Chapter 2

The night wound down. Back home, I sat on the sofa flipping through an old magazine when the doorbell rang.

Matthew answered it. Through the gap behind his shoulder, I saw Ruth.

She stood at the doorstep, her hair tousled by the night wind, eyes rimmed red. Matthew blocked the frame, his voice low. "I told you, don't come to me."

"Don..." Ruth's voice cracked, raspy with tears. "I missed you."

Matthew paused for two seconds.

Then he turned and glanced toward the living room. His gaze landed on me, his tone even. "Sarah, Ruth and I need to discuss some business. We'll be in the study."

Ruth followed three steps behind him, her heels making no sound on the carpet.

The study door wasn't fully shut.

I heard Ruth's voice, low and wet. "Don... not enough..."

Matthew's voice came from inside, low and slow. "I'll give you what you need."

Then the study door clicked shut.

I turned a page of the magazine. My fingers pinched the edge of the paper, my nails going white.

I hadn't expected them to be this brazen. Right in front of me.

A long while later, the study door opened. Ruth walked out, her hair loose, the side zipper on her dress pulled halfway down. She passed through the living room without looking at me, headed straight for the entrance, and left.

I turned another page.

Matthew came out with a glass of whiskey in his hand. He sat beside me, arm draping over the back of the sofa, all casual ease. The ice in the crystal glass clinked softly against the rim.

"Since when do you read finance magazines?" He tilted his head, looking at me.

"Just clearing my head," I said.

He glanced down at the magazine in my hand—it was upside down. But he didn't say anything. Just reached over, took it from me, and tossed it onto the coffee table.

"Sarah, Ruth and I were talking business. There's a shipment of arms. She thought my price was too high, kept pushing for weeks. I didn't budge. We couldn't close the deal, so she left."

I turned my head and smiled at him. "I know."

His gaze lingered on my face for a moment.

Once he confirmed nothing was off, his scarred hand slid to my waist. He pressed a light kiss to my temple.

"I will never betray you," he said, voice low, with that familiar tone of absolute control. "Sarah, you're the future Donna of the Gambino family. That kind of thing will never happen."

I leaned into his arms and looked up at him. "But what if? What if one day—"

"There is no 'what if.'" He cut me off, his voice cooling, like the flash of steel right before a blade sheathes. "I, Matthew Gambino, swear on the blood and fire of this family—you are my only Donna. If I ever betray you, let me lose you forever."

His thumb traced circles on my waist as he said it. Intimate. Like he was soothing a restless cat.

I smiled. "Of course. Just thinking out loud."

He watched me for two beats, then rubbed his jaw against my cheek. Stubble scraped across my skin. A slight sting.

"Get some rest." He pulled back, brushed his thumb across my lower lip, then leaned in for a kiss. Brief. The bitter bite of whiskey mixed with the sweet, cloying tail of another woman's perfume.

I went upstairs and lay down.

From the study next door came the rustle of papers and the murmur of phone calls. I counted the sounds in the dark. Until two in the morning, when his voice slipped through the crack in the door, barely above a whisper:

"Pick me up at three tomorrow afternoon. Tell Ruth she's coming too."

I closed my eyes. The tears wouldn't stop.

Matthew. Since you betrayed me, I'll give you exactly what you wished for. I'll leave you forever.

My fingers traced the band of my engagement ring. The inside was engraved with our initials.

Seven days from now, I'd leave that behind too.