Chapter 209 Book 2 CHPT 41: The End Of The Don

Chapter 209 Book 2 CHPT 41: The End Of The Don
ALINA'S POV

“No… no, no, no… Valentino, look at me!”

My hands trembled as I held his face, my second hand already stained with his blood, warm and terrifying against my skin.

It kept coming, too much of it, soaking through his shirt, spilling between my fingers no matter how hard I tried to press against the wound.

“Stay with me,” I begged, my voice breaking into pieces.

“Ti prego (please)… don’t do this to me. Don’t you dare leave me.”

His body felt heavier in my arms, like life itself was slowly slipping out of him, second by second, and I could do nothing to stop it.

“No, no… you’re fine,” I said quickly, shaking my head like I could deny reality if I refused to accept it.

“You’re strong, Valentino. You’ve survived worse than this, remember? This is nothing, you hear me? Nothing.”

A weak breath left his lips, and his hand slowly lifted, trembling as it reached for my face.

“Moglie mia…” his voice came out soft and tired, shattering something deep inside me.

“I’m here,” I cried, pressing my cheek into his palm, holding it there like if I let go, I would lose him completely.

“I’m right here, amore mio. I’m not going anywhere. So you don’t get to go either, do you hear me?”

Behind us, chaos still raged.

Gunshots cracked through the air, men shouting, bodies hitting the ground, but it all felt distant, like the world had narrowed down to just the two of us.

“Boss… please…” Sky’s broken voice came from somewhere beside us, desperate.

“Stay with us. We’ll get you out of here. Just hold on, sì (yes)? Just hold on.”

I barely glanced at him. I couldn’t. If I looked away, even for a second, I felt like Valentino would disappear.

Valentino let out a weak, breathless chuckle that quickly turned into a painful cough, blood staining his lips.

“Always so stubborn…” he murmured, his eyes fixed on mine like I was the only thing he wanted to see before the end.

Tears blurred my vision.

“Don’t talk like that,” I snapped, shaking my head. “Save your strength. You’re not dying, Valentino. You’re not allowed to die.”

His fingers brushed weakly against my cheek, wiping away my tears with a tenderness that made my chest ache.

“Do you remember…” he started slowly, his voice unsteady, “the first time we met?”

A broken laugh escaped me despite everything.

“You kidnapped me,” I said through my tears. “That’s your romantic memory?”

A faint smile touched his lips.

“Si (yes)… you were so angry,” he whispered. “You looked at me like you wanted to kill me.”

“I still do,” I choked, gripping his shirt tightly. “So don’t die on me yet. I’m not done with you.”

He let out a weak breath, his gaze softening.

“Our wedding day…” he continued, his words slower now, each one costing him more.

“You were… so beautiful… I almost forgot I was a man surrounded by enemies.”

My heart clenched painfully.

“Stop,” I whispered, shaking my head harder now.

“Stop talking like this.”

“And that time…” he went on, ignoring me gently, like he always did when he had already made up his mind, “Dante wanted to auction you off…”

A faint, pained laugh left him.

“I should thank him… for letting me see how much of a beautiful dancer my woman is.”

“Valentino…” my voice cracked completely.

“Please…”

“And do you remember when the Anselmo syndicate attacked… and I took a bullet for you…” he added, his breathing uneven now.

Something in me snapped.

“Why did you do that?” I cried out, my voice rising, shaking.

“Why do you keep doing that? That bullet was meant for me! Why do you always have to—”

“Because you are my life,” he said quietly, cutting me off.

The words hit me like a blow.

His eyes held mine, steady despite the fading light in them.

“I will always choose you… ogni volta (every time),” he whispered.

“You… and our child.”

My lips trembled uncontrollably.

“Our child…” I repeated, my voice breaking into a whisper.

His hand slowly moved, resting weakly against my stomach.

“Be strong… for our bambino (baby),” he murmured. “Promise me.”

I shook my head immediately.

“No,” I said, tears streaming endlessly now.

“Don’t say that like you won’t be here. You’ll raise our child with me. You promised me, Valentino. You promised.”

His breathing hitched.

“Maybe… in another life…” he said softly, his gaze drifting slightly but still trying to hold onto me.

“I won’t be a Don… no enemies… no blood…”

My heart shattered all over again.

“We’ll be normal people,” he continued faintly. “I’ll meet you… in a quiet place… not like this…”

“Stop it!” I sobbed, clutching him tighter. “I don’t want another life! I want this one! I want you in this life!”

“Amore mio…” his voice was barely there now.

“Stay with me!” I begged, my entire body shaking.

“Look at me! Don’t close your eyes, Valentino! Don’t you dare close your eyes!”

His fingers tightened weakly around mine.

“I love you…” he whispered.

“Ti amo (I love you),” I cried immediately. “Ti amo, ti amo, ti amo… please don’t leave me…”

Behind me, I heard Dante’s voice, sharp and urgent as he rushed closer.

“What happened?” he demanded, his voice trembling with an unfamiliar fear that I had never heard from him before.

I barely heard him.

All my attention was on Valentino.

I felt the slow, uneven rise of his chest against my hands, each breath weaker than the last, each one farther apart, like his body was struggling to hold on to something it was already losing.

“No…” I whispered, shaking my head as my grip tightened on him, my fingers clutching his shirt as if I could anchor him to me.

“No, no… Valentino, stay with me… don’t do this… please…”

His hand was still in mine, but the strength in it was fading, his fingers loosening little by little until they barely held onto me at all.

“Look at me,” I begged, my voice trembling uncontrollably as I cupped his face, forcing him to stay with me.

“Guardami (look at me)… don’t go, don’t leave me like this…”

His eyes were still on mine, but the life inside them was slipping, the focus slowly fading no matter how hard I tried to hold him there.

Panic clawed up my throat.

“No!” I cried, my voice breaking as I shook him more urgently now.

“Valentino, no! Stay with me! You promised me!”

For a moment, I thought he would answer.

For a moment, I thought he would fight.

But then his gaze went still.

Not soft Not peaceful.

Just… empty.

“Valentino?” I whispered, my voice small, like I already knew the answer but refused to accept it.

His hand slipped from mine completely, then his chest stopped moving beneath my touch.

And just like that, the warmth in him began to fade, right there in my arms, like life itself had quietly left without asking for permission.

“No…”

The word came out as a breath at first, like I didn’t have enough strength to say it.

Then it broke out of me.

“NOOOOO!!!”

The scream tore through my chest, raw and uncontrollable, echoing into the night as I clutched him tighter against me, holding onto him like I could force his heart to start again if I just refused to let go.

Tears blurred everything, my body shaking violently as I pressed my face against his, desperate, broken.

“Wake up…” I sobbed, my voice collapsing into itself.

“Please… Val… please wake up… this isn’t funny… don’t do this to me…”

But he didn’t move, didn’t breathe.

He didn’t come back.

And that was when it hit me fully, not just in my mind, but in my chest, in my bones, in every part of me that had ever known him.

He was gone.

Something inside me broke in a way I knew would never be fixed.

The sounds around me grew louder and farther at the same time, gunshots, voices, chaos, all blending into something unbearable as the world spun around me too fast.

My grip on him weakened, not because I wanted to let go, but because my body could no longer hold itself together.

“Valentino…” I whispered one last time, my voice so faint it barely existed.

The world around me faded into nothing, every feeling slipping away, and before I could even hold on to the last piece of him, I was already sinking into a deep, endless darkness I had no strength left to escape from.