Chapter 4

Luca stopped with the glass near his mouth. His expression turned cold.

"Isabella, I already explained my decision. Mara is carrying my child. A boss protects every member of his family."

"Anthony only had to walk down the road. Was I supposed to ignore a threat to one child because a ten-year-old was upset?"

He blamed me instead.

"You are his mother. You should teach him to handle things on his own. You turned him into a boy who cannot function without guards. I was trying to make him stronger."

Luca pulled a velvet box from his coat and tossed it onto the table.

A blue diamond brooch sat inside. It was not a husband's gift. It was a boss rewarding a useful employee.

"I will come home once a week from now on. Mara needs me during the pregnancy."

He looked down at me.

"You are Mrs. Rinaldi. Your job is to run the estate, keep the men calm, and raise the children. You are not supposed to start public fights over where your husband sleeps. This house, this name, and every ounce of respect you receive in this city came from me."

"After Mara gives birth, bring the baby here and raise it with Anthony. You always wanted another child. This solves the problem."

He had not asked whether Anthony was safe. He had spent three days beside his mistress.

Now he stood inside the estate I had purchased and told me to be reasonable.

I placed the divorce agreement in front of him.

"Sign it. Then you can stay with Mara every night."

Luca stared at the papers, then laughed.

"Divorce? You cannot be serious."

He turned two pages and looked at me with open contempt.

"You have spent too many years inside this estate. You forgot how people speak to me outside these walls. The Morettis are old. Your father has a few outdated shipping routes. I control the port, the union, and the most profitable businesses in this city."

"How will you and your father live without me? Will you sell the old family portraits hanging in his house?"

He did not know why city officials lowered their heads to him. He did not know why the port moved his cargo. He did not know that the bosses he called brothers had left him alone because I stood behind him.

"I am divorcing you."

The smile left Luca's face.

"No one leaves this family without my permission. That includes my wife."

He pressed his palm over the agreement.

"You want a divorce? Bring Anthony here and make him tell me that he wants his parents to separate. I will sign after I hear it from him."

He took his whiskey into the study.

The next morning, I collected Anthony's ashes from the funeral home. Luca called as I stepped outside.

"Bring Anthony to the Belmont Hotel by seven tonight. I am announcing him as my heir."

"No one refuses the decision of the Rinaldi boss. My son is no exception."

I wiped rain from the lid of the black urn in my arms.

"I will bring him."