The Ex-Wife He Lost Forever novel · Chapter 10 of 24
Chapter 10: The Don's Answer
Ettore Montanari lay awake until five and then got up before she could wake and find him looking at her.
He stood in the shower with the water as cold as it went and still felt her under his hands.
The weight of her breast in his palm.
The sound she made when she came, wet and broken and furious at herself, saying his name.
He braced one arm against the tile.
Five more days.
For three years he had kept one rule above the others.
He did not look at her.
He had looked at her anyway, every Sunday, for three years, down the length of his own table, and each time he had pretended he was counting the silver.
By nine he was in his study with a cup of coffee he did not want, and a telephone call he did.
"I need the lease transferred," he told the lawyer. "Ninth Street. The old Fontana shop. To her name."
"Mr. Montanari, you bought that building from the estate."
"Yes."
"You'll want to hold the title, then, and lease it to her."
"I want her name on it. I don't care what the paper says it costs."
"Sir, may I ask whether the lady knows?"
"No."
"Will she accept it?"
"No," Ettore said. "That is the difficulty. I'll call you back."
He hung up as the door opened without a knock.
Adamo came in with the three old men behind him.
They stood in a row before the desk, in black suits, hats in their hands.
The oldest was eighty and had sat at this table when Ettore's father ran it.
"We came to hear your answer," the old man said. "As is proper."
"Sit," Ettore said.
They sat, except Adamo.
He was shaved and pressed, and the handprint on his cheek had faded to a pale shadow.
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