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“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “You were trying to reach me in a way you knew would draw me to you. What better way for light to burn brighter? Walk into the darkness.”
“I had no clue you would ever show up there,” I said, but my argument sounded weak to my own ears. Maybe I hadn’t realized it…. but maybe he was right. I missed him so fucking much, and after the letter that Clara gave me on Carine’s behalf…I wanted him to pull me up again.
“I always show up,” he said. “Even if you don’t see me. I’ll be there. I’m always there. With you.”
“My Shadow Man,” I said, smiling, but it was hard to do. The name had been mine, and they had stolen it from me.
“You know what I would have done if I had seen you that night? What I’m going to do?”
“You would have carried me away and told me you couldn’t live without me anymore.” I knew what he would’ve done, what he was going to do, but I also hoped that he would have carried me out of there like the dark knight he is. Despite that, though, I had done it for Sonny, too. I didn’t want Mo to kill him. It just so happened that both reasons connected through that world.
“I’ve never lived without you,” he said. “I existed, waiting for the day you’d unlock the door.”
The moment settled between us, and quiet descended. The memories had caught up, and the sadness of all that time spent apart—seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years—breathed heavy between us.
The memory that chased us here glared at the both of us, angry that we had outrun it for so long.
“Time to face it, Lilo,” I whispered. “Then we have to—we have to let go. We have to move on.”
“Together or no deal,” he said.
“Together,” I said, grabbing his hand and holding it tight between us. “I’ll be your wife. I’ll be here with the door unlocked. For the rest of our lives. I vowed that to you then. I vow that to you now.”
He leaned in and kissed me. We both closed our eyes.
LILO
THE PAST
Ghetti is up to no good, and Gallo is using him to get to me. Because Ghetti arranged the meeting between me and Gallo in the beginning, Gallo is going to use him as a pawn. He’ll use any means necessary.
His shit with me has become personal, though, especially after last week. When he paid me a visit during the snow storm. He wants me under his thumb so he can rule me. So he can fuck with me. If I retaliate, he’ll have grounds to off me. He’d consider it a gift to Michele Valentino. A man Gallo hates because he doesn’t allow him into his business. He locks him out.
Ghetti stands against the wall, arms crossed, watching as I go around the ring with a guy who wants to box professionally. He’s shit, but who knows what he’ll do later. If he has the drive, he’ll find the opportunity. The guy tires easily and tells me he’s going to take a break.
I nod at Ghetti and then walk toward the front of the place. He follows me. We stop close to the door.
“You going to make me leave? My kind ain’t welcome in your house or somethin’?”
“I wanted you gone, you would be,” I say. “But make sure you wipe your feet at the door. That’s where the shit will stay. This is a gym. Nothing more.”
He understands what I’m not outright saying. This place isn’t going to be a front. The reason why Gallo wanted it in the first place. He would’ve brought his guys in, his fighters, then used it to cover up his other shit.
Ghetti puts his hands in his pockets. Takes them out. He can’t keep still. Never could. He’s always after the next thing—the next scheme, the next payout, the next woman.
He points to the door. “Mr. Gallo wants to talk to you.”
“Nothing to say,” I say, opening the door for him.
He lifts his hands and narrows his eyes. “It’s not a request, Lilo. If you don’t—” He stops there, not wanting to finish. He’s scared I might finish him for even saying the words.
If my wife’s name comes out of his mouth as a warning, I’m going bust all his teeth out, to start.
“I never agreed to anything,” I say.
“Sebastiano told him. About this place. That’s how he found out so soon. He told him you did it to spite him.”
“You? What did you tell him?”
