Chapter 14: Three Sealed Letters

Valeria's POV

I tore the page in half.

Then I tore the halves in half and dropped the pieces into the lawyer's open briefcase.

"Tell Aldo the money was never his to trade," I said.

"Miss Morandi, the offer is generous."

"It's my father's life insurance. You don't get to be generous with it."

I looked him in the eye.

"I want it back by noon, and Luca stays exactly where he is."

The lawyer shut the briefcase.

He looked at Luca, and Luca looked at him.

Neither of them said a word.

He left.

"You'd turn down two hundred sixty thousand dollars," Luca said.

"I'd turn down two million."

I took his good hand.

"You asked me if I wanted you gone. I'm answering. I don't."

His jaw worked. He said nothing, and he did not let go.

Outside, my mother's old Buick was parked at the curb with the engine running.

Rosa sat behind the wheel in her church coat.

A foil tray rested on the seat beside her.

She got out when she saw us.

She held the tray in both hands, and her chin shook.

"Luca," she said.

"Mrs. Morandi."

"Rosa. After what I did, you will call me Rosa."

She took a breath.

"I stood at the end of that hall with two big men and told them to keep you out."

"You thought I'd hurt her," Luca said.

"I thought a lot of things. I kept your letters in a cookie tin."

Her voice broke.

"I am an old woman and I was wrong, and I am asking you to forgive me. I don't expect you to."

Luca looked at her for a long time.

Then he took the tray out of her hands.

"Is this the eggplant?" he said.

My mother laughed, and it was half a sob.

She turned to me.

I was still angry. I had been angry for three years, and I could not set it down on a curb because she was crying.

"I forgive you for him," I said. "I haven't finished with you for me."

"That's fair."

"You took my letters. You let me think he walked away."

"I know."

Keep reading free with an account. Start My Husband and My Best Friend Betrayed Me on Our Wedding Day. Twice. from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.