All Chapters of Farewell, My Don: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

Inside the ballroom, a few women in gowns came over with their glasses raised."Sarah, Don Matthew treats you so well. I heard he went to three auctions in Milan just to get that ring.""And remember when you had that fever? He canceled a negotiation with the Colombo family on the spot and had his private doctor come stay with you all night.""He even transferred that penthouse on Fifth Avenue to you, didn't he? Closed on Valentine's Day. Talk about perfect timing."I forced a smile. If I hadn't heard what I'd heard, I would have believed I was the luckiest woman in the world.They chatted for a while and drifted off. I turned and walked back to the sofa.That was when Matthew came back.Ruth followed close behind, walking in with him.Now I could see clearly. His shirt was wrinkled, the collar pulled up just enough to cover the hickeys on his neck.But his men kept asking in Sicilian about his little escapade."Ha! So, Don? How was it with Ruth? Fucking intense, right? You're a madman

The next morning, Matthew packed his things and said to me:"Sarah, get ready. We're heading out this afternoon.""Where to?""Out of town. Need to check a shipment. Thought I'd take you along for some fresh air."His voice was soft, gentle. I said okay.That afternoon, Matthew came to pick me up. He was driving himself. The passenger seat was empty. I opened the door, sat down, and buckled up.Through the rearview mirror, I saw Ruth's car following behind us, two car lengths back."Who's that?" I asked."Ruth. She brokered the deal on that shipment. She needs to be there.""Mm."The car left the city and wound up the mountain road. The trees grew thicker on both sides. The air outside the window shifted from the city's haze to the damp cool of the woods. Matthew kept one hand on the wheel, the other reaching over to squeeze my fingers before pulling back.At a clearing halfway up the mountain, Matthew parked. He said he needed to go into the woods to inspect the goods and told me to l

Matthew's POVAfter Ruth's prenatal checkup, Matthew ran into Sarah's cousin, Barbara. She'd just flown in from London and hadn't told Sarah yet."Congratulations. Heard you two got engaged." Barbara smiled and handed him a glass. "My sister takes relationships seriously. Always has."Matthew nodded, returned a polite smile."But she's got one flaw." Barbara took a sip, casual. "She hates lies. Hates betrayal. Cross that line, and she'll walk out on you."Matthew's smile froze for a split second. He raised his glass and said nothing.Barbara seemed to remember something, set her glass down. "I've been meaning to ask—where are you from? Your accent sounds familiar."Matthew threw out the name of a small Sicilian town.Barbara's eyes lit up. She slapped the table. "No way! My sister and I grew up there."She pulled out her phone, scrolled to an old faded photo, and handed it over. Two little girls squatting in front of a stone house. The family crest on the gate in the background—Matthew

Matthew's POVAfter taking care of Ruth, Matthew mobilized every resource the Gambino family had to find Sarah. FBI informants. The entire East Coast intelligence network. Federal government contacts. All of it.But nothing turned up.No exit records. No bank statements. Every credit card in her name sat dormant. Her social media accounts hadn't been updated since the engagement night. It was like she'd been wiped from a higher-dimensional system—clean, no trace, no residue."Impossible." Matthew sat in his study, stacks of useless reports spread before him. The bandage was still wrapped around his hand—the cuts from the shattered glass had barely scabbed over. "A living person can't just vanish into thin air."He'd been in that room for two days. Empty coffee cups piled on the desk, refilled and gone cold, not a single sip taken. Outside the window, New York's sky had turned gray three times and black three times. He hadn't drawn the curtains. He hadn't turned on a light.He pressed h