I kept my voice low. "Just drive. I don't want to be here anymore."
And I really didn't want to see Dante again. Not standing in the courtyard of that guarded estate like he owned every stone, every shadow, every breath I took inside its walls.
Luca paused. His hand stayed on the door handle for a long beat, and I could feel the argument running through him, the way a man who has talked down capos and consiglieri weighs a decision in silence. But then he turned the key and pulled away from the curb.
In the rearview mirror, I saw Dante striding toward the car, the compound lights throwing his silhouette long across the gravel. "Adriana! If you leave now, don't bother coming back!"
His voice rang out behind us like a final warning, the kind of declaration men in this world didn't make lightly because it would be remembered by every soldier and gate guard who overheard it.
I turned in my seat and looked back at him. "Fine."
Not sure if he heard it, but I meant every word.
I had already made up my mind. I was going to dissolve this blood-bound union with Dante. I didn't plan on going back to that house ever again. Let the elders talk, let Carmela clutch her handkerchief and weep about disgrace. I was done.
Luca drove fast the entire way. His hands sat rigid on the wheel and there was a tension in his shoulders I wasn't used to seeing. He'd always been calm and collected, the kind of man whose composure made courtrooms fall quiet. This was the first time I'd seen him so on edge, and the fact that he didn't try to hide it unsettled me almost as much as what I'd left behind.
I pulled a cigarette from my bag and held it up toward him. "Mind if I smoke?"
Luca shook his head.
I lit it and rolled the window halfway down. As soon as I did, he eased off the gas. Cold wind rushed into the car and hit me square in the face, carrying with it the faint diesel scent of the waterfront district where Falcone shipping containers sat stacked like dark monuments.
I exhaled a long trail of smoke before speaking. "You got a place I can crash? I've just been kicked out and need somewhere to stay, for now."
He glanced over at me briefly. "Yeah."
Just one word. But from Luca, one word was a promise notarized.
By the time I finished my cigarette, Luca had already pulled over on a quiet side street lined with old brownstones, the kind of block that looked residential enough to stay off anyone's radar.