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Chapter 8
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Farewell in the Crossfire Chapter 8
The door behind me swung open again. This time it was Mamma.She stood in the doorway, looked at me first, then at the hunched figure sitting at the bar. The next second, she walked over and slapped Damiano hard across the face.He did not move. Five red welts bloomed across his cheek.Mamma's hand was still shaking. "That was for Valentina."She held his gaze. "I used to think it didn't matter if a man made mistakes. If you loved him, you should just accept it."She drew in a long breath, her eyes turning red. "But I was wrong. My daughter risked her life going to Solverno for you, and the whole time you were sneaking around with another woman behind her back."The handful of customers in the bar had all turned to look. In the mirror behind the counter, I could see the red spreading across half of Damiano's face. Someone in the corner recognized him, surprise flickering through their expression.Mamma struck him again with the back of her hand, harder than the first time. "Knee
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Valeria took half a step back, her nails digging into her palms. "So you regret it?"Damiano, have you forgotten what you said? You told me I was the woman you loved most."Damiano pressed a trembling hand over his eyes. The room went quiet.Valeria watched him for a moment. Then she let out a laugh. It started small and grew louder and louder."Damiano Salvato, do you even have a heart? I've been your dirty little secret for four years!"He lowered his hand. "And Valentina has been by my side for nine."The smile froze on Valeria's face. "Nine years? So what? She won't even look at you anymore!"Damiano said nothing. He just stared at her. The silence made Valeria straighten instinctively."What's that supposed to mean?""Nothing." His voice was barely there. "I'm just trying to figure out how blind I've been for the last four years."Valeria's expression locked up completely. She grabbed her coat off the chair, yanked the door open, and left without looking back.The only
Farewell in the Crossfire Chapter 6
A few days later, I found work at a small bar. I mixed drinks in the evenings and helped stock shelves during the day. The pay was not much, but there was an attic room in the back alley that came with the job, its window tilted toward the lights on the far side of the river.When I pushed open the creaky wooden door, I stood in the doorway for a long time. The attic was small, the sloped ceiling pressing low, and the only thing that fit beside the bed was a lamp. The sheets were clean, the floor had been mopped, and someone had left a half-wilted pothos on the windowsill.I wheeled my suitcase inside, shut the door, and slid down against it until I was sitting on the floor. I drew in a long, slow breath.A few days later, Mamma called."Valentina, Damiano jumped into the river yesterday."I gripped my phone, my gaze drifting to the dark water in the distance."If someone hadn't been passing by and spotted him, he'd have sunk to the bottom. You really aren't going to come back an
Farewell in the Crossfire Chapter 5
When the plane landed in Lucerno, I turned on my phone. The screen was packed with missed video calls from Damiano.I thought of the divorce papers he still had not signed and pressed accept.The moment he saw me pick up, a flicker of relief passed through his eyes. "Cara, stop this. I never said any of that."On his side of the screen, Mamma was there too, urging me to come home. "The last time you brought up divorce, Damiano threw himself off that building and spent over ten days in the ICU. He values you more than his own life. How can you still not believe he loves you?"Valentina, you're about to become a mother. You can't keep acting like this."I turned those words over in my head and felt the cold settle through my entire body. Mamma believed Damiano loved me, so she kept pushing me to go back. She did not know that Damiano's love was something he could split between two women. She did not know how many times he had met with Valeria behind my back over the years.I looked
Farewell in the Crossfire Chapter 4
Damiano scoffed. "You don't get to decide that."The line went dead.I mustered what strength I had left to reach for my suitcase, but my hand had not even found the zipper before everything went black.When I opened my eyes again, eight or nine hours had passed, and the sheets beneath me were soaked through with a dark red stain. As my consciousness flickered in and out, someone was shouting near my ear."Stay with me! We're doing everything we can to save the baby!"I managed to whisper. "Maybe this was how it was always meant to be."The last thing I remembered before the darkness took me was the doctor saying the surgery was over. When I woke again, three days had passed. I had been gone for three full days, and Damiano had not called once.I went straight back to the Morvani estate. The moment I pushed open the door, I saw the living room table covered in cakes and flowers. Damiano was standing there, trimming the stems of white roses.I turned to leave.He caught up and
Farewell in the Crossfire Chapter 3
His question made my heart sink. In the mafia, memorizing phone numbers was a basic survival skill, and yet he did not even recognize mine."I'm looking for Valeria," I said after a pause."She's in the bathroom." His tone was flat, as though he were directing one of his men. He had not even recognized my voice.Through the receiver I heard a door open and Valeria calling out. "Babe, help me get dressed..."The sounds on the other end went still for a moment. Damiano's footsteps receded, then returned a few minutes later."Here.""I can't get my bra clasped... help me?" She was whining, clinging to every syllable."Behave. I still have to get back tonight.""Leaving already? Damiano, did I wear you out?"He let out a low laugh, his voice dropping. "Valeria, didn't you just find out for yourself?"Valeria laughed with delight, and then came a muffled thud from the other end, like a body being tossed onto a mattress.I stared at the disconnected call on my screen, tears stream
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