Crimson Vows

Chapter 10: Graves and Ghosts

The night was thick with fog as the black SUV glided silently through the winding roads on the outskirts of the city. The driver’s eyes were sharp, but his hands steady. Inside, Dominic sat rigid, hands clenched tightly on his knees, staring at the city lights fading behind them.

Beside him, Luca flicked a cigarette stub into the dark.

“We’re really doing this,” Dominic muttered.

“Someone has to,” Luca said, voice low. “Valente’s been playing ghosts for too long.”

---

The destination was a forgotten graveyard, hidden deep beneath layers of concrete and secrecy. Officially, the cemetery had been closed for decades, but old mafia lore said it was the resting place for those who couldn’t be mourned publicly — men who died in shadows, erased from family records.

Dominic stepped out, his breath visible in the cold air, and looked down at the cracked headstones and broken crosses.

Gabriel’s grave wasn’t marked.

Nothing but dirt and silence.

Luca handed him a shovel.

“Time to dig up the past.”

---

Hours earlier, Isabelle stood in the chapel, her hands wrapped tightly around a worn leather-bound book — her father’s journal, discovered hidden in a secret compartment of the estate’s library.

She hadn’t told Dominic.

Because some secrets were too dangerous to share.

She flipped through the pages, eyes scanning faded ink and cryptic notes.

Lines about alliances.

Deals.

Betrayals.

But one passage caught her eye:

> *“Gabriel walked a path between us and Moretti. He carried the hope of peace in his hands — but shadows followed him. If he falls, the war will come. And with it, the blood of the innocent.”*

Her fingers trembled.

She closed the book, pressing it to her chest.

---

Back in the graveyard, the earth shifted beneath Dominic’s shovel.

Each scoop felt heavier than the last.

Luca’s flashlight flickered, revealing old bones tangled in roots.

When the blade finally struck something solid, Dominic paused.

The air was thick with a mix of dread and relief.

They dug faster.

Revealed the outline of a coffin, decayed and broken.

Dominic knelt down, pulling the lid aside.

Inside lay the skeletal remains of a man.

---

Isabelle’s phone buzzed.

A message from Arianna:

*“Dominic and Luca en route to old graveyard. Be ready.”*

Her heart pounded.

She grabbed the journal and rushed to the armory.

---

Dominic’s fingers traced the bones carefully, a silent promise escaping his lips.

“I’m sorry, Gabriel.”

Luca’s voice was grim. “Valente wanted us to forget.”

Dominic shook his head. “Then we’ll remind him.”

Suddenly, headlights appeared at the entrance.

Isabelle stepped out of the SUV, eyes burning with determination.

She approached Dominic slowly.

“We bury the past today,” she said, voice steady.

He looked up, meeting her gaze.

“Together.”

---

They arranged a small ceremony by the broken grave, a handful of trusted men watching in silence.

Isabelle held her brother’s journal.

Dominic placed a single black rose on the coffin.

The weight of history pressed down.

But so did a new vow.

To fight.

To protect.

To survive.

---

As they stood, the wind whispered through the trees, carrying a warning.

Valente was watching.

And the war was far from over.