Luciano & Lorenzo (A Sequel to Bella Mafia)

Chapter 4

(Continuation of chapter 3)

Two years later-2016

I had been on the run, successfully for two years now and I hadn't seen any mention of me in the news, I wasn't newsworthy anymore and that was fine by me.  Daren Capelli was dead.  My name was Paislee Shea Quinn.

I had managed to make the money Stefano gave me last almost the entire two years, as I was nothing but frugal, and now I had only two hundred dollars to my name.

Every new place I went, I used a new passport and destroyed the previous one until I got to the last one and that name stuck.

How I had managed after Stefano's death I'm not sure. I left Dallas and headed straight north, right through the middle of the US until I got to Canada.  Once there, the frigate I boarded was heading back to Sicily, and that would be my ride and my home.

I didn't know but Stefano had made arrangements with the ship's captain, that once I was aboard, he was to let Joey know and then I would receive a call from Joey.

He let me know that Stefano's body had been taken care of with respect and that if I ever came back that way again, to stop by. 

He also told me to check the lining of my bag.  And when I did, the crushing reality that the man I loved so desperately was dead and that he'd left me his signet ring, a platinum band with the initials SC engraved on it and it was hanging from a platinum chain.

Once we'd made it into Italy, I would float around until all my contacts had been used and I ended up in Sicily.

I had my fair share of heartache along the way.  I'd been beaten up, almost raped twice, stabbed and almost kidnapped.  I learned real quick how to take care of myself and no man would ever lay a hand on me again, without my permission, that is.

Sicily was beautiful and I knew the reason that he had chosen it, this city, and that was because it was his birthplace.  Stefano had been born here and being here, without him, just made me angry all over again.

Finding a cheap place to sleep at night was no small feat but I managed.  Food, that was the tricky part though and I had taken to doing odd jobs here and there and the only thing I asked for instead of money was food.

I continued this routine for about a month when I lost the place I was sleeping because I was officially out of money now.  Some of the local churches would let me sleep in their basement as long as I was gone by sun up and they would let me do little tasks for food, so you see I was making do.

One night, I don't know what led me, but before I went to the basement of one local church, I got the sudden need to light a candle for Stefano.

Sitting in the pew, I dug around in my bag for the framed 3x5 picture of us and studied it carefully.  I was happy, truly happy and Stefano?  Damn he was a gorgeous man and I missed that permanent smirk of his.

Sniffing, I put the picture back carefully and retrieved the tattered note that I had found not too long after his death.  He'd folded it up and hidden it between some of the cash I had.

Tigrotta, I wished that I could have loved you the way you deserved to be loved, the way you loved me.  I shall miss your smile and the way your lips feel on my skin.  Please, don't spend the rest of your life missing me.  Find someone who will love you and recognize the treasure you are.  Ti amo, Stefano