hia

ing Marco's silhouette be swal

y fingers moved across the screen, composing a brief me

confirmed his availability and added tha

ed my lips for the fi

t across the street recalled to my mind the chill

had first declared his

r compound. She was a new associate, hail

k, and possessed an a

anomaly in this life of ours, where even the fine linen o

out our arranged betrothal

tment and justification. He claimed I was strong enough to endure it;

tion for her, swearing he would still fulfill

t moment I realiz

was not his partner, but a chess piece to be sacrificed, a co

heir force

conducted their illicit affair, hidden from

er smile a confection of cloying pity. Yet, beneath this veneer of sy

is deception, and with it, he chipped aw

arty to their flirtations, which h

stoicism expected of me. Marco, however, noticed my cold demeanor and dismissed it. H

lla was delicate and requ

temper t

ess, that my presence was a necessity; with me there, the

d alone, Isabella woul

by a thousand small betrayals, did not so much break as simply cease to exist.

r month-end, when the illi

to complete her section and

d work and handed it to Isabella, ins

y the Underboss. I endured a harsh reprimand and

the following day with an a

in the Family was secure enough to absorb such a blow. He said Isabella wo

consequence to him; her s

and I was compelled to accompany the

the table, while I sat as a silent sentinel, my

inner, Marco lean

my presence vexing, that my conve

the safehouse without ha

ing on my shoulder as he loudly accused me of

ayal had been a brick in the wall I was building around my heart. What Marco failed to realize