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Author: Felix Dan
My soul drifted upward.

It floated out of the safe room and past the greenhouse in the back garden.

My father had built it for me himself the year he brought me home, when I was ten.

He'd found me in a Brooklyn orphanage, held me and cried all night, and promised to make up for the ten years he'd missed.

My oldest brother, Marco, had built the swing by the door.

And Nico, my second-oldest brother, had planted every one of the lemon trees under the window himself.

The lemons were still hanging on the branches.

But I was dead.

I drifted all the way to Manhattan, to a penthouse that took up an entire floor on Fifth Avenue.

It belonged to Bianca Conti, the girl my family had adopted and raised.

When my father built me a greenhouse, Bianca cried, so he bought her this place.

When Marco brought me back a dress, he turned around and hired an entire design team from Milan for Bianca.

For everything they gave me, Bianca had to get ten times as much.

Because her father had died taking a bullet for mine.

"The Valenti family owes Bianca a life."

For more than ten years, those words had weighed on me.

In the living room, Bianca lay curled up on the sofa, laughing.

"Dad, you guys are all playing along with me. Millie won't be mad when she finds out tomorrow, will she?"

My father raised his glass.

"Millie's not the petty type.

"She's Luca's wife now. She has everything this family can give her. So what if she plays along with one little game for you?"

Marco laughed too.

"You're the one we raised, Bianca. If Millie gives you any grief, I'll set her straight."

Bianca smiled and winked at Nico.

"Good thing Nico told us. Otherwise, Millie really might have run off to Milan."

My eyes snapped to Nico.

Two weeks ago, I'd gone to him and told him I wanted a divorce.

He'd hesitated for a long time before taking my hand.

"I'll help you. After Thanksgiving, I'll get you out of here."

For the first time since I'd returned to this family, I felt like one of the men was on my side.

Nico wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. He took a long swallow of whiskey, his voice low when he spoke.

"I did it for Millie's own good. How would she survive without the Valenti family? One good scare will show her how much she needs the men in this family. Then she'll settle down."

Bianca held a hand out to Luca.

"Luca, what about the live rounds you took out of Millie's gun last night? Can I play with them? Pretty please?"

Luca gave her an indulgent look, took the live rounds from his inside jacket pocket, and set them in her palm.

"Careful. Don't hurt your hand."

I froze in midair.

"You spoil me more than anyone!" Bianca said with a laugh.

Marco frowned.

"You swapped all the rounds in her gun for blanks. What if something happens?"

"What's going to happen tonight?"

Luca took Bianca's gun and loaded the bullets into the magazine one by one.

"Millie's a good shot, and she's got a temper. If she shot one of our own, she'd feel terrible."

He handed the gun back.

"But you live alone here. I'll feel better if you have live rounds for protection."

I hovered in front of Luca, staring at that gun as pain tore through my soul.

No wonder none of them had gone down, no matter how many times I fired.

Bianca toyed with the gun, her tone light and careless.

"You'd really give me these, Luca? I thought you loved Millie most."

"Of course I love Millie."

Luca said it as if that settled everything.

"I'll order her a better gun some other day."

Everyone nodded.

Bianca's eyes lit up. She leaned close to Luca's ear, her voice sweet.

"What should we do next Thanksgiving?

"Why don't you pretend you're going to marry me and see whether Millie gets jealous?"

Luca's face darkened at once.

"No way. If Millie took that seriously, I'd be a dead man."

"Then just marry her all over again. Problem solved."

My father slapped the table, laughing. "Now that's a great idea!"

Marco and Nico joined in, egging him on.

Luca finally gave in and nodded.

"Fine. But you all have to keep an eye on her. Don't let her actually leave."

They all burst out laughing.

I drifted to Luca's side and reached out to touch his face.

My fingers passed right through him.

Luca.

I won't be here next year.
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  • My Family Killed Me for Their Adopted Daughter   5

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