Between Reunions and Farewells

Between Reunions and Farewells
Maggie’s Point of View

I froze.

My eyes were locked on Yulia’s, who was staring back at me as if she were looking at a ghost. She was pale, paler than I had ever seen her in my entire life, her blue eyes wide and glistening with tears that seemed unable to fall; the air in the room grew heavy, thick, as if time had decided to stop just for that moment.

“Maggie…” she murmured, her voice weak, almost nonexistent, and in the next second, her body gave way.

“No!” I wanted to scream, but the sound died in my throat when I saw Dominic move.

He was fast, too fast. Before Yulia’s body touched the floor, he was already there, holding her. He caught her completely, as if she weighed nothing, his arms steady, supporting her body. Yulia’s head fell into the crook of his neck, her hair spilling across Dominic’s chest, while his hands positioned themselves precisely behind her knees and back.

“She passed out,” he said, his voice firm, controlled, but there was tension there—I recognized it.

“Oh my God!” I blurted out, finally finding my voice, as I watched Nicolai practically run over to them, desperation etched on his face.

“Damn it! Yulia…” he said, gasping, his eyes scanning her face as if searching for any sign.

My heart was racing inside my chest.

“Get her on the bed, she needs air,” I said quickly, moving almost on autopilot.

My hands reached for the clothes I’d been folding moments before—tiny baby clothes… I pulled them aside, making room on the bed, shoving everything aside without a care. Nothing mattered at that moment except Yulia. Dominic walked over to the bed and laid her down carefully, a gentleness that contrasted with the strength he carried. He laid her down slowly, adjusting her body as if afraid of breaking her; she remained unconscious.

“I’ll get some sugar water,” Nicolai said, already turning away before he even finished his sentence, leaving the room with hurried steps.

The silence that followed was heavy.

“She didn’t know?” I asked, my voice lower now, still trying to process it all.

Dominic didn’t look at me; he was focused on Yulia, his fingers firmly on her wrist, checking her pulse, then brushing a strand of hair from her face with an automatic gesture.

“No, no one but Nicolai and Alina knows,” he replied.

The way he avoided looking at me… that hurt more than I wanted to admit.

“You can tell…” I began, not knowing exactly how to finish.

“Tell what?” he cut in, finally speaking with more weight. “That my wife faked her own death and our son’s to get out of my life?”

The words were like a knife, and I felt it. I felt it in my chest, in my stomach, in every part of me. My mouth shut immediately, as if any answer I could give would be useless.

“Hmm…” was the only sound that came out of me.

I looked away, unable to bear it, and that’s when I heard a small moan.

Yulia.

She stirred in bed, her body twisting slightly, one hand rising to her head as if everything were spinning.

“Dominic…” she murmured, her voice weak.

My heart clenched.

“Hi, honey, are you okay?” Dominic said, and the gentleness in his voice… that gentleness that was once mine… and that he would probably never use toward me again, hit me in a way I wasn’t prepared for.

“I… I…” Yulia blinked, confused.

I took a step back, instinctively. For a second, I thought maybe it would be better to leave the room. Give them space, let them explain everything before she looked at me again, but I didn’t get that chance. The door opened, and Nicolai came back, hurrying, holding a glass.

“The sugar water is here. How is she?”

Yulia turned her face toward the voice, but her gaze didn’t settle on him. It settled on me, and her eyes widened again, as if she were seeing something impossible.

“You…” her voice came out in a haunted whisper.

My whole body went rigid. She forced herself to sit up, and Dominic immediately helped her, supporting her so she could sit. Yulia blinked several times, squinting, then brought her hand up to her face, covering it for a second before lowering it again, as if testing her own reality. I didn’t know what to do. I stood still, completely still, waiting… waiting for the shock to pass, for her to be able to process it.

“I… am I crazy?” she murmured. “Am I seeing dead people now?”

“No, Yulia. You’re not seeing dead people, because no one is dead here,” Dominic replied.

His voice was hard now and cold.

She looked at him, then at me; her eyes filled with tears again, then turned back to him one last time, and to me. Before I could react, she jumped out of bed, very quickly. Too quickly, and crossed the space between us. Before I knew it, she was already hugging me.

The impact made my body stumble back a step, her weight pressing against me, her arms wrapped tightly around my body as if she were afraid of losing me again, and that’s when I felt it. I felt everything, especially the pain of having left.

“You’re alive! You’re here!” Yulia said between sobs, her voice breaking. She pulled back just enough to cup my face, her fingers trembling, touching my skin as if she needed to confirm that I was real. “It’s you! How are you? My God!”

