nna

ll staring at the red velve

as e

rom my sixteenth birthday, even the gold bracelet Luca gave me wh

ree towns over to ensure no on

spital administrator's safe, s

enn

me back to reali

in the doorway of

maller than

on Carlo's strength, but the b

where I had set my purse, her

ears, missing the diamonds

e asked, her voice r

vely covere

at home, Nonn

k her he

ed hands trembling as she rea

not as a question, but as a

n't d

oman who had spent forty years dec

said softly. "But he c

th tears, though she r

Carlo slept, a web of tubes and wire

words tasting of ash. "A coward who leav

aid, my voice harden

rned bac

yes was replaced b

ing an

her hands, her grip

said fiercely. "And you are not just

sed my

benediction and mo

"If he walks through that door, I will

twist in

sn't

click of a lock f

or protection, craving the aura

d lost it all

na, I realized I h

ded a weak husba

at the sl

fierce mother st

I said. "For M

a no

erything that was