Page 45 of The Mafioso’s Bride

“I want to go alone.”

He remains beside the doorway for one second, then steps away. “Go upstairs. He’ll keep his distance. I’ll come to you when I’m finished here.”

Papa smiles through the blood. “He has business to finish. That’s what matters.”

Luca turns toward him. His fist lands beneath Papa’s ribs. The chair jumps across the concrete, and Papa folds against the ropes with a broken gasp.

The impact travels through the floor into my feet. I step into the hall before Luca strikes again.

Luca waits until I reach the stairs, then closes the door.

I reach the third stair before his answer passes through the steel.

“You will never speak her name again. You will not think her name. If you ever look in her direction, I will make your death last.”

The guard follows several steps behind me. When I reach the ground floor, a sharp impact travels through the basement door. Another follows at the same interval.

The guard stops near the stairs. “Mrs. DiCenzo, do you need Susan?”

“No.”

My bedroom contains everything I brought to this house. I close the door and place my suitcase on the bed.

I remove the blue tardigrade shirt and fold it into the suitcase. The white blouse lies where I left it this morning. I put it on, change into thin socks, and pack the thick pair with the rest of the clothes I brought from home. The notebook stays in the desk drawer because its pages contain Luca’s financial records.

My stuffed tardigrade remains downstairs beside the keyboard in Luca’s office. I leave it there. He allowed it to live beside him while he worked.

The phone Luca gave me rests on the bedside table. He told me Corsini security could locate it if I needed help outside the house. The same system would tell him where I went.

The black credit card goes beside it. He said the card is mine, but every purchase would create a record for him to follow.

I put on my coat and shoes. My wallet holds the cash left from before the wedding. The amount covers a cab and food.

The guard stands outside when I open my bedroom door. His attention drops to the suitcase.

“Where are you going?”

“Away.”

“Mr. DiCenzo ordered me to remain with you.” He takes out his phone. “You can’t leave without security.”

“You may follow me. You may not stop me.”

He calls Luca. The first call goes unanswered. The second does too.

“Mrs. DiCenzo, wait until I get a car.”

“No.”

He follows me downstairs. Susan stands in the dining-room doorway with folded linens against her waist. Two more men wait inside the front entrance. One moves in front of the door when he looks at my suitcase.

“Move,” I say.

“Ma’am, we have orders.”

“Your orders are to protect me. They are not permission to hold me inside this house.”

His attention moves to the guard behind me. Neither man touches me. The second guard unlocks the door.