He was right. Leaving the compound might very well be a death sentence. A woman alone, with no Family name and no protection, in territory carved up between men who killed over a sideways glance.
But staying was a fate worse than death.
I forced myself up through the pain, set the annulment papers on the table, and found a rickety service cart near the back entrance. I loaded Ruby onto it and walked out of the Rossetti compound.
The soldier at the gate watched me go. He didn't stop me. The Don's seal on those papers outranked every man in that house.
This time, I was finally free.
