“Just how the deal I made to marry was for nothing. My uncle never kept his word. I’m sure your helicopter accident was of his doing. He was never going to let it go.”
“It doesn’t matter now. It’s all in the past.” Dan smoothes a hand over his black tie. His whole attire black, as if he’s dressed for a funeral, meanwhile I’m in white. Today symbolises a day of freedom for me. Magnus’s presence has loomed over us like a dark cloud for far too long.
Lights flicker on the dark road. The moon gives off a red haze. A mist hovers over the docks like a blanket, almost suffocating.
Dan squeezes my hand, but I’m not afraid anymore. The worst thing Magnus could do to me now was poison my son against me and he already tried that. Everything is now out in the open and the truth has set me free.
I was surprised to learn that Mamma had some secrets of her own. I’m not sure if Elio will ever accept them as family, but at least he can respect Dan for saving my life. And at leasthe isn’t shackled with the family loyalty of my father and uncle.
The car comes to a halt and Elio kills the engine. Dom climbs out of the car and walks over to a man in a black suit, shaking his hand and pulling him in for a warmer welcome as he pats him on the back.
“That’s our second cousin, Riccardo,” Dan says.
Dan steps out first, scanning the area like he’s expecting an ambush. He always does. I wait for him to come around and open my door, my fingers tightening on the envelope in my lap. Divorce papers. Freedom, at last.
When the door swings open, Dan holds his hand out to me. I take it, feeling the calluses against my palm, grounding me.
“Are you sure?” he asks again, low and rough.
I nod once. “I’m sure.”
As I step out, the wind whips off the water, carrying the sharp tang of salt.
Container units are stacked like tombstones around us, Riccardo directs Dan and Dom to a rust-red one tucked at the far end of the dockyard. Riccardo’s face is like granite, probably carved from years of blood deals and backroom wars.
“He’s in there,” Riccardo says, jerking his chin towards the container. "Hasn’t stopped begging since we locked him up."
Dom flicks away the stub of his cigarette and cracks his knuckles. "That’ll make it even sweeter."
Dan casts a look over his shoulder at me, protective even now, as if worried I’ll crumble. But I don’t. I hold my head high and take the first step towards the container.
Riccardo pulls the doors wide.
The stench hits me first. A mix of sweat and stale urine. The scent of desperation. My stomach tightens, but I don’t flinch.
Magnus cowers in the corner, shackledat the ankles like the animal he is. His suit is stained, hair lank and clinging to his damp forehead. Once, he stood tall in this underworld. Now, he’s nothing but a trapped rat.
His eyes find me and he rises to his feet as if he still has the upper hand with me. “Rosetta.” He clicks his tongue against his teeth, slow and taunting, like he’s scolding a naughty child.
I step into the container, Dan’s hand at my lower back, his presence like a shield behind me.
Magnus’s gaze flickers to the gun in my hand, then to the envelope clutched in my other. He pales.
“Sign them.” My voice doesn’t tremble. It slices through the air like a knife slicing through butter.
His lips curl into a sinister snarl. “You think this is going to make you free of me? You’re mine, Rose. You even have the marks on your back to prove it.”
Dan steps in front of me with a gun in hand, his arm trembling as he fights his muscles not to pull the trigger. “She was never yours. You’re delusional if you think she ever belonged to you.” Dan pushes him against the wall, his gun under Magnus’s chin. “How does it feel knowing that whenever you fucked my girl, it was me she was thinking about? It was me she dreamed about when you were lying next to her, and it’s my blood that runs in her son’s veins.”
He snarls. “How does it feel, Bianchi, to fuck your prize pig and see my marks on her back?” His tongue clicks once, sharp and deliberate, punctuating his sick words. But that’s all they are to me now, just words. “Every time you fuck her, you’ll think of me.”
Dan lets out a half laugh as if he knows something Magnus doesn’t. “Let’s get this over with, shall we? I don’t want to be in this container longer than I have to. You fucking stink.” He shoves him onto the floor.
I take a few steps to stand at his side, holding my gun trained on Magnus’s forehead, just like my brother showedme. I throw the envelope down in front of him, the divorce papers spilling across the grimy floor.
Riccardo kicks a pen towards him.
“If I sign, what’s in it for me?” Magnus snarls, though his voice cracks.
