Chapter 2

By the time Luca came out of the family meeting, I'd already finished eating, cleaned up the kitchen, and was sitting in the living room watching a movie.

The fire in the fireplace crackled, and everything felt as if nothing had changed.

He turned to take a shower and discovered halfway through that there were no towels.

I heard him call from the bathroom, "Babe, where's my towel?"

Without turning my head, I said, "All packed in the boxes. Use mine for now. I'll wash it later."

The silence that followed was unmistakable.

The water stopped, started again, stopped again.

Luca finally came out, his hair still dripping, wearing a bathrobe.

He noticed the three suitcases by the door and paused mid-step, then sat down across from me and slid the divorce papers toward me with his fingertip.

"I can pay a million and a half in child support first, and the rest monthly—"

I cut him off. "No need. One lump sum. I doubt she wants anything left tying us together either."

Luca dried his hair and walked over to me, his tone serious.

"Matteo isn't just yours. I have the right to be part of his life. I know this is my fault, and I'm willing to make up for it, but there's no need to use the kid as a bargaining chip."

I hit pause and looked at him squarely.

"Luca, after we divorce, Matteo comes with me. He won't be a Vitale anymore. He'll go back to being a De Luca. I'm simply respecting your choice. Since you chose this path, there's no point fighting for these things now."

Luca was momentarily speechless.

He stared at me as if truly seeing for the first time which side I was sitting on, and after a moment he spoke.

"Regardless, I'm not paying two million to cut ties with my son."

I flipped open the divorce papers and glanced at them.

"Two million is compensation and child support. If you have extra emotional needs, you can deposit into Matteo's separate account. The De Lucas don't need your money, but the accounts need to be clear."

Luca suddenly laughed, a tired sort of understanding in it.

"Isabella, how did I never notice before what a textbook mafia daughter you are? The moment your own interests are at stake, you're clearer-headed than anyone."

"Yeah," I closed the agreement, "which is exactly why you could only marry me when I wasn't thinking straight."

Luca was speechless again.

The fire in the fireplace popped.

His face dark, he quickly signed the divorce papers.

He also arranged for us to go to court tomorrow to file the divorce. After that, he called for the driver.

I finished the movie, then went to bed.

By the time I got up the next morning, Luca was already gone.

Matteo ran out of his room, climbed onto the dining table, and couldn't wait to share the wonderful dream he'd had the night before.

I poured him some juice, listened to the whole thing, and gently mentioned that his father's family had been very busy lately and might be away for a while.

Matteo didn't even ask when Dad was coming back, didn't fuss about calling him.

"Oh," he said softly, pursing his little lips, poking at the fried egg on his plate with his fork. "It's okay. As long as Mom's here."

I couldn't hold it in anymore.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and I made an excuse to go to the kitchen to pull myself together.

Agreeing to divorce Luca made me sad, but what weighed on me more was the guilt toward Matteo, for not letting him grow up in a whole family.

But I knew the fault for this wasn't mine.

After dropping Matteo off at school, Luca and I went to the courthouse to file for divorce.

There was a thirty-day cooling-off period before it could be finalized.

Back in the car, I circled today's date on the calendar, marking it as the start of my thirty-day countdown.