Mom Married the Don for Peace, So I Made His Son Kneel novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Open Water

I took the Estrela out past the breakwater, with the whole pier cheering behind me.

Riccardo cast off the lines in his church suit, and coiled them badly, and I let him.

The engine ran under my feet, and the wheel was warm in my hands.

My throat felt strange.

I kept reaching for the place where the chain had been, and finding only skin and sun.

Half a mile beyond the last green buoy I cut the engine and dropped the anchor.

The boat swung slowly and settled.

The harbor was a long gray smudge, and the open sea was blue to the edge of the world.

Nothing moved but the gulls.

I came out of the wheelhouse onto the deck.

Riccardo stood at the stern rail with his jacket off and his sleeves rolled to the elbow, and the wind pushing his hair.

He turned.

"You're not wearing it," he said.

"No."

"How does it feel?"

"Light." I crossed the deck to him. "Terrifying. I keep thinking I forgot something."

He put his hands on my face.

"You didn't forget anything," he said. "It's gone. You're free."

"So are you."

"I know." He smiled slowly. "I keep waiting to feel it."

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