Chapter 3

Luca finally returned to the estate on the third night.

Six black SUVs passed through the gates. The guards lowered their heads, and every capo in the study stood. Luca handed his gloves to the house manager and walked straight into Anthony's bedroom.

"Where is he?"

His face hardened when he saw the empty room.

"The state senator, a judge, the union president, and several families will be at the gala tomorrow. I am naming Anthony as my future heir. He can take the exam again, but he cannot hide from me for three days over one small argument."

I saw lipstick on Luca's collar.

"Do you still remember that you have a son?"

He frowned. Then he seemed to understand what I meant, and his voice softened.

"Is he still angry about the gas station?"

Luca poured himself a whiskey.

"I told him to find a cab. I did not leave a baby in the woods. I will talk to him when he comes back. Anthony has always listened to me. He will not stay angry with his father."

He was right about one thing. Anthony had always listened to him.

Luca said an heir had to be better than every other boy his age. While other children played soccer, Anthony studied Italian and Latin.

Luca said the next head of the family had to know its history. Anthony studied thick files until late at night.

Luca complained that his hands shook when he fired a gun. Anthony stayed at the private range for two hours at a time. The recoil left his palms red, but he refused to stop.

Luca said his riding was weak. Anthony tore open his knee in a fall and climbed back onto the horse the next morning.

Once, Anthony had a fever of one hundred and two degrees and still came to a family dinner because Luca had promised to introduce him. Luca never showed up. Anthony sat in his little suit until the food went cold, then fell asleep at the table.

Anthony skipped every classmate's birthday party for two years while he prepared for St. Ignatius.

The night before the exam, he sat beside my bed with his books in his arms.

"Mom, I finished everything. Dad will be proud when I get in, right?"

The father Anthony trusted more than anyone had left him alone in enemy territory because another woman called.

I could not let myself think about what Anthony felt when those taillights vanished. He might have kept believing Luca would come back.

"You will never get to talk to him again."