When the kindling was too damp to catch, I got on my hands and knees and blew into the stove until tears streamed down my face.
I never once complained.
And in the end, because Carmela whispered one word of grievance, he blamed me.
I ran after their car.
I just wanted to ask what I had done wrong.
I lost my footing at the cliff's edge. Two lives gone in an instant: mine, and my unborn child's.
Then came the second life. I was careful beyond measure, steering clear of the cliff road, making it back to Aurelia alive. I said every kind word I could think of, poured out every ounce of devotion I had. But he still raised his crew and stormed the Montecarlo compound for Carmela Valenti's sake. The entire Corsetti family was executed because of it. I stared at him through burning eyes and asked, "Why?" Why sacrifice so many lives for one Carmela Valenti? He reached up and wiped the tears from the corner of my eye. "Because she's my sister." "I would betray the whole world to see her happy. What's the extermination of three families compared to that?" In that moment, I finally understood. Childhood sweethearts, steadfast husband and wife, all of it was a lie. The only person Dominic Valenti had ever cared about was Carmela.
……
I pulled myself out of the memories and unclenched my fists, my palms aching where my nails had dug in.
"Father," I said quietly, "I want to enter the selection."
He blinked in surprise. "You mean you want to join the Montecarlo alliance selection?"
I nodded.
His lips moved soundlessly for a moment. "Serafina, even if you don't marry Dominic, there are plenty of fine young men from good families in Aurelia worth considering. Marriage is too important a matter to decide out of spite."
I cut him off. "Besides Luciano Montecarlo, who in this syndicate outranks Dominic Valenti?"
"The Corsettis aren't what they used to be. You've already been generous enough to let me break the blood oath with the Valentis on a whim."
"But I refuse to let our family keep fading."
"Besides, a daughter of a legacy family will have to present herself to the Montecarlos sooner or later. If not me, it will be Giulietta."
Father let out a long sigh.
Luciano Montecarlo was cold by nature. Nothing like Dominic, who knew how to charm. In my previous life, only Carmela had set her sights on the Montecarlo estate. She had been singularly obsessed with becoming the Don's wife.