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Cesare – 5 years ago – age 22
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WHEN SHE WALKED OUT, I knew that I would never feel for another girl what I felt for Kinsey. She would forever be the one that got away.
Dejected and furious, I return to New York and to a seething father who sets me straight. He’s discovered I’ve been snorting cocaine, and if I’m to become a member, I need to be clean.
“This is what I warned you about four years ago. You’re going to get clean, initiate into the Syndicate, and forget about that girl. She’s toxic to you. But enough about her; on to business. Here’s your new Syndicate-issued phone.” My father takes my old phone while I’m despairing, bitterness consuming my soul.
Kinsey has ripped my heart out, and anger fills the hole she’s created.
“Cesare, your love is destructive,” my mother adds. “She’s not the girl for you. Forget her and move on. You’re going to be a made man. Act like it.”
“I’ve loved her for almost half my life. How do I let her go?”
“One day at a time, son. Time heals all wounds.”
I got clean and became a captain right after graduation. Without Kinsey, I focused solely on the Syndicate. And when Michael became boss, he made me his underboss.
Time might heal all wounds, but time never makes you forget. Women have come and gone throughout the years, but only one holds a place in my heart. And that will never change.