The Queen They Buried Alive

After the service, they found me.

Sofia got to me first. She reached out and grabbed my hand.

"Luna, you know how much the Don loved me."

"He always said I was like a daughter to him. So it's not that I was trying to take your spot. The family needed me to be beside him."

Then Vito: "The Conti family has had people outside the church since this morning."

"If your name gets out, you'll have a target on your back before tonight."

"We have to keep things quiet. You know how it is."

Yeah. I knew how it was. I'd known for five years.

I thought about these past five years. I treated the old Don like my own father. He'd had a stroke. Couldn't move. I took care of him like it was my job and my purpose all at once.

Every week I drove out to the family estate on the Hudson to sit with him, talk to him, keep him from going out of his mind with the quiet.

For most of the past year, to take some of the load off Vito, I ran the family's intel during the day and looked after the old man at night.

And now I couldn't even get a seat.

Vito left and came back ten minutes later with a white paper bag.

"From the bakery on the corner by the estate. Your favorite."

The edge of the bag was open just enough for me to see what was inside. Pistachio cannoli.

I'm allergic to pistachios.

Vito has seen me push them to the side of my plate at family dinners so many times I've lost count.

I folded the bag shut and set it on the table.

"How far do I have to go, Vito."

That wasn't a question.

"You won't let anyone know I exist. Sofia is standing where I should be. And now what? You want me to smile and say thanks?"

His jaw locked. "Don't bring Sofia into this. She's a friend. To both of us."

"I'm not bringing her into anything. She's already in it!"

"You're not thinking straight."

He fixed his jacket. "We'll talk when you cool off."

He didn't wait for me to answer. He shoved the bag into my arms and walked off.

The afternoon light through the stained glass hit my eyes so hard it hurt.

I pulled a cipher card from inside my coat and dialed the encrypted line my mother's old crew had left behind.

"I'm leaving New York. I'm going to take over what's left of my mother's network in the underground."