na

bed pillows, swallowing my sobs so the estate gua

, each memory, once gilded, now rep

fect mafia romance was built entire

e when he needed to lo

ner when he wanted to play t

moment Sophia returned to

weeping myself to sleep, I took up

number for a discreet underground clini

ng so badly that I dropped the devi

tone and asked for my marital status, I swallo

swered, my voice

ically asked if I inte

oment of hesitatio

aced my finger across the screen, sign

s scheduled for

large suitcases from the top shelf of th

I was leaving the estate for good-wh

swered the call, pressi

ely soft, entirely normal-as if the brutal

pped, one-wo

ess for a few days," he mentioned casually,

night, Lena. We'll t

hone without a

and looked down at my two pac

, heavily guarded fortress had

ing if this departure constitut

what I had ever truly mea

ground servant corridors that Marco thought I knew nothing about, I slipped past his heavy securi

k, knowing my father would spark a bloody Family

lone on the cold hardwood f

xury hotel suite with a sprawling skyline view, ch

y eyes staring blankly at the

of night, my phone chimed

oto message

kening dread and my fingers trembling

wed Marco fast asleep in the

dangerously low across his tattooed chest, his

to the photo; the visual evidence

co's urgent syndicate business trip was n

y glowing phone screen just as a sharp, ago

as I gasped, instinctually curling in

erce physical pain a perfect mirror t

as the only one foolish enough to play b

had ever taken our bloo

h the back of my trembling hand, my ragg

and there: I was done being the collate