroom.
Every relative heard him.
“She is my wife.”
Renato laughed.
“For how long?”
Matteo took the divorce papers from June.
He tore them once.
Calmly.
Then let them fall.
“Nobody sacrifices my wife to protect this family.”
Silence.
June stared at him.
The scene resembled the threat-filled wedding day that could have happened months earlier.
Only now everything was different.
No contract.
No fear.
No lie.
Matteo leaned close.
“You’re staying with me.”
June raised an eyebrow.
“Still giving orders?”
His mouth curved.
“Request.”
“Better.”
Then the ballroom doors opened.
A federal officer entered.
Rebecca Sloan stood beside him.
Matteo’s smile disappeared.
June felt dread return.
Sloan walked toward them holding one final cream envelope.
“I’m sorry to interrupt.”
June stared at it.
“Please tell me that isn’t another divorce petition.”
“No.”
Sloan looked at Matteo.
“It came from evidence recovered from Giovanni’s private vault.”
Matteo took it.
On the front, in Elena’s handwriting, were five words.
FOR MATTEO—AFTER IT IS OVER.
June stopped breathing.
May you like
Matteo opened the envelope.
And found a letter neither of them had known existed.
