Marko comes over early the next morning. I can tell Alexa’s sore, which makes me grin huge. We basically didn’t stop fucking at all last night, each session lasting a little bit longer, until eventually we were too exhausted to start again.

I think there was an apocalyptic feeling between us. We both felt like the world might come to an end, and it still might. I think we were fucking despite everything outside of us, because the only thing that matters is the two of us. We might end up dead or worse, but we both silently decided that at least we’d get one incredible night of pleasure out of it.

“How’s Buddy?” Marko asks me, sitting at the kitchen table. I glance Alexa before shrugging.

“Quiet this morning,” I say. “He’s alive, though.” I checked on him an hour earlier. He was sitting in bed smoking a cigar, although I don’t know where he got the cigar from. He told me to fuck off and leave him alone, so I did.

Marko nods and sighs. “Listen, I have to come clean about something.”

Alexa comes over with coffee for all of us. Marko thanks her and sips his with a slight frown. I can tell he’s about to say something I won’t like, but at this point, I’m totally resigned.

“Just say it.” I meet his gaze.

“Raymond’s coming here.”

I can feel Alexa tense beside me. “What?” she asks. “You told him?”

“I told him,” Marko confirms. He looks over at me, and I can read his expression completely. He’s sorry, he wishes it didn’t have to be this way, but he had no other choice.

“It’s okay,” I say.

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be.” I sigh, shaking my head. “I don’t know what I expected.”

“Raymond said he wants to make a deal. He really just wants Buddy.”

“He threatened us,” Alexa says, anger slipping into her voice.

I put my hand over hers and she frowns at me. “He only threatened us,” I say. “He could’ve done worse.”

Marko nods. “He’ll be here soon. My guys are outside, but I can’t help you if something goes down. Elias…” Marko trails off.

“I know you tried,” I say. “I knew it had to come to this. We were going to bring Buddy to Raymond ourselves eventually.”

Marko nods and sips his coffee again. “Good luck,” he says, and stands.

I stand up and walk with him to the door. “If shit goes down… save the girl,” I say softly.

“I’ll try,” he answers. “I really will.”

“That’s all I can ask.”

We look at each other, and years of history passes between us. All the times he’s helped me, all the times I’ve helped him, it’s all come down to this.

I don’t think Marko betrayed me, not really. He did his very best to protect me through this, but at the end of the day, he’s mafia. He has to do what’s best for the crime family, even if that means potentially hurting a friend. I don’t blame him, not at all. If anything, I’m thankful.

At least it’s going to end now.

We shake hands, and hug, and he leaves the house. I wonder if I’ll ever see him again. I hope so, but I doubt it.

I return to the table and Alexa frowns at me. “Is this the end?” she asks me.

I nod. “I think so.”

“What’s going to happen?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “I think… I think Raymond might make a deal with us, but I don’t know.”

She nods, frowning, but we don’t talk anymore. We just hold hands and drink coffee. I keep remembering the night before, the desperate and intense way we were together, and all I want is another hour like that. I know I might not get it, but it’s what I want.

The front door opens twenty minutes later. It feels like both an eternity and like an instant. Alexa doesn’t react as Raymond walks slowly into the room followed by a few of his guys. Vito and Jimmy are missing, and I assume he left them outside.

Raymond comes and sits down at the table with us. I’m still holding Alexa’s hand and I don’t let go. He sighs as he gets settled and finally looks up at us.

“Thanks for not running,” he says. “I won’t lie to you two. I’m getting old and chasing after cocksuckers just isn’t as fun as it used to be.”

“My father’s upstairs,” I say.

“Good.” He nods at his guys, and they leave the room.

We’re alone with Raymond then. For a second, I think I could reach out across the table and kill him with my bare hands before his guys even get back, but I know that would be suicide. They’d murder us right here in the kitchen. Alexa and my baby wouldn’t have a chance.

Raymond watches me for a second. “I thought about our conversation from the other night,” he says.

“I’ve been thinking about it too.”

He nods. “Good. I said something then that I’m not sure I agree with now.”

I raise an eyebrow, surprised. “What is it?”

“I said that a son deserves the sins of his father, or is responsible for them, but I don’t think that’s true.” He sighs again, and I can hear the weariness in his voice. It’s the sort of tired you get from running an incredibly intricate, violent, and enormous enterprise for most of your life.

“I’m in my eighties now,” he says, laughing ruefully. “How the fuck did that happen? I won’t be around forever, unfortunately. And maybe I’m getting soft in my old age. But I still can’t show weakness, do you understand me?”

And I suddenly realize why we’re alone. Raymond wants to help us, but he can’t do it in front of his men. He’s an old man, probably losing control of the mafia a little bit each day. If he’s seen being weak, that might be the end of him.

“What can I do?” I ask him.

“What can you offer me?”

“Everything here,” I say. “The house, everything in it.”

He nods. “That would be good.”

“It’ll cover your costs and then some.”

“What else?” He stares at me, cold and unflinching, but tired.

