Chapter 29
ADRIANA
Everything I thought I knew about my husband turned out to be a lie.
The toxic thought loops through my head as I drive to my parents’ house, white knuckling the steering wheel as my broken heart hangs heavy in jagged pieces.
The streets of Boston blur past the windows, but I don’t see them.
All I see is Lochlan’s face when he realized I’d heard everything. The guilt. The desperation. The regret.
And the confirmation that my instincts about him were right all along.
I trusted him. I let him in. I broke my own rules, the rules that kept me safe for twenty years, because he looked at me like I was everything and made me believe I could actually be vulnerable with him—and that he would protect my heart.
But it turns out, he’s a lying sack of shit, just like his father.
I make it to the house on autopilot and blink incredulously when I pull into the familiar driveway in Brookline because I have no freaking idea how I got there.
Eyes stinging with tears, I stare up at the house where I grew up.
The place I’ve always come when it feels like my world is on the brink of collapse.
Well, I’m definitely over the brink right now.
I sit in my car for a long moment, staring at the front door. My hands shake as they grip the steering wheel. My chest is hollow and aching, like someone has reached inside and crushed everything they found there. A sob fights, rising in my chest, but I choke it back down.
Dammit, I can’t fall apart. I’m Adriana DiMicheli. I don’t fall apart.
But when the front door opens and my mother steps onto the porch, her face creased with concern at the sight of my car in the driveway, the sob manages to escape.
I stumble out of the car and into her arms.
“Adriana.” Her voice is soft against my hair as she strokes my back. “Bella, what happened?”
I can’t answer her. The tears I’ve been holding back since I left the penthouse flow down my cheeks in torrents, and suddenly I’m hysterical against my mother’s shoulder like I’m five years old again, crying over a scraped knee.
Except I’m forty now and this wound is soul-crushingly deep.
“Mom? What’s—Adri?” Luna appears in the doorway, her mouth falling open as she rushes over.
Both of them wrap their arms around me, holding me tight, whispering words of comfort.
We walk inside together, and they guide me onto the couch in the living room.
It was my favorite place to watch movies and do homework when I was young.
It felt comfortable and safe, two things I fear I’ll never experience again.
“We were just about to leave for the hospital to see Dad,” Luna says, holding my hand. “What happened?”
I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand and try to find the words. They come out broken and raw.
“Lochlan. He—” The words knot in my throat.
I have to stop and breathe before starting again.
“He knew about the gala attack before it happened. Eamon warned him that night and told him something was coming. He never said anything to me after it happened. He didn’t say a word, even after I specifically told him in the hospital never to lie to me. ”
My mother’s face pales. “Oh my God,” she whispers.
“What do you mean, he knew?” Luna says, her eyes glittering with murderous rage.
“Eamon came to the penthouse this morning. I overheard them talking.” The memory makes my stomach churn.
I shake my head, pressing my fingertips against my temples, the sound of their voices grating against my brain.
“He’s been lying to me since the night we met.
All those weeks, holding me while I cried about Dad, telling me everything would be okay…
it was bullshit. He knew and he said nothing, which kept us all at risk. ”
“That son of a bitch,” Luna breathes.
My mother is quiet for a long moment, her hand stroking my hair the way she used to when I was a little girl. I lean into it, needing her more than ever right now.
“I remember when your father first told me what his family did for a living. What he was. I was twenty-two years old, and I thought I understood his world.” She shakes her head slowly.
“I didn’t understand anything. It took me years to learn that in this life, the people closest to you can hurt you the most because they’re the ones you let in. ”
“I should have known better.” My voice catches on the gaggle of tears lodged in my throat.
“I did know better. From the very first night in that hospital cafeteria, I told him I didn’t trust him.
I told him I thought he was playing me, that he wanted Dad’s empire.
And he stood there and convinced me I was wrong. He promised he’d never lie to me.”
“And of course, you wanted to believe him,” my mother says. “There’s no shame in that. We all want to believe the people we love are worthy of that love.”
“I don’t know if I loved him,” I say, my voice flat and emotionless. “I don’t know what any of it was anymore. How can I trust anything I felt when the whole foundation was built on lies?”
