Regrets of the Don: His Beloved Walked Away novel · Chapter 23 of 32
Chapter 23: My Mother
I leaned the broom against the counter.
"Ma."
She didn't come in.
She stood on the mat with the door open behind her and the cold coming in around her legs.
"Can I come in?" she asked.
My mother had never once asked to come into anything.
"It's a shop," I said. "The sign says open."
She looked up at Connie's paper Y and almost smiled.
Then she came to the counter and laid the brown envelope on Nonno's burn mark.
Her hands were shaking.
They'd never shaken in my whole life, not at his funeral, not at my wedding.
Connie came halfway down the stairs and sat on a step with her flashcards.
She didn't go back up.
"Your sister left last night," my mother said.
"Left where?"
"To him." She said it like the name would burn her. "Ricky. His cousin found them a basement in Gerritsen Beach. She signed the lease herself, with Cesare's money. She took the good suitcase."
"She's twenty-five, Ma."
"She's having a baby in May and she's living with a man who washes cars on Knapp Street."
She pressed her lips together until they went white.
"She didn't say goodbye. She left me a note on the toaster."
I didn't say anything.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–16 of Regrets of the Don: His Beloved Walked Away are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 22 · All chapters · Chapter 24 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend