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SIXTY-NINE
ROMAN
I walk through the hallway of Emberly’s building, my face dripping with hot minestrone. The superintendent stays at my heels like a fucking guard dog. I lick my lips, capturing the tang of tomato, oregano, and parmesan.
Apart from that brief taste of soup, my mouth remains shut. The old bastard I’m paying to keep an eye on my wife needs to stop interfering. Wilder follows me out into the evening, and we walk in lockstep to my car. As I reach the door, I turn to meet his questioning gaze.
“Back off if you want my money to keep flowing,” I snarl.
He straightens. “You’re the husband?”
I pull off my shirt and wipe the cooling soup off my face. “Yeah.”
His thick brows form a deep V. He’s either looking at the ring dangling off my gold chain or he’s noticed the word LIAR carved on my chest. He shakes his head and focuses back on my face.
“Ah… Sorry, but voices carry in the building. I was just keeping an eye on Kate?—”
“Well, now you know.” I open the door and slip into the driver’s seat. “Keep me updated. If she gets into a car, I want its registration. If she deviates from her usual routine, I want details.”
“Yes, sir.” He nods.
I drive down the road, leaving him staring at my taillights. Emberly won’t run. She’s too encumbered by her pregnancy, too comfortable with her job, her apartment, and her medical plan.
Besides, it will take at least another day to create a new fake ID.
I wasn’t lying about New Jersey being too dangerous. New Alderney also isn’t safe, but that’s where I can give her the most protection. Capello sympathizers still walk in the shadows and Tommy Galliano still evades my assassins. Any one of my enemies could use Emberly to get to me.
If she were any other woman, I would bring her back against her will. I call Nick Terranova at the stoplight, hoping the legal maverick who helped with the dodgy contracts can help me find a way to keep Emberly.
He picks up on the third ring. “Roman, what do you need?”
“It’s my wife,” I say. “She refuses to return to have the baby in New Alderney. Is there a way I can stop her from leaving?”
“Does she know you’re married yet?” Nick asks.
“She just found out today,” I mutter.
“And she told you where to stick your marriage?”
The lights turn green, and I pull out. “Something like that,” I reply with a grimace.
Nick hums. “She’s got you by the balls.”
“Explain.”
“Even if you filed a petition for an injunction or a temporary restraining order to stop her from leaving with your kid, Emberly could fight it in court on a number of grounds.”
Nick rattles off a list of heinous shit I did to Emberly. I tune out partially because it’s in legalese but mostly out of self-loathing.
No sane woman would give me a second chance, especially one with an innocent baby to protect. I won’t give up, not just because I love her too much, but because I’m desperate to keep her safe.
“Bottom line,” Nick concludes, “Unless you can convince Emberly that you’ve changed, there’s no legal way to get her back.”
“No illegal way that won’t end in disaster, either.” I snarl, remembering the incident on the balcony. “What about the baby? She claims it’s not mine, but I’m her husband. Does that mean I get visitation rights?”
“Technically, but we’re running into the same trouble as before. Her stack of complaints about you could send all five of us, including Ernest Lubelli, behind bars.”
“Shit.”
