Escaping The Mafia Don's Golden Cage

of the Stark family, didn't hold my hand for comfort. He only adjusted his cuffs

pered into my hair. "Y

p to the sound of shatte

ling over the broken remains o

er-in-law said coldly.

leave, Eli looked a

n be replaced, Harp

I heard the impossible truth. Cody wasn't a

n the pool, Eli hadn't been at a business m

ad gifted me wasn't jewelry. I pried it open

soner in a

ecided

nished into the night, and paid a sha

y. I was happ

lack suit walked into my small-town cafe

e growled.

pte

per

feel was the suffocating weight of the diamond necklace my husband had forced around my

ng through my black dress and

zing water felt like nothing against the

your heart. They are wrong. It do

rgan used to beat, echoing with the phantom s

cemetery path. They moved like pred

epped out first, snapping a black umbrella open

Don of the Sta

rinkle in sight, tailored to fit the broad shoulders that carried the weight of a crimina

off him. Eli didn't care that the water was drenching me. He

ble that used to make my toes curl. Now, it

s arms. It wasn't a

ing me from the cameras lurking at the perim

to my hair. "You've been out here

was a doll. I was a ghost. I w

humb rubbing over my knuckles in a rhythm that felt less like comfort

y like spears. The mansion loomed ahead, a fortress of grey

lled of expensive lilies. I hate

g to go upstairs, to go to the nursery

rpe

-backed velvet chair. She held a cup of tea like a scepter.

an rug. We have guests coming to pay respects. Try t

was in the ground. She w

voice was raspy from days of screaming

d at me. Her eyes were

ation to uphold. Grief is natural,

s way out, but I swallowed it down. That was the rule here

e her alo

fit too tight. She was the daughter of one of Eli's capos. She was als

ympathetic pout that didn't reach her eyes. She pla

that if you had just been watching him a

every second, the guilt that ate me alive, was now being wea

rm away. "Don

ers about a shipment in the docks. He hung up and looked at the

efend me. He just walked over to me and p

he said, o

acelet. It was delicat

he said, clasping it around my wrist.

lver band. It felt

" I said au

ehead. "Go rest.

there, touching the cold metal on my wrist. I didn't

ice rink. I stared at the ceiling. Every time I closed

eeded to know exactly what happened that day. Wh

y fingers brushing against the to

ide me. He didn

rper," he comman

red, my voice trembling.

final and absolute. "We do n

of muscle and indifference. I cl

skin, a constant, biting reminder that I was