"Twice? Try more than that. A dozen men at a time, and you do the math. The Don's got enough horns on his head to knit a sweater. He must be blind, taking a woman like that into his bed. Just holding her at night would turn your stomach."
"Who knows if she was forced or willing. Probably no better than she should be, anyway. Why else would it always be her getting into trouble, and on the Don's own vessel? This time the kid's gone too. Any baby cursed with a mother like that is better off in the sea."
…
I stood off to the side, my legs nearly giving out under me. The salt wind off the deck did nothing to steady them.
Lorenzo had heard the commotion carry down the corridor, and this was the scene he walked into. Conversations cut off the moment he appeared. The made men nearest the door straightened without thinking.
The color drained from his face in an instant.
A second before I hit the floor, he caught me and pulled me into his arms.
"Adriana? What are you doing here?"
"You're not feeling unwell, are you? Let me take you back."
I said nothing. My eyes followed past his shoulder to Bianca.
Afraid I'd seen, Lorenzo rushed to explain:
"Don't read too much into it. Bianca only just came back across the water. I ran into her by chance and came to see how she was."
"That whole business was five years ago. Bianca was afraid you'd be upset, so she stayed abroad all this time. She finally managed to come home, and we are all the same famiglia in the end, so maybe we could just—"
"Don't worry. As long as I draw breath, that bastard Salvatore won't set foot near you again."
"Mm. It's in the past. I won't speak of it again."
I knew what he was trying to say.
Better to put myself in a corner.
No. Better to be the one who said it first.
At least that way I could keep my dignity.
The same men and their wives who'd been sneering a moment ago saw the Don step out onto the deck. In an instant they scattered, the way they always did when his shadow fell across a room.
"Adriana. Long time no see."
Bianca smiled and greeted me, the limited-edition piece on her wrist catching the deck lights as she let it show.
I gave a silent nod, swallowing the hurt as I spoke:
"I came out for some air. Since you're busy, I'll head back first. I wouldn't want to cause you any trouble out here, in front of everyone."
Lorenzo thought I was angry and trailed after me all the way back to the private lounge.
His eyes went red with tenderness.
Watching how eager he was to play the part, the heat of his desire still not faded from his gaze. His thumb moved slow along the edge of his wedding ring.
I suddenly felt the urge to laugh.
To clear the way for Bianca.
He had drugged me and destroyed my whole bloodline without a second thought. He had let the Vitale name be looted down to the bone.
Now that he'd gotten what he wanted, I lived buried under the contempt of every made man and his wife, unable to lift my head.
So who was the act for now?
"Don't worry. It was five years ago. I forgot about it long ago. The lounge was just stuffy, and being shut in there kept dredging up things I'd rather not remember, so I went out for air."
Lorenzo let out a breath of relief.
He wiped the tear tracks from the corners of my eyes himself.
After feeding me the drug, he went out the door again.
This time he headed toward the dining hall.
Ten minutes later, an associate slipped an invitation to the family banquet through the crack of the door.
I knew this was Bianca's doing.
But I went anyway.
Before I left, I threw the suitcase I'd brought with me into the sea, down to where the Don sent the things he wanted gone.
At the banquet, Bianca appeared in a haute couture gown. Every gesture radiated poise, as though she had been bred for this floor.
She used the name Donna Falcone.
Every made man in the room was speculating about her standing beside the Don. Murmurs drifted between the tables.
Guests came forward, lifting their glasses, praising what a perfect match the two of them made, an alliance written in the stars.
Lorenzo hurried over, busy working the room the way a Don must, and didn't notice me there.
Bianca, however, came up to me and led me outside the lounge. Her gaze swept over the bruises mottling my neck. She lifted her face into a smile.
"Adriana. Five years, and you're still nothing but garbage."
"Well? How did it feel, getting dragged in there? You couldn't protect the Vitale family back then, and now you can't protect your child either. You're a joke."
"You still don't know, do you? Those men weren't an accident. Your beloved husband arranged the whole thing. While you were being stripped bare, he stood right there and watched. I feel sorry for you, I really do."