Then she hugged me again, and this time, I hugged her back with all my strength. I closed my eyes, pulling her close to me, as if I could make up for all the months I’d lost.

“It’s me… I missed you so much,” I said, and my voice came out choked up, breaking in the middle.

After a few minutes, she pulled away, tears still streaming down her face.

“Maggie… you’re pregnant!” Her gaze dropped to my belly, and I automatically brought my hand to it. “How is this possible? How are you here and pregnant?… My God, where’s Jamie? Jamie’s here too, right? He’s alive too, isn’t he?”

The questions came one after another, jumbled, desperate. Nicolai approached, holding out the glass to her.

“Drink this and Maggie will answer all the questions you have,” he said.

The way he looked at her, the care. I noticed how his hand almost touched hers, as if he were holding something fragile and precious. Something had changed between them; I just didn’t know what.

“Jamie…” Yulia said, ignoring the glass for a second, her eyes turning back to me.

“Jamie’s fine, Yulia,” I said, trying to calm her down. “He’s in his room, sleeping.”

For a second, she just stared at me.

“Really? Oh my God…” The tears came flooding back. “This feels like a dream,” she said, her voice still trembling, as if she were afraid that any sudden movement might shatter that moment.

Nicolai, standing beside her, pushed the glass toward her again, with a gentle but firm insistence.

“Drink, love, please.” The word hung in the air.

Love.

I felt it like a small shock running through my body, my eyes automatically turning to the two of them. Yes… something had truly changed between them; it wasn’t just the way he spoke, but the way he looked at her, as if he were constantly attentive, as if she were something too precious to neglect.

Yulia looked at Nicolai for a second, as if she were processing it too, then took the glass and drank half the sugared water, slowly, taking deep breaths between sips; when she finished, she handed the glass back to him.

“Now can I see my nephew?” she asked, her anxiety already rising to the surface.

Until that moment, Dominic had remained silent, observing everything with a completely impassive expression, impossible to decipher, then he got up from the bed and walked over to his sister. Nicolai immediately stepped aside as Dominic approached, almost instinctively. I noticed his body stiffen for a second, as if he were measuring every movement. Didn’t Dominic know? The doubt crossed my mind. Didn’t he realize what was going on between the two of them? Or did he… and wasn’t he interfering? Had things really changed that much since I left?

“Let’s go see Jamie,” Dominic said, his voice controlled, as his hands went to Yulia’s back, guiding her carefully.

Yulia looked at me once more, her eyes still moist, then at her brother, and furrowed her brow slightly, as if she wanted to ask something, but ended up saying nothing, just letting him lead her out of the room. The door closed behind them, silence returned, and this time, it was different.

Nicolai and I stood there, frozen, for a second that seemed to stretch on forever, our gazes shifting at the same time toward the door through which they had left… and then meeting.

I let out a sigh.

“She won’t forgive me when she finds out the truth,” I murmured, feeling the weight of it all come crashing down on me again.

Nicolai let out a small snort and shook his head, as if he’d already expected to hear that.

“Give that girl’s love for you more credit, Maggie,” he said, his voice calm. “I’ve been with her all these months. I’ve heard her cry a million times for you two. I’ve seen her pull away from her brother because she didn’t understand what he was doing to move on.” That squeezed my chest. “I’m not going to say she’ll pat you on the back,” he continued, staring at me seriously. “But she loves you… and she loves her nephew with every fiber of her being. And in the end… the fact that you’re alive will be all that matters to her.”

I felt a tear escape from the corner of my eye and quickly wiped it away.

“I’d understand if she hated me… like Dominic does,” I said in a whisper, almost afraid to say it out loud.

Nicolai let out another snort, this time more skeptical, and shook his head.

“Do you really think he hates you?”

“You didn’t see how he looked at me… the things he said to me,” I replied, feeling the lump in my throat tighten. “I don’t doubt he still loves me, but… yes. I can see how much he hates me for what I did, too.”

“Dominic has died a thousand times since you left,” Nicolai said. “He was only physically alive, Maggie.” I fell silent. “He may be angry now, furious at what you did, trying to be rational and do what he thinks is right… what he’s concluded is best given everything,” he continued. “But he doesn’t hate you.”

I took a deep breath, trying to hold back everything that was threatening to spill over.

“He wants a divorce,” I said. Our eyes met. “He’s fine with me and Jamie living a life far away from him, in the United States. He said he can do that… be a good father to our children, and at no point did he mention being my husband again.”

There was a brief silence.

“Did you ever say you wanted to be his wife again?” Nicolai asked.

