Chapter 27: A Wider Sky Awaits
Redhaven Prison.
Tommy's single cell hardly resembled the grim cages one imagined when thinking of incarceration. His quarters were closer to a luxury suite — spotless floors, a wide double bed, a private bathroom, even a TV and refrigerator. Sunlight streamed through upright designer windows, fresh air drifting in. Outside, a lounge filled with games and gym equipment gave the inmates more freedom than most hotels.
It was a strange world, but Tommy had long since adapted.
Inside that private space, the aftermath of another night with Sara lingered. She lay against his chest, her cheeks still flushed, her breath unsteady. Silence hung between them until she suddenly asked:
"She came this morning, didn't she?"
Tommy didn't answer right away. He exhaled a stream of cigar smoke, his eyes narrowing. His voice, when it came, was calm.
"I'll be going to New York tomorrow. The Family wants me there."
Sara stiffened. "Will you come back?"
Tommy gave her the same answer he gave everyone — none at all.
In truth, the decision gnawed at him. The Camorra Family sending him across the ocean hadn't been part of his plans. But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Italy had been a place of blood and betrayal. New York, though unfamiliar, was wide open — a battlefield without old grudges, without assassins waiting in the shadows.
There, he could build something new. His own crew. His own empire.
A great man cannot stay under another forever, he thought. New York was the wider sky, the ocean waiting for him to set sail.
He puffed another ring of smoke into the air. Sara tilted her head to look at him through the haze, her eyes heavy with unspoken sorrow. She already knew what his silence meant — that their time together was fragile, fleeting.
Her father, a powerful politician, would never allow her to stay with a Mafia boss. He wanted her safe, not marked for death by vendettas and family wars. She knew their love had no future, and that knowledge made her cling to every moment, every stolen night.
Without another word, she kissed him again, pulling him back into the fire one last time.
---
The next morning, freedom arrived.
Outside the prison gates, a sleek silver-white sports car purred. Behind the wheel sat Ken Rosenberg, the lawyer who had once snatched Tommy's life out of the flames of a courtroom.
When Tommy stepped through the gates, Ken leapt out, arms wide, grinning ear to ear.
"Tommy, my friend! How does freedom taste?"
Tommy chuckled, hugging him. "Didn't think it would be you picking me up."
In this world, friends were rare, but if Tommy had one, it was Ken. Despite the man's rumpled suits, shaky hands, and reputation as a recovering addict, his talent in the courtroom was unmatched. It was Ken who had reduced Tommy's sentence from life to ten years. Ken who had secured parole after five. His silver tongue had been sharper than any blade.
For that, Tommy respected him.
Still, he knew better than to dream. Ken was Gianna's man, the Camorra's lawyer, not his personal retainer. The Family would never let their lawyer abandon them to follow Tommy across the Atlantic.
But as the two men slid into the car and the city opened up before them, Tommy couldn't help but smile.
For the first time in years, the road ahead was his.
And New York — the city of giants — was waiting.
END of the chapter
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