na

thing," I

ted like ash

at matters. Di

ere shakin

nails bit into the skin, trying to ground

occo shifted

is other hand drifting toward the

ing with restrained violence. "I should drag him back

N

sharper tha

t him,

e passenger door of a ru

h a reverence that m

d, bitterness coating my throat. "That is a

hesi

e is your

sb

the suffocating s

e image of our wedding d

a strategi

y of New York and the Mo

royalty of t

ce that cost more t

k suit and a look

om had turned

claim

ch, possessing me completely until the day he wa

me it was

re was nothin

he Consigliere brought

ars lighting candles

to take of

else sit in his chair

, I realized the cr

heart that refused

a life where I d

ipped dow

it away

ceful," Rocco sa

" I corrected, spitting

d to the driver's

pau

his head s

cked onto o

, through the tinted gl

wasn't so

as c

ulat

a predator spotting

flared in my chest,

he rem

of the bond we shared,

as passing traffic, and slid into the c