Chapter 2A Record of Papa’s Death

Countdown: 10 days.

I had just finished a six-hour emergency surgery, dragging myself back to the estate.

The moment I stepped onto the porch, I froze.

The front door stood wide open, and the rough shouts of a few of Rocco's men echoed from inside.

I walked in quickly, and the sight before me made my blood boil.

The Persian rug in the living room was covered in muddy footprints. Packing peanuts littered the floor, and two of his burly men were carrying the white astronomical telescope out of Tessy's sunroom.

Rocco stood to the side, biting on a cigar, directing them.

"Steady now, don't bump the lens. You drop this thing, it'll cost you half a year's pay."

That was the discontinued telescope I had bought for Tessy's seventh birthday, purchased with two years of my saved bonuses from the hospital.

Tessy used it every night to look at the stars, treating it as her most treasured possession.

She said she was going to use it to find the "Captain's Star" that Papa had told her about.

"Rocco, what the hell are you doing?"

I strode over, my face a cold mask, blocking the path between his men and the door.

Rocco's eyes flickered when he saw me return early, but his expression quickly hardened again.

"Don't stand there. You'll get in the way."

"Carmela moved into her new apartment last week. After the other night, Elio's too scared to sleep without a light on. His psychiatrist suggested stargazing might help with his trauma."

He blew out a puff of smoke.

"It's not easy for a widow raising a child. She could never afford something like this on her own."

"Tessy hasn't been using it much lately anyway. We'll let Elio borrow it for a while."

Listening to his utter nonsense, I was so angry I laughed.

Taking my daughter's most prized possession to soothe another boy's trauma.

How could he make his blatant favoritism sound so noble?

In the past, I would have fought him to the death over it, absolutely insisting on keeping the telescope.

But now, I simply took out my phone, opened the camera, and recorded the movers and Rocco's face in crystal clear detail.

"What are you recording?"

Rocco frowned, stepping forward to snatch my phone.

I took a step back, dodging his hand.

"I'm documenting this."

"This is my personal property. If you give it to someone outside the family without my consent, I have every right to record it."

Rocco's face darkened.

"Gwen, when did you become so petty?"

"He's Salvatore's son."

"Salvatore took a bullet for me. It's just a damn telescope. Is this really necessary?"

He pulled a stack of hundred-dollar bills from his suit pocket and threw it onto the coffee table.

"Fine. Consider this me buying the telescope from you."

"You can buy Tessy an iPad app for stargazing. It's the same thing."

With that, he waved his hand, signaling his men to carry the telescope away.

The truck roared as it left.

The front door closed. I looked at that half-empty sunroom, my chest feeling as though someone was stepping on it.

Tessy came home from school not long after.

Still wearing her backpack, she walked to the door of the sunroom and stopped.

The spot where the telescope used to be was empty, leaving three shallow indentations from the tripod on the oak floor.

Tessy didn't cry, nor did she ask me where the telescope went.

She just walked silently back to her bedroom and opened the diary Rocco had crumpled.

She picked up a pencil and quietly wrote the fourth entry.

The title read: Dead Papa Took My Stars, Too.

I stood outside the half-open door, watching my daughter's frail, stubborn back, my eyes stinging with unshed tears.

My phone buzzed.

I opened Instagram to a new post from Carmela.

In the photo, Elio was leaning over the telescope on the balcony, smiling radiantly.

The caption read: May Salvatore watch over us from heaven. Thank you to our dear Uncle Rocco for giving us a light to live by.

The first like was from Rocco's account.

I stared at the photo for a long time before my hand moved on its own, slowly, and tapped 'like'.

Then I switched out of Instagram, opened my banking app, and paid the remaining balance on the West Coast house in full. It was in a good school district, completely shielded from any gang interference.

Just as the payment went through, a text from Rocco popped up on my screen.

[Once Elio is settled, there's a family truce next weekend. I'll take Tessy out on the yacht to make it up to her.]

[Stop teaching our daughter to hold a grudge against this family's heroes.]

I stared at the words "make it up to her," a bitter smile touching my lips.

I didn't reply.

He would never know there wasn't going to be a next weekend for us.