Ross

was suffocat

found under the sink. The cut on my cheek was

o

mething permanent to remembe

nst the nightstand,

as S

ked me solely

hite isn't your color. It's for brides. You looked like a

to fo

ing in the passenger seat of

and rested casually, pos

dn't

done c

he floor-to-ceiling window. The rain

out of the penthouse. I hailed a cab and gave

e Don's wife. They assumed I was coming to see Marco or retrie

hrough without

grass to the old peach

uried a time capsule beneath these roots. He wasn't the D

o my knees

th a shovel; I dug

ls snapped against the rocky soil. The fresh bandage on

dn't

rs struc

the lid open. Inside lay two folded sli

ed my pa

nte Vitiello until the day I

d at th

d. Literally. I had pricke

d, naive gir

Dante's p

ish for the Family to be strong

fi

when I was the one sitting beside him, listeni

t in hi

e shovel he u

loody vow-and ripped

let the pieces fall. I watched the dark water carry

icked up

night his sight returned.

ew hole, deeper this time. I dropp

. I patted the dirt down flat unt

st burying

rying El

e buzze

kay? Luca said yo

, his name no longer m

ped

ne. I don't

it

f the garden, leaving my heart