Page 192 of The One
My stomach plummets. This isn’t how it was supposed to happen. Tiero was meant to wear this for decades. He was meant to rule, to lead, not lie here, handing over the reins like it’s already been decided.
I pull my necklace over my head and place the two pieces side by side. The two fragments of the coin fit together like puzzle pieces, leaving a gap where the third and final piece belongs.
“The last one…” His voice is faint now, a shadow of its usual strength. “It’s hidden in the only cave on my island. Stars marked on the wall will lead you. Loose stone. Ella’s birthday, backwards, opens the box.”
I nod, committing it to memory, even though I don’t need to. It’s not the kind of thing I’d ever forget.
Tiero studies me, his gaze sharp despite the exhaustion dragging him down. “You were born to lead. You’ll make a great Don.”
I shake my head. “I’d rather have you around to tell me when I’m screwing up.”
His smirk is faint, but it’s there. Then his expression sobers.
“You don’t have to stay in this life,” he says. “I paved the way. Do you remember where to find the information?”
I meet his gaze, my chest tightening. “Yeah. I remember.”
He exhales slowly, his body sinking further into the bed, his breathing growing heavier. His eyes flutter closed.
“I’m tired of this life, Teo,” he murmurs. “It took Ella turning everything upside down to realize just how much. We were born into this family and trained to be who we are. We’ve never known anything else.”
His voice is slow, deliberate, like he’s unburdening himself.
“I became head ofla famigliawhen I was twenty-four. I never questioned my role, always accepted it as a given. Not once did I stop to think about what I wanted out of life.
“Even finding Ella, I took as inevitable.Papàmade us believe there was one woman out there for us. But I never expected my One to have a mind of her own.”
A tired chuckle escapes him. “Mammawas so in love withpapà. But she was also the perfect Mafia wife. Obedient. Happy to accept whatever directionpapàtook. That’s what I imagined would happen for me too.”
His eyes flicker open and he gazes at the ceiling. “Ella fought me every step of the way, and you know what? It was the best thing for me. It forced me to wake up, to see other possibilities.”
I stay silent, listening. Letting him talk.
“We’ve been raised to be unwaveringly loyal to our family, to the De Marco name and everything our forefathers built. But Teo, there’s more to life than upholding somebody else’s vision. Have you ever asked yourself whatyoureally want?”
I don’t answer right away.
He sighs. “I never did. Until Ella ran away because of who I am. I love her, and I believe she loves me too. But I can’t give her what she wants out of life. Not in our world.”
He turns his head, looking at me. “You still have a chance. Get out while you can. Live a happy life with Mari, far away from all of this.”
My time with Mari in Tuscany flashes through my mind. How happy we were, just the two of us. No family business hanging over our heads. A bubble of bliss.
Could we have that forever? What has Tiero worked out?
His breathing has evened, his face slack with exhaustion. He’s asleep.
I should get some rest too. But I don’t move.
I watch him instead.
His words keep circling in my head.Get out while you can.
That’s preposterous.
A betrayal of everything I’ve ever known.
I exhale slowly, staring at the two broken parts of the coin in my palm. My future, my duty, my entire existence pressed into the shape of something fractured. Incomplete.
