low

, the smell of heavy alcohol hit me, a

side his fortified stu

sprawled on the

iscarded on the floor, his sil

-Conti sat on the glass co

le, a bitter realiza

lost his iro

ed when it came to o

ything you want

y voice cut throu

tryway, clutching my purse to m

I re

hollow, completel

e from t

ith the predatory grac

from the hall, and the heavy scent of wine and cigar smoke fro

dangerously close to mi

igid. He sensed the resistance and his movement

hard I thought his

e muttered, his voic

ke a shard of

what he wante

o demand a divorce to clear

quickly, my base surviv

lked quickly do

bathroom. With trembling hands, I scrubbed the heavy makeup from my fac

into bed, pulling th

t follow me

door open or demand m

attress dipped und

and pulled me into a crus

nd my waist, pulling my back flush

he curve of my neck, hi

ry," he w

w. The back of my throat closed up as if it were stuffed with th

apology from a Don was

an unbearable guilt for

ed with an agoni

ilken bedsheets as the physical m

g dark, and for a moment, I won

-not as a title, not as a duty, but like a prayer he was too broke