Chapter 4

He turned back, his eyes full of disappointment.

"When did you become so heartless? Didn't you used to worry about the strays freezing in the alleys behind the club on rainy nights?"

"With the storm rolling in off the water tonight, the streets no place for anyone, aren't you afraid something will happen if you put her out this late?"

I curled up on the couch and gave a small nod.

"You can go."

"Once you walk out that door, don't come back with regrets."

His steps hitched. He didn't turn around.

That night, Salvatore didn't come home.

I spent the whole night restoring this place piece by piece, and when I got to the bathroom, I found that the drawer held not just Gina's things but Salvatore's razor as well.

On the counter sat two cups for their toothbrushes, the classic pink-and-blue set for couples.

I stared at all of it, and a sudden wave of discomfort washed over me, though I couldn't say why.

In all our years courting and bound in that hidden union, he had never mixed his things in with mine, and he certainly never used matching couples' items with me.

I looked toward the living room, and it seemed every corner carried traces of a life they had lived together.

These past six months, had this place been Gina living alone, or the two of them playing house?

The answer came from the rain drowning the street outside the window.

I threw everything into a garbage bag and hauled it out.

I scrubbed the whole place clean, had the locks changed by a man the Family trusted, and only lay down once the sky was starting to lighten.

Early the next morning, I was woken by knocking at the door.

I opened it to find Salvatore.

In his arms he held a bouquet of flowers and a small cake.

This scene had happened once, many years ago.

It left me a little dazed.

Back then, he had done it to cheer me up.

And now?

He set the flowers and cake on the table.

"That bakery you love the most. Eat a little before you sleep."

I sat down and opened the box.

When I saw the peach filling on top, I sank back, drained.

"Salvatore, first peach water, now a peach cake. Do you not know I'm allergic?"

A flicker of awkwardness crossed his face. His thumb moved once over the band on his finger before his hand closed around it.

"I'm sorry. It's been so long since I bought it, I forgot."

"I'll have something else sent up."

"No need."

I picked up my laptop, and right in front of him I filed the notice refusing the demotion off the captaincy, then sent word severing my standing in the Family to his line.

"When you have a moment, Don Falcone, put your seal to it."

His expression darkened. The room seemed to cool around him, the way it always did when the Don's patience thinned.

"Adriana, are you still throwing a fit?"

"If you feel your place in the operation doesn't match what you can do, then wait until next year, when the seat over the distribution routes opens up."

"But I don't want to wait anymore."

"You're twenty-nine now. In a couple of years we'll want a child. Do you really think if you walk away now, another Family out there gives a woman like you a place worth having?"

"Salvatore!"

I lifted my eyes to him, my voice tight.

"A child is something I have only if I want one. You don't get to make that decision!"

The year the Family first took hold of its territory, I got pregnant by accident.

I waited until it was stable at three months, planning to tell him as a surprise.

Instead, he held me and told me to get rid of the baby.

I asked him why, and he said we were at the prime age to fight for the Family's ground.

Now, after everything it took me to claw my way here, he had not only wrecked my rank, he wanted to trap me behind those walls too.

He froze for a moment, his voice muffled.

"If you walk now, everything owed to you from the last run through the branch houses is forfeit. Are you sure you want to sever it?"

"I think I already made myself very clear a moment ago."

He took out his phone, typed a few lines, and two minutes later the word came back sealed.

Then he headed for the door.

"Over the next three days, hand off every contact and every open operation you're running."