All Chapters of The Last Bell at St. Patrick's: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

I snapped back to reality and found several family elders in the front rows watching me with complicated expressions."Viola."Old Anthony, a man of considerable standing in the family, tapped his cane against the floor."What Damian did today wasn't decent. But as the future Don's wife, and the family's bookkeeper, you have to withstand this kind of test. Bella's father did the Caruso family a great service. Damian can't just ignore her."He paused, then added:"You've always been the reasonable one. Don't throw a fit."I nodded. "You're right, Uncle Anthony. I won't make a scene."With that, I slipped off Damian's trench coat and handed it to the bodyguard beside me.Lifting the heavy train of my gown, I walked down from the altar, step by step.No outburst. No dramatics. In the side hall, I changed out of the wedding dress and back into my usual black tailored suit.I handled the aftermath of that absurd wedding with grace, smiling as I saw off every guest who'd come to watch the sh

Chapter 2

The next morning, I was in the estate's study as usual, going over the Caruso family's accounts from last quarter.The door pushed open. Damian's right-hand man, Locke, walked in, carefully carrying a dark green velvet box."Donna, this is a gift from the Don. He said yesterday's wedding put you through too much."I didn't look up. My pen kept moving steadily across the ledger. "Leave it."I knew what was in the box.An antique brooch engraved with the Caruso family crest, the thornbird. The symbol of the Don's wife through every generation.Damian had promised me he'd pin it on me himself the day after our wedding.I set down my pen and was about to open the box when my phone lit up.A message from Bella. A selfie.In the photo, she was wearing a men's shirt I recognized instantly. Her face was pale, but pinned right there on her collar was the thornbird brooch. The Caruso Donna's brooch.[Viola, Damian said wearing the family crest makes her feel safe. You're already the recognized f

Chapter 3

That afternoon, I drove out to Safehouse Seven.I'd never imagined Damian would let anyone else stay there. So I'd left some personal things inside. Including the one thing my mother had left me before she died. A hand-painted antique porcelain music box.I found the old chat log from the time Damian ditched me to spend Bella's birthday with her. I used that date, entered Bella's birthday, and the lock clicked open.Bella was curled up on the couch watching TV.And she was wearing the matching set Damian had custom-made for me last year when we went skiing in Switzerland."Viola, what are you doing here?"Bella stood up, her fingers twisting nervously at the hem of her shirt.I looked at her coldly. "Take it off."Bella flinched. Her eyes went red instantly."Viola, I was just cold. This was sitting in the closet. Nobody was wearing it. I thought…""Take it off!"I stepped forward, cutting off her soft little excuse."Viola! What are you doing?!"Rapid footsteps behind me. Damian had s

Chapter 4

"Viola! So you're throwing a tantrum at me now. Don't come crying back to apologize in a couple days!"Behind me, Damian's roar, barely containing his fury.He sounded so certain. Certain that seven years together was the soft spot I couldn't cut loose. Certain that I'd do what I'd always done. Swallow every grievance in silence and come back to clean up his mess.This time, he was wrong.Back at the Caruso estate, it took me all of half an hour to pack a few clothes and my personal documents into a small suitcase.On the study desk sat the thick family ledger.I slid the black-gold pinky ring off my right hand, the one that marked me as the family's bookkeeper, and set it down next to the ledger.That done, I picked up my suitcase and walked out of the estate I'd lived in for seven whole years.New York winter nights cut straight to the bone.The cold wind hit my face. I stood outside the wrought-iron gates, my breath curling white in the air.Just then, a black sedan I didn't recogni

Chapter 5

It was an execution order, signed by the Caruso family's former Don.It clearly recorded that Bella's father had sold out the Caruso family's arms shipment routes.The old Don had issued the order and personally executed the man who betrayed the family.Bella's father had never died saving Damian.For seven years, Damian had used that lie to force me to yield to that traitor's daughter, again and again."You see it now?"Lucien sat in the car, toying with a silver lighter."That's the reason he made you swallow everything for seven years. A complete and utter lie."I folded the paper and tucked it into my coat pocket.Seven years of grievance and compromise collapsed into an absurd joke in that one moment."How did the Gambino family get this document?"I turned to look at Lucien."There are divisions inside the Caruso family."Lucien leaned back against the seat."Some people aren't happy that Damian broke the rules for a woman. They need an opening to knock the young Don down a peg.