That hit me, and I fell silent. Because no… I hadn’t said it, and perhaps that said more than any answer I could give, but I didn’t have time to think about it further. The door opened again, and Yulia walked into the room with a smile on her face, still wiping away a few tears.

“He’s grown so much these past few months. He looks even more like Dominic,” she said, walking over to me and grabbing my hand enthusiastically.

I felt a tightness in my chest… but I forced a smile.

“He talks a lot now. You have to see, he says ‘Auntie Yulia,’ I taught him.”

“Oh my God!” she replied, smiling broadly, her eyes shining with emotion. She looked at me for another second, then her smile faded, and she blinked. “What happened, Maggie?” her voice was lower now, more serious. “How did you survive? How are you here again?”

My gaze shifted automatically. For a second… I paused on Dominic, who was standing further back, watching everything.

“You didn’t tell her?” I asked.

“No,” he replied, simply. “I think that conversation… you can have with her yourself.”

“What happened?” Yulia insisted.

I looked back at her, holding her hand a little tighter.

“Can we do this with Chiara?” I asked. “I want to tell you both together. I want you to know together… and then make the decision your hearts tell you to.”

Yulia blinked, confused.

“What decision?”

I squeezed her hand.

“Whether you can forgive me… or not.”

A few hours later, I made my way to the backyard, walking slowly along the stone path that led to the greenhouse. I loved that place so much… and I missed it so much it actually hurt. Yulia had gone out to pick up Chiara, and I knew that when they returned, there would be no more putting it off—I would have to tell them everything. The whole truth, and that terrified me. I needed a few minutes; I needed to breathe; I needed to cling to something that was still familiar. Recharging my energy with the plants seemed like my best bet.

As soon as I pushed open the glass door to the greenhouse, the scent of damp earth and fresh leaves enveloped me immediately, like a silent embrace; my lips curved into an automatic smile when I realized that everything was exactly as I had left it… just like Jamie’s room, just like… our room. I had been gone for months, vanished, disappeared from their lives, but there… nothing had changed. Everything was still in place—my things, Jamie’s things; little details that screamed that this was still, somehow, my home.

But it wasn’t.

I had changed, he had changed. We had changed. The relationship between us had been broken, patched up crookedly… and yet, everything else seemed frozen in time, as if I hadn’t made the choices I did.

I let out a slow sigh, letting the air escape heavily from my lungs, while my eyes scanned the room, searching for something specific.

A plant.

My gaze moved from one pot to another, passing over the green leaves, the delicate flowers… but it wasn’t there. I furrowed my brow, taking a few steps further inside. Had it completed its cycle? Had it bloomed fully… and died?

“I burned it and threw it off the cliff where I thought you had died.” Dominic’s voice made my skin crawl immediately.

I turned too quickly, my heart lurching violently in my chest, and found his dark, cold eyes already fixed on me.

“And you didn’t even know what I’d really done,” I replied, feeling the hurt rise before I could control it.

Pregnancy sensitivity was a pain in the ass, but he didn’t seem affected.

“It wasn’t out of anger. Not at you, at least.” He began walking toward me, each step slow and deliberate, until he stopped right in front of me. Too close. “I wanted closure,” he continued, his voice low. “I wanted to fill that hole in my chest where you and Jamie used to be…” I felt my throat tighten. “The agave was like a permanent reminder of you,” he said, his eyes locked on mine. “It was blooming beautifully while you were dead… so I destroyed it.” A heavy silence fell between us. “That’s what I wanted to do to myself, too, that day,” he added, without looking away. “After I’d slaughtered hundreds of men…”

I swallowed hard. He wasn’t hiding anything anymore, wasn’t trying to sugarcoat it, wasn’t trying to spare me. It was as if he wanted me to see everything, to face every dark part of him. Like a silent challenge. There’s the person you created when you did what you did… can you handle that now?

“Everything I did was so you could stay alive…” my voice came out lower, more fragile than I’d like.

“But I wasn’t,” he retorted immediately. The words came like a blade. He let out a sigh, looking away for a brief second, fixing his gaze on some plant beside us, before turning back to me. “I don’t want to talk about this shit anymore,” he said. “You know how I feel. I know your reasons and how you feel. Dwelling on this is just going to be… exhausting.”

I stared at him, feeling a strange emptiness form inside me.

“What do you want to do then?”

He didn’t hesitate.

“I want to get on the same page,” he replied, his voice firm. “And put an end to this torture… this limbo we seem to be stuck in.”

I blinked, confused.

“What do you mean?”

He took another step forward, closing the space between us even further. I could feel the heat of his body, the overwhelming presence that always affected me more than I’d like.

