Chapter 4

I didn't say anything else. I took a seal out of the inside pocket of my coat.

It was the only key to the Vescari family's 12 secret vaults.

I set it in the middle of the long table.

Antonio reached for it, but my hand came down on the seal before his.

I met his startled gaze. When I spoke, my voice was cold.

"I'll give you the seal.

"But first, we're settling the debt from that back-alley clinic in Sicily. Today."

Antonio stared for a moment, then frowned.

"Cecilia, don't make a scene here. Whatever you want, we'll talk it over tonight at home.

"I can make it up to you. I can drop everything and take you back to Sicily for a while. But not in front of all these people. Don't make a pointless gesture."

A short, bitter laugh escaped me as I looked at him.

Even now, he still thought I was just jealous, trying to make him back down and sweet-talk me.

He had even figured out how to let me save face.

All I had to do was say yes, and I'd go back to being the sensible, dignified Cecilia who would never leave.

But not this time.

I ignored him and took a yellowed slip of paper out of an inside pocket.

A few words in Sicilian were written across it in tiny script.

"Cross pendant necklace. Received: $20."

I set the receipt down next to the seal.

"Antonio, 20 years ago in Sicily, a rival family was hunting you down. You were lying in the mud with a bullet in your gut and your insides spilling out.

"The back-alley doctor saw you were about to die. He didn't want trouble, so he wouldn't even open the door.

"I ran three blocks to a pawnshop and pawned the only thing my birth mother ever left me, a necklace. I got $20 for it. Then I knelt in the rain and begged that doctor until he agreed to sew you up.

"Antonio, I bought your life back then for $20."

The council room went dead silent.

Antonio froze. Then something seemed to click, and his expression softened.

"You want me to find that necklace for you. Is that it?

"I've had people looking for it for years. Just give me a little more time. I'll bring it back to you, I swear.

"Cecilia, don't scare me like this."

He reached out to hold me, but I stepped back.

"I don't want the necklace.

"I just want my $20 back."

Antonio's hand stopped in midair.

"And once it's paid back?"

"Then we're even."

Antonio's face went cold.

"I won't agree to that! $20, twenty million dollars, whatever you want, I'll give it to you. But what do you mean, even? You're my wife, and you will be for the rest of your life."

I looked at him calmly.

"You just chose someone else."

"I didn't choose anyone else!"

Antonio stepped forward and grabbed my wrist.

"I'm only keeping Lillian around because of the children, because of our future. I asked you to give up the seal because I don't want you dragged into any more family fights.

"I haven't touched your room, your belongings, or your place in the family."

Sure. He hadn't touched any of it. But all of it was different now.

I pried his fingers off one by one.

"Antonio, all I want is $20."

Antonio stared at me for a long time, then pulled every bill from his wallet and slapped the cash down on the table.

"That's $3,000. Take it, Cecilia, and go get some rest. Tomorrow I'll take you back to Sicily."

Antonio wearily pinched the bridge of his nose. Lillian nestled against his side with a triumphant little smile.

I simply bent down, picked a $20 bill out of the cash scattered across the floor, and put it in my bag.

Then I looked up and took one long, final look at the man I'd loved for 20 years, the man I'd risked my life to save more times than I could count.

I asked him one last question. "Antonio, do you remember what I said when we got married?"

He hesitated. Clearly, he didn't.

I gave him a small smile and said softly, "I said that if you ever chose someone else, I'd never look back."

With that, I turned to walk out of the council room, but Antonio grabbed my wrist.

"What are you saying..."

Before he could press me, Lillian suddenly clutched her stomach and called out to him, her face pale.

"Don, my stomach hurts..."

Antonio turned to look at her.

In that instant of hesitation, I pulled my hand free.

Without another glance at anyone, I walked to the doors.

Antonio didn't come after me.

All I heard was his cold voice behind the door, giving orders to Bruno, the butler.

"Don't go after her.

"Light the fire in the house on the hill behind the estate, and have the kitchen make the tiramisu the Donna likes.

"Once she's back, nobody brings up today again."

I laughed at myself. Even now, he was sure I'd come back.

But it never crossed his mind that this time, I really was done with him.

The doors slowly swung shut behind me.

I walked down the steps. The cold early-fall wind cut through my coat, and I couldn't help shivering.

It was dark, and there was no one outside the estate.

I didn't go back toward the house. I kept walking, straight out.

I had no idea how long I'd been walking. I was cold all over by the time a cab finally came along.

I flagged it down, and the driver rolled down the window.

"Where to?"

I got into the back seat and spoke quietly.

"JFK, please."