Chapter 6

In the morning, the Gambino family's car was waiting downstairs at the hotel, right on time.Lucien kept his word.In the top-floor office of the Manhattan headquarters, he slid a letter of appointment bearing the family crest across the desk."Viola, as of today, you're the Gambino family's senior financial advisor. Your clearance matches what you had at the Caruso family."He leaned back in his leather chair, laying out the hard truth up front."The Gambino family doesn't do old loyalties. The Caruso family will come at you. You'd better prove you deserve this seat.""I handle the books and the money flow. Outside trouble is the Gambino security department's job."I signed my name and slid the document back."Within three months, I'll double the profits from the South Side port. That's my proof."My first day on the new books, I didn't have time to look up.The Gambino family's holdings were far more tangled than the Caruso family's.I rebuilt their funding channels for the past thre

Chapter 7

Three weeks into joining the Gambino family, a serious accounting hole turned up in the South Side underground bank.I worked three straight days of overtime with my team. The cross-district finance meeting ran until ten at night.We traced every fund flow and pinned down the insider taking kickbacks.By the time it was handled, I was running on empty.At 10:07, my personal phone lit up.A message from Damian. [Your stomach's bad. Don't work late on an empty stomach.]I glanced at the screen.For the past seven years, this was the hour I waited for, no matter what. I'd cancel every social engagement just to wait for his call.If I had to work late, I'd make a point of telling him. Just to get one line of concern back.Now, reading the words on the screen, all I felt was exhaustion.I flipped the phone face down on the desk and didn't reply.After the meeting, I packed up my files and headed for the elevator.When I reached the ground floor lobby, the front desk security chief stopped m

Chapter 8

On a weekend afternoon, I drove out to an old warehouse in Brooklyn to pick up my last personal belongings.The warehouse manager helped me haul two heavy cardboard boxes out to the curb.I'd just pulled out my phone to call a moving van when a familiar SUV slid up in front of me.The door opened and Damian got out.Without a word, he picked up the boxes from the ground and loaded them straight into the SUV's trunk."Put those down. I called a car."I stepped forward to stop him."Let me drive you. One last time."His voice was hoarse, with deep shadows under his eyes. He clearly hadn't slept properly in days.I looked at his back and stopped arguing. I opened the passenger door and got in.This was the last time we'd cross paths. I didn't want a pointless scene on the street.Damian started the car.The air in the cabin was suffocating. Softly, an old Italian song drifted from the speakers.It was my favorite song seven years ago.I used to play it every night in my apartment. He alwa

Chapter 9

At the end of the year, the New York underworld held its annual gala at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan.The core members of all five families gathered in one room.It was a summit for carving up territory.As the Gambino family's senior advisor, I was seated at Lucien's side, as a matter of course.Halfway through the dinner, the ballroom doors suddenly swung open.Damian walked in. Behind him was Bella, the woman who was supposed to have been sent to Hawaii.Bella wore a thin gown and clutched a wooden box to her chest.She'd lost a lot of weight. Her eyes were red-rimmed.The two of them walked straight toward our table.Around us, elders and heads of the other families stopped talking. Every eye turned.Everyone was waiting for the Caruso family's internal joke to play out."Viola…"Bella stopped in front of me, her voice shaking."I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come back to New York. Damian's been locked in his room drinking for half a month. I couldn't stand watching it anymore."S

Chapter 10

Half a year later, I'd firmly established myself in the Gambino family.I'd doubled the South Side's profits and taken over the family's core accounting network.Lucien handed more and more of the business over to me.I bought a spacious apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side.One early summer afternoon, I was sitting on my terrace with a cup of coffee.My assistant brought me an international package.Three months earlier, after driving Bella out, Damian had voluntarily stepped down from the Don's seat and handed the family's mess to old Anthony.He'd taken a few trusted men to Sicily, Italy, and hadn't come back to New York since.I tore the seal off the package. Inside was an old tin box.I opened it. On top was a yellowed photograph.Seven years ago, me and Damian on a train platform.In the photo, Damian had his arm around me, doting. I was smiling. Both of us had nothing but tenderness for each other in our eyes.I flipped the photo over. A line was written on the back.The han

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