MY PARENTS HAD BEEN MARRIED FOR FIFTY YEARS. TONIGHT, THEY CAME TO THE MAFIA BOSS’S RESTAURANT TO CELEBRATE THEIR GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY—BUT HIS FIANCÉE TOLD ME TO SEND THEM AWAY BECAUSE “PEOPLE LIKE THAT DON’T BELONG AT MY ENGAGEMENT DINNER.” THEN MY FATHER ASKED WHETHER HE COULD HAVE JUST ONE DANCE WITH HIS WIFE, AND LUCA SLOWLY PUT DOWN HIS GLASS.
Chapter 2 – The Promise Beside the Fireplace
“Then answer me one thing, Vanessa.”
Luca’s voice was quiet, but every conversation around the table had stopped.
“If I forget your name twenty years fr…
THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME KNEEL BESIDE HIS 78-YEAR-OLD MOTHER, TRYING TO PULL A PAIR OF TIGHT WHITE SATIN GLOVES OFF HER SWOLLEN HANDS—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SAID, “SHE ASKED TO WEAR THEM. SHE’S EMBARRASSED BY HOW OLD HER HANDS LOOK,” BEFORE LUCA EVEN ASKED WHY HIS MOTHER WAS CRYING.
Chapter 2 – THE RECEIPT IN HER PURSE
“How much of my mother’s life have you already handed over to be melted down?”
Luca’s voice was so quiet that I could hear Teresa struggling to breathe beside me…
I GRABBED THE MAFIA BOSS’S WHISKEY GLASS JUST BEFORE IT TOUCHED HIS LIPS AND WHISPERED, “PLEASE DON’T DRINK THAT”—BUT WHEN MY FIANCÉ WALKED INTO THE ROOM, I REALIZED I’D JUST MADE MYSELF HIS NEXT TARGET.
Chapter 2 – THE COAT THEY CAME TO STEAL
“Your father was murdered in that house?”
I stared at Matteo Ricci, waiting for him to tell me I’d misunderstood.
He didn’t.
For the first time since I’d gr…
I’D BEEN RAISING MY SISTER’S DAUGHTER FOR SEVEN YEARS. TONIGHT, THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE TOLD THIRTY DINNER GUESTS I WAS “JUST THE AUNT WHO TOOK HER IN”—THEN INTRODUCED THE WOMAN WHO’D LEFT HER BEHIND. BUT WHEN MY 12-YEAR-OLD NIECE GRABBED MY APRON AND WHISPERED, “MOM, PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME GO WITH HER,” LUCA SLOWLY PUT DOWN HIS GLASS.
Chapter 2 – The Promise I Couldn’t Make
“What happens if I start loving her and she leaves me again?”
Maisie’s question nearly brought me to my knees.
My sister Lauren sat across the dining table, …
I PUSHED MY 79-YEAR-OLD MOTHER’S WHEELCHAIR INTO A MAFIA BOSS’S PRIVATE DINNER AND WHISPERED, “PLEASE TELL THEM SHE’S WITH YOU”—BECAUSE THE MAN CHASING US HAD JUST ANNOUNCED MY MOTHER WAS DEAD.
Chapter 2 – THE CHILD HE NEVER STOPPED SEARCHING FOR
“The child was my father’s daughter.”
Dominic Caruso said those words so quietly that I almost didn’t hear them.
I stood beside my mother’s whee…
THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE ORDERED ME TO SEND HIS 69-YEAR-OLD FATHER AWAY BEFORE THEIR ENGAGEMENT DINNER—BUT WHEN I WALKED THE OLD MAN INTO THE DINING ROOM WITH A BATTERED SUITCASE, LUCA MORETTI RUSHED TOWARD HIM AND ASKED, “DAD, WHO TOLD YOU TO PACK YOUR THINGS?”
Chapter 2 – THE FRIEND WHO BOUGHT HIS FATHER
“Matteo, I asked you a question.”
Luca Moretti stood at the head of the dining table, one hand resting on his father’s battered suitcase.
Across from hi…
THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE TOLD ME TO REMOVE HIS 10-YEAR-OLD SON’S PLACE SETTING FROM THEIR ENGAGEMENT DINNER—BUT WHEN THE BOY WALKED IN CARRYING HIS DEAD MOTHER’S BLUE PANCAKE PLATE, LUCA MORETTI DROPPED TO HIS KNEES AND ASKED, “SON, WHO TOLD YOU I DIDN’T WANT YOU HERE?”
Chapter 2 – THE SIGNATURE THAT STOLE HIS HOME
“I didn’t sign this.”
Luca Moretti’s voice was so quiet that I almost didn’t hear him.
But Vanessa did.
Her fingers tightened around the back of her c…
I RAN INTO A MAFIA BOSS’S PRIVATE DINNER AND THREW MY ARMS AROUND HIS NECK—THEN WHISPERED, “PLEASE PRETEND YOU KNOW ME.” BUT WHEN MY HUSBAND WALKED IN HOLDING OUR 9-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER’S HAND, THE LITTLE GIRL SAID SOMETHING THAT MADE HIM GO COMPLETELY STILL.
Chapter 2 – THE WOMAN AT DANTE’S TABLE
“Marian Keene.”
Sophie whispered the name so softly that I almost didn’t hear her.
Then she pointed toward a silver-haired woman sitting three chairs away fro…
THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME KNEEL BENEATH HIS ENGAGEMENT TABLE, TRYING TO PULL A TINY YELLOW BABY SWEATER FROM UNDER HIS FIANCÉE’S RED HIGH HEEL—THEN SHE SAID, “YOUR MOTHER DROPPED IT. HER HANDS SHAKE SO BADLY NOW,” BEFORE LUCA EVEN ASKED WHY HIS 78-YEAR-OLD MOTHER WAS CRYING.
Chapter 2 – THE NAME SHE WASN’T ALLOWED TO USE
“Vanessa, did you really make my mother believe she’d have to ask your permission to be a grandmother to my child?”
Luca’s voice was quiet.
That frigh…
THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME KNEEL BEHIND HIS 78-YEAR-OLD MOTHER’S CHAIR, TRYING TO WARM MY EIGHT-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER’S ICE-COLD HANDS—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SAID, “SHE BROUGHT HER CHILD HERE HOPING FOR A FREE DINNER,” BEFORE LUCA EVEN ASKED WHY MY LITTLE GIRL WAS HIDING UNDER THE TABLE.
Chapter 2 – THE NAME ON HER APRON
“Were you planning to make an eight-year-old girl work in my house just so she could keep seeing her mother?”
Luca’s question hung over the dining table.
Vanessa s…