“We’ll leave town,” I say. “We’ll leave Providence, never come back.”

“Banishment,” he says.

I nod. “We’ll never come back.”

He slowly moves his gaze over to Alexa. “Do you love this man?”

She blinks, surprised. I look at her and she grips my hand tighter. “Yes,” she says.

My heart leaps in my chest. Raymond looks at me. “And you love her?” he asks.

“I love her,” I say. “And I love the baby we’re going to have.”

He sighs and nods slowly. “Okay then. You give me the house and everything in it. You make it legal. Make it look good. And then you disappear.”

“We can do that.”

“Good.” He nods once. “Consider it done.”

I push my chair back and stand. Alexa stands as well, her eyes wide, almost disbelieving.

Raymond sighs and holds up a hand. “You have to see one more thing, though.” He looks over his shoulder just as his guys come into the room, dragging a sallow and defeated-looking Buddy into the kitchen.

He grins at Raymond. “There you are, you old fuck,” he says. “Listen, I have your money, I can get you even more. Just let me go. You can even have the kid’s shop, if you want it.” Buddy’s ranting, eyes wide and wild.

Raymond slowly stands. “You’ve been a stain on this town for a long time, Buddy.” He takes a small silver gun from his pants, and I blink, surprised. I didn’t know he was armed.

His guys shove Buddy to his knees, and Buddy’s eyes go wide. “Raymond, my friend, please. I can pay you. There’s no need for this.”

“Who did you leave all your assets to in your will?” Raymond asks.

Buddy laughs. “My son,” he says before he can think about it, but just as the words are out of his mouth, it dawns on him. I can see it happen slowly. At first, he’s horrified, but it turns into acceptance. He almost smiles. “I left it all—”

He doesn’t get to finish his sentence. Raymond pulls the trigger, a deafening pop, and Buddy falls to the ground. His blood covers the kitchen floor, the counter, and Alexa screams.

I grab her in a hug, pull her tight against me. I turn her away from the sight of Buddy on the kitchen floor, dead, finally dead. I shield her from it, but I don’t look away. I wish I could feel sad for my murdered father, but he got what he brought onto himself.

Raymond turns to me. My ears are ringing, but I can still make out what he says.

“Leave town, or that’ll be you. All this is mine now. Do you understand?”

I nod once. “Yes.”

“Good. Now go to your house, pack your things, and leave.”

I nod again and pull Alexa away. Raymond’s men part and let us through. We hurry out to the driveway and get into my truck. I don’t see Marko anywhere, but I don’t look too hard. We pull out of there and we drive fast back to my place.

Alexa’s shaking when we get inside. There’s blood on our clothes, so we take everything off and shove it into my little fireplace. We light it all on fire, burn the fucking clothes. We get into the shower and she cries as the water pours over our heads. I hold her like that. She cries for both of us, because I’m so long past crying for my dead father.

Finally, when the hot water is about to run out, we turn it off and towel off. We get dressed and we pack as fast as we can. We get all her things in the truck first, and then I grab whatever I need. I have some cash stashed away, which will help with us getting settled again. I pack clothes and I think about taking some personal stuff, but I can’t imagine needing any of it. In the end, it’s all just stuff.

I don’t know what I’ll do with the shop and the house. I guess I’ll leave it all to Marko, but I don’t know. Right now, it just doesn’t matter.

We get into my truck about an hour later, everything packed and ready. “Do we need to stop at your place?” I ask her.

She shakes her head. “Nothing there worth bringing.”

We sit in the truck for a minute in silence, the engine running. I look over at her, head cocked to the side. “So, where do you want to go?”

She looks at me and blinks. “Wow. I’ve never thought about it before. I guess we can go anywhere we want, right?”

“Right.” I reach out and pull her close against me. “I meant what I said. I love you, Alexa.”

“I love you too.” She kisses me softly. “Let’s go to California. As far from here as we can go.”

“Sounds good to me.” I put the truck into gear. “Will you miss Providence?”

She thinks for a second and then shakes her head. “Fuck this town.”

I laugh, a huge grin on my face. “Yeah. Fuck this town.”

We pull out and start driving out of town. We have no real plan, but we’re headed to California, and that’s all we need right now. We’re alive and we’re in love.

And we have a baby coming. We’ll get work, get settled, and make a life for ourselves. We survived this mess, and now we’re completely free. I never thought I’d leave Providence like this, with the love of my life and my future baby, but I can’t say I’m upset about it. In fact, I feel damn good.

I’m sorry my father died like that. I’m not such a monster that I don’t feel sad about it. But the truth is, I’ve been waiting for him to die for so long now that it doesn’t feel like a horrible loss. I wish I could have saved him, but I couldn’t. He just wouldn’t let me.

I don’t need him. I’m leaving his memory behind, along with everything else. I have Alexa, my baby, my new life waiting for me. As we drive, Alexa puts her hand in mine and I smile to myself. I know it’s going to be okay. Hell, it’s already okay.

It’s going to be perfect.