Chapter 5: Open Hand

While I dressed, two old men looked at my sheets.

One was my father's witness and one was Ruggiero's, and neither of them met my eyes when they came out of the room.

I had never been so angry in my life, or so unashamed.

The older one nodded once to the other.

"It's made," he said. "The marriage stands."

Ruggiero's housekeeper had found me a plain black dress. I put it on and did up the buttons with steady hands.

Then Ruggiero opened the door and held out his arm.

"You don't have to go down there," he said.

"I do."

"He'll say things."

"So will I."

We went down together.

The courtyard behind the club was full of cars. Forty of Ruggiero's men stood along the walls with their hands loose at their sides.

On the other side, ten Albertini men stood in front of three black sedans.

Fabrizio stood in the middle of the cobblestones in a dark overcoat, with his hands open and his face wet.

I had not known he could cry on command.

"Nerina," he said, and his voice cracked. "Thank God."

Every head in the courtyard turned toward me.

"They told me you ran," he said. "They told me you were taken. I haven't slept. I've been out of my mind."

"I wasn't taken."

"You're confused, my love. You're frightened." He took a step forward. "Costanza is worse this morning. Come home. We'll sort it all out."

A few of the Albertini men nodded.

"Stay where you are," Ruggiero said.

He didn't raise his voice. Fabrizio stopped anyway.

"This woman is my wife," Ruggiero said. "The marriage was made, and your own witness saw it."

"The waiver is signed," Fabrizio said. He wasn't crying now. "Her blood is Albertini blood. A wedding in a back room doesn't undo a signature."

Keep reading free with an account. Start My Fiancé Sacrificed Me for My Sister's Heart from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.