When The Mafia Marriage Contract Expires

a's

nthouse that night

week, and the cavernous apartment swallows me whole. I move thr

'm no

ing invisible-a maid who saw too much, a guard who owed me a debt, a cook whose son

and dollars in cash, stashed beneath the floorboard under my bed. A bus ticket to a

wait for the right w

comes on

erritorial dispute on the Jersey border. I don't ask for details anymore. I

e, the front door sw

s b

in front of me. The overhead lights are off-I pre

Gunpowder and cheap perfume, clinging to his rumpled suit

ld ask if he was hurt. I would play the role of the g

, I don

cold tea, the bitter l

rrowing. He senses the shift-the same way a predator s

ained tie and throws it

d commanding. "She's at the secure suite in the private hospital. Go to her penthouse

d lands li

ied-to pack a bag for his mistress. To carry her silk lingerie

he saucer. The porcela

hat follows i

n his shirt, stop mid-motion. The air in the roo

did yo

k, impenetrable eyes that once made me weak in

girl between my husband and his mistr

e, rattling the teacup, sending a crack through the saucer. He leans over

is voice is a low growl, the voice that makes g

marble floor, and I stand. I'm still shorter than him, still physi

Rocco to se

n him and walk t

the wall. The sound echoes through

t turn

shards of broken glass swept into a corner by the morning maid, and the

diamond necklaces and shoes that cost more than most people's cars. All of

it all

rs, my mother's cheap jade pendant. I pull out the stolen photograph-Zane at seventeen, befor

ike a

yish face inch by inch. I drop it into the metal trash can an

he bottom of the stairs. She's been with the Famiglia for twenty years. She watched m

th tears streaming do

cone," sh

My grandmother's vintage pearl earrings-the only valu

for everyth

e Don do when

on my shoulder. "Zane will di

eavy oak doors.

orner. I slide into the leather back seat, my

miss?" the

Air

attan skyline, turning the glass towers gold. I watch the penthouse sh

r phone

e. His pri

found the empty closet, the ashes in the

t his name on the screen.

press

th both thumbs, I snap the plastic chip in half. The crack is sma

g of gasoline and freedom. I toss the broken pieces into the rushing air. They scatt

he last thread connecting

my eyes. And for the first time in three y

arrying me away from the blood and t

I'm going. I don't

g with absolute, cr

ver goi