The Don

Epilogue

Kiara

"If you're worried about me, don't be."

"How could I not? You're twenty nine and you have no boyfriend. This isn't the age to be single, time is ticking."

"Time for what?"

"You know time to become a woman. Let a man tie you down and have his babies."

At the mention of babies my mind drifted to Matteo. My son. The one I left behind. My heart aches at the thought of him. Not a day goes by where I don't think about him. I miss him so much and I often find myself wondering what he may be up to during different times of the day. I wonder how he's doing and whether I made the right decision in leaving him. I wonder of he remembers me or if he already forgot the face of the woman who birthed him.

"Hello earth to Ashley, I said don't you want to be a mother?" Niomi's voice caught my attention.

Sometimes it takes me a minute to recognize that I'm the one being addressed by that name. The name I adopted. The name Sergio chose for me. The name he claimed would've suited a daughter had we our child had survived and turned out to be a girl. It was a common name in the states so I could've blended easily with it but I couldn't risk going back to the United states, not yet anyways. It was way too soon and I would've surely been found because that would be the most obvious place for me to go to. What other place would I have in mind after being homesick for so long? Marcellous would've probably dragged me back to Italy himself possibly less violent than Dario ever could've but still drag me regardless because there was no way I would've returned willingly.

It has been four months since I left Italy. Two whole months since I've been free. At first I wasn't sure that I really was free so I stayed cooped up in the hotel for weeks. I was way too terrified of stepping foot anywhere outside my hotel room farless anywhere past the premises. I was paranoid beyond measure. I would wake up every night in a cold sweat with a rapid heartbeat with Dario Romano being the only thing on my mind. It was dreadful being haunted by a dead man. I was a mess in the comfort of my own personal space, in a room I paid cash for, under a government name completely different from the one I was born and raised with. It wasn't what I expected freedom to feel like. I was having more panic attacks than I ever had while under the Romano roof. My room was one of those facing the busy streets of London and I couldn't even take advantage of the scenery because every black SUV or man in a black suit would give me chills and send me flying back to my room in a panic thinking they had found me. I kept telling myself that I was free yet my subconscious told me otherwise. I felt like a prisoner in my own head. Ashley Reed. A new name. A new look. A new age. Everything is different so how could they find me? I often asked myself that question on a daily basis and yet I hadn't grown the courage to go out and enjoy my new life. The furthest I've been is at the hotel pool where I met Niomi. She's a bit of a chatterbox so our first encounter was a pretty long one—with her doing most of the talking ofcourse. The next time I saw her I dodged her like a plague but the third time I ran into her in the elevator and there was no running from her then. She talked my head off all the way to my room. That's when I discovered that she occupied the room directly across from me. I could've cried on the spot at the discovery. As the weeks went by she was persistent to talk to me, maybe to make a new friend? I wasn't interested at all. My guard was all the way up but that didn't stop her. Now here we are, as friends.