Luna squeezes my hand. “You’ll figure it out. Not today, not tomorrow, but eventually. Right now, you just need to breathe.”
I try to take her advice, but every breath feels like I’m swallowing glass.
My phone buzzes in my purse. I ignore it. I can’t bring myself to pull it out because it’s him. I know it.
“Stay here today,” my mother says. “Rest. We can go see your father together later, when you’re feeling up to it.”
“I can’t hide from this, Mom.”
“It’s not hiding. It’s healing. There’s a difference.”
My phone buzzes again. And again.
“Oh my God, enough already,” I mutter, pulling it out. I grit my teeth, take a deep breath, and look down at the screen.
But it’s not Lochlan’s name I see.
It’s Vincenzo.
And the three missed calls were from him.
My phone vibrates in my hand.
“It’s Zio Vinnie,” I say.
Luna and my mother exchange a look. “Answer it,” my mother says. “It might be about your father.”
I take a breath and pick up. “Zio?”
“Adriana.” His voice is tense. “I’ve been trying to reach you. We have a big problem.”
My stomach tightens. Jesus. The last thing I need right now is another problem when my life is crumbling around me. But I keep any indication of that out of my voice completely. “What kind of problem?”
He lets out a sigh. “It’s Riccardo. He’s still running his mouth to anyone who will listen, saying your leadership is illegitimate.
I think that he started in again because your father woke up.
He’s pushing for the ‘temporary arrangement’ to end immediately.
” Vincenzo pauses. “Some of the capos are getting nervous about the Russians, wondering when they’re going to strike next and how we will handle it. ”
Of course. Of course this is happening now.
“Riccardo’s been talking for weeks,” I say. “Why is this suddenly urgent?”
“Because the timing is dangerous. With everything in flux… your father’s recovery, the Russian threat… any sign of internal conflict makes us look weak. And weakness invites attack. It’s almost as if he’s trying to create a crack in the organization to make us susceptible to attack.”
That fucking bastard. My fingers tighten around the phone. Vincenzo doesn’t know about Lochlan. He can’t know. If word gets out that my marriage is falling apart, it will only add fuel to the fire. More ammunition for people like Riccardo who want to see me fail.
“My father will be taking back control once he’s well enough,” I say through clenched teeth. “Riccardo knows that. Everyone knows that.”
“Riccardo doesn’t care about facts. He cares about power.” Vincenzo pauses. “I’ve arranged a meeting. Just you, me, and him. Somewhere neutral where we can have this out, once and for all, without an audience.”
I press a hand to my forehead. “When?”
“In an hour. I know it’s short notice, but I don’t want to give him time to gather more support.”
An hour. I look down at myself, still in the sweatsuit I threw on at the penthouse, my eyes no doubt swollen and red from crying. I look like exactly what I am—a woman whose world just imploded.
But I can’t let Riccardo see that. I can’t let anyone see that.
“Where?” I ask.
“The old warehouse on Pier 7. I’ll have my men sweep it first to make sure it’s safe and clear.”
“Okay. I’ll be there.”
I stab the End button on my screen and look up at my mother and Luna.
They stare at me in silence, concern creasing their foreheads.
We all have so much to lose if Riccardo is allowed to get away with this traitorous behavior.
And if he’s the reason why the Russians keep trying to chip away at my resolve, well then.
He’s going to experience everything that my father protected him from for all of these years.
Because I don’t have the same loyalty to my dead uncle. And I’m still fucking in charge of this family.
“You’re not going to any meeting,” Luna says. “It’s not safe. And you’re—”
I hold up a hand. “Stop, please. I have to go. I don’t have a choice.
” I stand up, squaring my shoulders even though everything in me wants to collapse.
“Riccardo has been waiting for a moment of weakness. If I hide while he poisons everyone against me, I will prove every terrible thing he’s been saying. ”
“Let Vincenzo handle it,” my mother says, wringing her hands together. “He’s dealt with Riccardo before.”
“This isn’t something I can delegate. The capos need to see me take charge of the situation. They need to know I’m still in control.” I pause. “Especially now. I just can’t afford to look weak right now. Not with Dad still recovering.”
“At least let me come with you,” Luna says.
“No. This needs to be handled quietly. Family business.”