ella

hina tilting her head for his kiss. Now, as I tried to pull Angelo away before they noticed us, it was too late

egan to cross the street toward us. He followed wit

our side of the pavemen

t for three days - though she kept a careful distance so as not to brush against us. "Poor child. You must have suffered so much out there with your mother." S

ened in mild annoyance, as if we were nothing mor

elation. I saw the subtle, triumphant shift in her eyes. She realized Damien didn't care about

on Angelo's five-year-old hand and walked away,

Grand Hall smelled of old leather, cigar smoke, and unspoken tension. Before Maria c

ed with venom. "Everyone in our circle is laughing at us for taking in a Don's dis

colded softly, though her face bore a look

dress-the same one I had worn in Blackwater Creek, now wrinkled and stained - with

My grandmother, Elena Moretti, descended the stairs. Her sharp eyes

wrist, leaving only my aunt, Mrs. Moretti

like a refugee," Elena said, her voice a quiet, terrifying rumble. "

re arriving so soon -" my aunt

in the corner. "Since your maid cannot even prepare a simple change of clothing for

o save face. Elena had just drawn a line in the sand: I was untouc

g out at the Chicago skyline. Because of the twenty years of blood and betrayal I had lived thro

stead, she would call the one person whose greed and obsession with

, twisting the narrative. The poor boy is suffering... Isabella's reputa

ld take the bait. She would declare that she was coming to the Moretti estat

I turned away from the window, listening to the sound of my son's quiet breathing from the next r

stead, she would call the one person whose greed and obsession with

twisting the narrative. *The poor boy is suffering... Isabella's reputat

ld take the bait. She would declare that she was coming to the Moretti estat

I turned away from the window, listening to the sound of my son's quiet breathing from the next r