Chapter 9 - THE BLOODLINE CLAIMED
The powerful head of the Moretti syndicate sat on his knees on the cheap linoleum floor of a Queens apartment, bringing his eyes level with the six-year-old child.
He reached out his massive, calloused hand. His long, tattooed fingers were trembling—a sight no man in New York had ever witnessed.
"You saved my life on the street, little girl," Vincent said. His voice was a low, gravelly rumble, thick with an emotion so deep, so raw, that it shook his broad chest. "You called the red car with the loud sirens."
Sophie looked at his large hand, then looked into his gray-green eyes. She stepped half a pace closer to him, showing no fear whatsoever of his imposing size or his dark reputation.
"You had sweat on your head," Sophie said simply, pulling her small cotton handkerchief from her dress pocket and showing it to him. "My mommy told me when people are hurting, you don't walk past them."
Vincent looked at the handkerchief, then looked up at Elena, who was weeping silently against her pillows, her hands covering her face as tears leaked through her thin fingers.
"Why didn't you tell me, Elena?" Vincent asked quietly, his voice cracking with a devastation he could no longer conceal. "Why did you carry this alone for six years?"
Elena lowered her hands, looking into his eyes through a veil of hot tears.
"Look at you, Vincent," Elena sobbed softly, her voice thick with love and heartbreak. "Look at your life. Look at the men who stand outside your doors. Look at the guns, the money, the blood. I loved you, Vincent... I loved you so much it nearly destroyed me. But I couldn't let our daughter grow up in a cage."
Vincent looked from Elena back to Sophie. He reached out, his large thumb gently wiping a tear from Elena's pale cheek, while his other hand rested gently on Sophie's small shoulder.
"She isn't in a cage, Elena," Vincent said, his tone turning into an absolute, unshakeable vow that echoed through the quiet apartment. "And she will never be in danger again. As long as I am breathing... no one in this city will ever touch either of you."
Sophie looked at Vincent's hand resting on her shoulder, then reached up with her tiny fingers, wrapping them securely around his index finger.
"Are you the man from Mommy's stories?" Sophie asked innocently, her wide gray-green eyes locked onto his. "The man who keeps the monsters away?"
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Vincent felt a single, hot tear escape his eye, tracing a path down his dark, stubbled cheek.
"Yes, my sweet girl," Vincent whispered, pulling her gently into his broad chest, wrapping his arms around his daughter for the very first time. "I am."
