circular driveway is choked

and watchful, scanning the street. I recognize half of the S

fixed on a point far ahead, refus

e fractured, blinding glitter of a dozen crystal chandeliers. The cavernous room is heavy

her imm

auty. With her gentle features and bright, innocent eyes, she lacks the scent of lye used to scrub bloo

le silk blanket is a warm, li

k up

. She takes me for one of Silas's civilian colleagues, greeting me with bright e

y gaze to

my ribs, a physical manifestation of a

ies the exact hard line of his jaw. The ancestral shadow o

iron. My face is a mask of pure, lethal calm

r arms, her voice light as she tells me th

single, sharp,

y in-laws. The

aw. They had looked me in the eye and told me the police heat was becoming too high. They had insisted they needed to go on a sudden Europ

for me to follow her, leading me to a large, co

slow, deliberate circuit of

a's civilian relatives and Silas's fabricated corporate colleagues, all o

king expensive champagne. They talk loudly a

ses his glass, proposing a toast to their picture-perfect life. Between sips, he cas

ye

usband has been living a fraudulent, painstakingly constructed double life for six years.

vy about the extravagant jewelry Silas showers upon Valentina. They speak in hushe

owing upon me cheap, counterfeit gold pieces. He always told me a Capo's wife must maintain a modest pr

dicate tributes and literal blood mon

s Valentina's. She a

s to her with a profound, gentle affection I have not been shown in years. He t

display. They loudly praise Silas as a fiercely devoted f

ossing her delicate features. She murmurs an excuse abou

of guileless trust, she gently hol

asks if I can hold her

ccepting the warm, fragile weight. And so I take the