Chapter 15 - Bruno’s Last Night
Bruno stopped eating two weeks later.
Dr. Monroe came to the mansion.
She examined him quietly.
Luca watched her face.
“How long?”
Rachel hesitated.
“Not long.”
Luca nodded once.
I left the room because I couldn’t watch his expression.
That evening, we carried Bruno into the garden.
The place where Luca had spent fifteen minutes with him every morning.
Dante lay beside him.
My mother brought an old blanket.
Marco sat several yards away.
Even Vanessa was allowed a secure video call.
She cried when she saw Bruno.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Luca said nothing.
Bruno looked at the screen once.
Then rested his head again.
I sat beside Luca.
“You okay?”
“No.”
At least he didn’t pretend.
The sun went down over Chicago.
Bruno breathed slowly.
Luca told me stories.
How Bruno stole a steak from Salvatore’s plate.
How he once chased Luca into a fountain.
How he slept outside Luca’s bedroom the night Salvatore died.
Then Bruno lifted his head.
He looked at Luca.
Then at me.
His tail moved once against the blanket.
He died between us.
Quietly.
No grand moment.
No dramatic final bark.
Just one breath.
Then none.
Luca buried his face in Bruno’s fur exactly as he had the night I carried the old shepherd into the engagement dinner.
Only this time he didn’t hide his tears.
Neither did I.
Dante refused to leave the grave the next morning.
We buried Bruno beneath the oak tree.
With his old collar.
But Luca kept the empty ring where the brass tag had once hung.
“He brought you back to me,” he said.
I swallowed.
“And you back to yourself.”
Luca looked toward the mansion.
The next day he announced the dissolution of every remaining illegal enterprise tied to the Moretti name.
The announcement triggered immediate retaliation.
Three businesses were attacked.
Two former associates vanished.
And Marco discovered someone had placed a contract on Luca.
Five million dollars.
The buyer was anonymous.
But the payment originated from one of Salvatore’s restitution accounts.
Someone inside the new trust was stealing.
Someone who knew every step Luca had taken.
The old enemy was not gone.
It had simply changed shape.
And three days after Bruno’s burial, I received a photograph of his grave.
May you like
Taken from inside the Moretti property.
Someone was still inside the house.
