Chapter 5 - She Opened Her Eyes
I returned to the hospital at 4:38 a.m.
Evelyn was awake.
Her eyes found me immediately.
“Adrian?”
I crossed the room.
“I'm here.”
She tried to sit up.
“Don't.”
“My family—”
“I know.”
Fear appeared in her eyes.
“They made me sign something.”
“I have it.”
“I didn't sign it.”
“I know.”
“They held my hand.”
“I know.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to get away.”
I sat beside her.
“You don't have to explain anything.”
She studied my face.
Then she looked through the glass wall.
Marco was standing outside.
Two Bellucci security men waited farther down the corridor.
Evelyn frowned.
“Who are those people?”
I had spent six years preparing lies for that question.
Suddenly I didn't want another one.
“People who work for me.”
“At the hotels?”
“No.”
She became quiet.
“Adrian.”
“Yes?”
“What aren't you telling me?”
I looked at my wife.
Then I told her everything.
Not every name.
Not every crime.
But enough.
The Bellucci organization.
The ports.
The clubs.
The casinos.
The political connections.
The men.
The reputation.
When I finished, Evelyn stared at me.
“You're telling me my husband is a Mafia boss?”
“Yes.”
She blinked.
“An actual Mafia boss?”
“Yes.”
She looked toward Marco.
Then back at me.
“That explains Thanksgiving.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“My uncle insulted you and moved to Arizona three days later.”
Despite everything, I almost laughed.
“That was unrelated.”
“Was it?”
“Mostly.”
She closed her eyes.
Then her expression changed.
“What did you do to Victor?”
“Nothing.”
Her eyes opened.
“Adrian.”
“I took away his ability to hurt you again.”
“What does that mean?”
“His businesses are collapsing.”
“And my cousins?”
“They'll answer for what they did.”
“To you?”
“To the law.”
She looked surprised.
I touched her hand.
“I could make them disappear.”
She stared at me.
“But then you would spend the rest of your life wondering whether the man beside you was the same man you married.”
“Are you?”
The question hurt more than I expected.
I answered truthfully.
“I don't know.”
Evelyn squeezed my fingers.
May you like
“Then figure it out.”
---
