Farewell in the Crossfire

The moment the plane touched down, I buried my face in my hands and let the tears come.

I had barely stepped into the elevator at Salvato Holdings when I heard someone inside on a phone call, her voice dripping with flirtation.

"And who took my black stockings? I didn't even bring a spare pair today."

Every drop of blood in my body went cold. It was Valeria Caine.

She had not noticed me. She was still cooing into the receiver. "Have you saved up enough energy for me today?"

I stood frozen in place, staring at my own reflection in the stainless steel wall of the elevator. My face was caked with grime, my lips were cracked and peeling, and my hair was a tangled mess pinned at the back of my head. No wonder she had not recognized me. I could barely recognize myself.

A few seconds later, Damiano Salvato's voice filtered through on the other end. "With you? Obviously not enough."

Valeria let out a satisfied little hum. "If Valentina heard you say that, she'd probably flip a table again."

"Let her. It wouldn't be the first time."

The air conditioning in the elevator seemed to be working overtime, and the cold seeped so deep into my bones that they ached.

Valeria dropped her voice even lower, every syllable curling with suggestion. "Big talk. Aren't you afraid I'll scream loud enough for the whole building to hear? Let everyone in the family know the Don of the Salvato family is sneaking around with me again?"

On the other end, he laughed, careless and unbothered. "Go ahead. I'll use it as an excuse to come clean to Valentina."

The elevator doors slid open with a chime.

Damiano stepped inside in a single stride, wrapped one arm around Valeria, and kissed her before she could say another word. He moved with an urgency that made it seem as though they had been apart for a lifetime. Valeria half-heartedly pushed him away, and he only pulled her closer and kissed her deeper.

She buried her face against his chest and mumbled, "Not here... it'll look bad if someone sees."

Only then did Damiano lift his gaze.

I spun around, my eyes already stinging with tears.

"So what if they see?" His voice carried from behind me, each word cutting straight through my chest. "I'm kissing my own woman. What's there to hide?"

Valeria nestled into his arms, her laughter ringing sharp and clear through the confined space.

Damiano let out a sigh. "If I didn't have to rush back and sign that contract, I wouldn't want to leave you on your own."

His voice dropped. "But now that I've shown my face here, Valentina's bound to catch wind of it by tomorrow."

Valeria rose on her tiptoes and pressed her lips close to his ear. "Then let me make it up to you tonight. We can do whatever you want."

The elevator carried us to the top floor. I watched them disappear into his office, and the door shut behind them. Soft moans seeped through at intervals. I stood in the hallway only a few steps away, and my stomach turned.

The first time Damiano and I slept together was in that very office. He had still been a young Don who had only just taken power, and the room had been cramped and run-down.

"Tina." He had called me by my nickname, his voice still hoarse and heavy. "Once I've built my empire, I'll give you the best of everything."

Afterward, he had run his hands along my back to keep me warm. I had leaned against his shoulder and told him that when he made it, I wanted him to have the biggest office in the building. He had nodded and promised I could design it myself.

He did become the most powerful Don in Havenport. Every piece of that office was something I had chosen. I married him the way I had always dreamed, and countless women in Havenport envied me for it.

That was until the day I pushed open that office door and found him in bed with Valeria, the mole a rival family had planted, and the one person he should have dealt with himself.

I had demanded a divorce on the spot. The day before we were set to finalize it, he jumped from the third floor of the family building and was rushed to the ICU. When he woke, he begged me from his hospital bed to give him one last chance. I could not bear to watch him destroy himself like that, so I agreed.

The day he was discharged, he stood before every Capo in the family, pressed a bullet into his palm, and swore a blood oath on the family's honor. If he ever strayed again, his life would be mine to do with as I pleased.

Yet now he was back to sleeping with Valeria.