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It’s Salvatore. This could be worse. So much worse. Slowly, I walk over to him, my fucking knees wobbly. Everyone is watching. I reach for his hand, but he pulls back.
“I’m sorry, Millie,” he whispers.
Strong hands rest on my shoulders, rubbing my skin. Nausea ripples through me. This isn’t happening. Can’t be.
“I have to agree, Riccardo. Such a valuable possession,” Stefano says, placing a kiss on my cheek. “And now, she’s mine.”
22
Salvatore
The words on the paper sink in as my father kisses Milana’s cheek.
Milana Genovese.
Riccardo gave up his own daughter. His own flesh and blood. I take a step back, leaving in order to allow my father to boast even though he didn’t do a fucking thing. I won. And I have no official claim to the pot. It’s the way it has to be. In order to destroy him, he has to continue thinking he’s on top.
“Salvatore! Salvatore, wait!” Milana calls after me.
I can’t stop. Can’t face her right now. It’s too soon. I’m too raw. I slip around the corner and press the button for the service elevator, needing to get the fuck out of here.
“So, that’s it?” Milana asks, breathless when she reaches me. “It’s over? Just like that?”
“What do you expect? It was always temporary.”
She frowns. “I didn’t know what it was.”
“It was nothing.”
“You don’t mean that. You can’t mean that.”
“He won you, fair and square.”
“This is insane.Youwon me!”
“I didn’t?”
“You did, and you’re too fucking afraid to claim that?to claimme! You want change, Salvatore. You want chang,e but you’re not willing to do anything to get it!”
“It’s not that simple, and you fucking know it. This is the life we live, Milana. This is the way it fucking is. The way it’s always fucking been! Arranged marriages have been happening with our families for decades. If it isn’t Stefano, it would be someone else.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way anymore! We can change it! The two of us!”
“Stop! Just stop!”
“I won’t do it,” she vows. “I won’t be part of this game. I’ll leave again.”
I shake my head. “And he’ll kill your father. Your mother.”
“I knew when I came back everything was going to change. I knew it and came back anyway. I was so fucking stupid.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
I reach out and take her hand, slowly pulling her to me. Tears glitter her eyes, her lips trembling. I trace my thumb over her bottom lip, wishing I could kiss her…wishing I could make all this go away.
Instead, I whisper another apology and take a step back inside the elevator. She watches me as the doors close, shutting me off from her. Rage bubbles inside me. I slam my fist into the wall, yelling out in anger. She’s no longer mine.
I hit the wall again.
