Adrian told me he'd be out of town on business for the Family.
"Just a couple of days," he'd said, kissing my forehead like the doting husband he pretended to be. "I'll miss you."
I smiled and waved him off, pretending to care. The moment his black sedan disappeared past the gate and the last soldier in the escort pulled away, I got to work.
I'd spent the last few days observing his routines, watching where he kept his most guarded possessions. It didn't take long to find the safe hidden behind a painting in his office. The room still smelled faintly of his cologne and the cigars he shared with visiting capos on Sunday evenings.
The code? That was easy. Viviana Vitale's birthday.
The lock clicked open on my first try.
Inside, everything I needed was neatly organized.
There were documents from the clinic. Agreements signed for organ donation, records of the surgery, and proof that he'd authorized the transfer of my mother's organ to Viviana's sister. The surgeon's name was there too, a compromised doctor the Romano Outfit kept on retainer.
Tears stung my eyes, but I forced them back.
Beside the medical records were a series of financial transactions. Payments made to my ex-fiancé, Nico Carbone. For business, the receipts claimed. But I knew better now.
My hands trembled as I sifted through them. Jewelry, designer clothes, vacations. He'd disguised them as gifts for associates, but every single one had been for Viviana.
I found another pile of receipts. These were for me. The necklaces, the rings, the dresses. For years, I had thought they were lavish, extravagant even. But compared to Viviana's gifts, they were nothing.
The realization hit me like a punch to the gut. He had never loved me. I had been nothing more than a placeholder. A convenient wife to shield his obsession with Viviana.
I sat down on the floor, surrounded by his lies. For a moment, I felt the tears spill over, hot and bitter.
But then I clenched my fists.
I wasn't going to cry. Not anymore.
I pressed my thumbnail into the inside of my wedding band until the skin paled. Then I let go.
I took out my phone and began photographing everything. The clinic agreements, the financial transactions, the receipts. All of it. I captured every detail.
At the bottom of the safe, I found a folder labeled "Future Assets." Inside were investment plans, property deeds under shell companies, and insurance policies routed through the Family's legitimate fronts. I made copies of those too.
When I was done, I closed the safe, leaving everything exactly as it had been.
I walked out of the estate without looking back.
The lawyer's office was my next stop. Not a Family lawyer. A civilian attorney in a building three neighborhoods away from any territory the Romanos claimed.
"Mrs. Romano," he said, startled when I walked in unannounced. "I wasn't expecting you."
"I need a divorce agreement," I said calmly.
His eyes widened. "Does Mr. Romano—"
"No," I interrupted. "He doesn't know. And I'd like to keep it that way for now."
He hesitated. I could see him calculating the risk of crossing a capo's wife without the capo's knowledge. But then he nodded. "We already have a template prepared. All I need is your signature."
He handed me the papers, and I skimmed through them. Everything was in order.
I signed my name at the bottom with a steady hand.
"Send it to him after I'm gone," I instructed. "No earlier."
"Gone?" he asked, confused.
But I didn't explain. I left the office and headed to my next destination.
The building was tucked away in an alley off the waterfront, its sign faded and barely legible. A barbershop front with nothing behind the chair but a locked door.
This was the place.
A fixer's network specializing in making people vanish. The kind of operation that existed in the cracks between rival Families, serving anyone who could pay and keep their mouth shut.
I pushed open the door, and the smell of cigarettes and damp paper filled the air. A man behind the counter looked up, his face shadowed under a hood.
"You lost?" he asked.
"No," I said firmly. "I need your services."
His eyes narrowed. "What kind of services?"
"I want to disappear," I said. "Completely."
He leaned back, studying me. "You know what you're asking for?"
"Yes."
He smirked. "And what makes you think I can help you?"
I reached into my bag and pulled out a stack of cash. The bills were crisp, untraceable.
His smirk widened. "Now we're talking."
He motioned for me to follow him to a back room. The walls were lined with monitors, and the hum of machinery filled the space. A police scanner crackled low in the corner.
"Here's how it works," he began. "We'll fake your death. A car wreck, drowning, whatever you want. Once it's done, you'll get new papers, a new life. Ghost identity. No one will ever find you."
I nodded, my resolve unshaken.
"I want it to look like a suicide," I said. "Something believable. No loose ends."
He handed me a clipboard. "Fill this out. We'll handle the rest."
