Page 65 of The Strength Of A Woman

They must’ve thought a lot about it, and I was just the missing piece, the thing that brought it all together.

I can see why Callum has a strong interest in what happens to me.

I can see why Stefano Varela is his mortal enemy.

I can also see why Giorgio is right there with Stefano Varela, and the fact that he tried to exploit Callum only makes him even more vile than I thought.

I can also understand why Callum O’Hara lingered and stayed in our family. He was waiting for a clarifying moment, and that moment came in the shape of me.

Life works in mysterious ways, and what happened tonight just proved it.

A weight lifted off my chest as the ugly truth started to peek through the cracks of this abhorrent story when he talked to me.

I don’t know how life outside the perimeter of this abject world really is.

I said what I said to my grandmother because I believed life could be different, despite the struggles so many face.

From the glimpses that I got, I could tell that people can experience good things in their lives despite their economic status.

I can’t say the same about myself, and to be frank, I’m stunned that I’m not like them, like my family.

There must’ve been some error in the making of my soul. How could I not be like them when my own mother had followed the mold?

The thing with her was that she hadn’t had a moral bone in her entire body.

She had the freedom to do whatever she wanted and never be bothered by the consequences of her actions or by what happened around her, even when it involved me.

That’s what I hated the most about her.

She couldn’t be bothered with those details or the fact that I had lived with the consequences of her bad decisions.

She was just like Sylvia and Giorgio.

At least her parents put in a little effort into pretending they were someone else and fooled me for a moment.

That illusion is now gone, shattered into the wind.

Yes, it’s truly a miracle that I didn’t turn out like them.

Had I been like them, I’d be more than happy right now to become the wife of one of the most notorious gangsters in two countries.

But what about Callum? He is a gangster after all. Why isn’t he like them?

Maybe he is, or maybe he has a code of honor that he follows.

Isn’t that ironic? Even a mobster can have principles, a kernel of morality in him.

My family couldn’t even muster that.

Is it possible that he might be only an illusion? Prove me wrong, and let me down?

Absolutely.

I’m ready for that moment if it ever happens. But for now, I’ll follow my heart and trust my instincts, since they both tell me this is the path to follow, and he could help me get to the other side.

Several scenarios play in my head.

If he’s ready to start a war, people will die, and some of those might be people I know.