“I spoke to Marco today,” he said. “He won’t have any connection to you anymore. You’re free from anything you think you owe him… or Irina, or anyone.”

“But…”

“I’ll pay my debt to Marco in a few days,” he continued, cutting me off. “I’ll hand Massimo Esposito over to him.” My stomach churned. “Then I’ll be free to be the Boss of the bratva again,” he added. “A bratva that I’m shaping in my own way, and I’ll rule it my way, and… you’ll be free to go after that.”

My heart sank.

“What?”

“I said you’ll be free to leave with Jamie and the baby,” he repeated, as if he were talking about something simple, logical. “I hope you’ll wait until he’s born. In the meantime, we can work out our divorce… and what my relationship with our children will be like.” Every word seemed to tear a piece of me away. “I want to be a part of their lives,” he continued. “But I respect your decision not to want the mafia touching your life… or theirs.” I couldn’t breathe properly. “Once you’ve settled in whatever state you choose,” he said, “I’ll make sure you’re safe. From any enemy… or any part of the bratva that wants to hurt you.” His eyes didn’t waver. “You’ll have the life you’ve always wanted.”

“You really seem to have thought of everything,” I said, swallowing the lump forming in my throat, trying to keep my voice steady despite the crushing weight inside my chest.

“Yes, I have.” He nodded slightly, without hesitation. “I’ve thought a lot about everything.” I stared at him, feeling each of his words settle like an inevitable sentence. “You’re right,” he continued, his voice controlled. “I can’t run from who I am and my legacy. I can’t say I understand or forgive what you did, but a part of me knows I wouldn’t have done what I did… wouldn’t have gotten the bratva back fully under my control the way I always wanted… if you hadn’t done what you did.” My hands went cold. “It seems that the best versions of us, in our individual worlds, only exist when we’re not in each other’s lives,” he said, holding my gaze. “You had built something good in Seattle… and I… reclaimed my father’s legacy.”

Every word he spoke was rational, cold, logical, and yet it hurt more than any scream.

“Just a few more days together,” he concluded, “then we can go our separate ways again, and you can build the life you want… and be happy.”

My lower lip trembled. I pressed my lips together immediately, refusing to cry in front of him. I had already accepted it, accepted that I would never be a part of his life again, but accepting it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. Because in that moment… it felt like someone had ripped my heart out of my chest with their bare hands, and I couldn’t even fully understand why that pain was so intense. He was giving me exactly what he had promised.

Freedom…. And I would accept it.

That wasn’t my world, and there was a certain cruel wisdom in knowing exactly where you didn’t belong.

“Do you have something to tell me?” his voice pulled me back.

I looked up at him, meeting that dark, indecipherable gaze… and nodded.

“No,” I replied, even though a part of me was screaming the opposite. “I accept. We’re on the same page.” The words came out more steady than I felt.

He watched me for a long moment in silence, as if searching for something in me… something I didn’t have the courage to show.

“Great.” He nodded briefly, then sighed, running a hand over his face before clearing his throat. “Yulia arrived with Chiara,” he said. “They’re waiting for you in the front garden.”

I just nodded, but this time, the urge to cry came on stronger, more violently, rising up my throat like a wave impossible to contain. I held it back, held it back with everything I had. I walked past him quickly, without looking back, quickening my pace to get out of the greenhouse before I collapsed right there. As soon as I stepped through the glass door, I took a deep breath, the fresh air hitting my face as I wiped away the tears that insisted on falling.

I needed to pull myself together.

I walked along the stone path toward the front garden, forcing my mind to cling to something other than that suffocating pain.

Them.

Yulia and Chiara.

When I reached the center of the garden, where the covered structure cast a soft shadow over the benches and the flowers around them, I saw them. They were talking, close to each other, oblivious to my presence for a brief second. My heart tightened… and at the same time warmed. Yulia was the first to notice me; her smile appeared immediately, genuine, and she touched Chiara’s shoulder, getting her attention.

Chiara turned, and the moment her eyes met mine… they widened. Tears welled up instantly, and she began walking toward me, her steps quick, almost running, and that’s when I realized.

She was pregnant, just like me.

My heart tightened even more, but this time in a different way; tears were already streaming down my face when she stopped a step away from me, letting out a shaky sigh, crying. The next second, she hugged me tightly. Strong enough to make me take a small step back, I hugged her back immediately, wrapping my arms around her, closing my eyes tightly as I held her, and then I felt another body join ours.

Yulia.

Her arms tightened around us, making that hug even stronger, more complete. More… ours.

At that moment… for a brief, precious second… everything felt right. Everything felt whole, and I felt… happy, even though I knew it was only momentary.