The Don's Lie

After Isabella loses the three children she carried for the mafia don Matteo, she finally tears herself away from his lies. But when Matteo discovers the truth behind the deaths, his guilt collides with the woman he once used as a pawn, and every secret he buried comes back to destroy the power he thought he controlled.

"Enough. All of you, shut your mouths."

"Sonny. Book Swan Castle. Everything for the wedding, only the best. You hear me?"

Silence on the other end. Then Vivian's voice, half a scream.

"Angelo, have you lost your mind?"

"You only chased her to spite me. How far are you gonna take this? You're actually marrying her?"

Angelo bent down, picked the ring out of the trash, and looked at me, steady.

"Of course I'm marrying her. You saw I had the ring ready, didn't you?"

"A bet's a bet. The funding for your new movie will hit your account tomorrow."

He hung up, ruffled my hair, blew the dust off the ring, and slid it onto my finger.

"Hey. What are you crying for? You're thrilled and you know it."

Before I could answer, he stepped back to admire the ring, satisfied.

"When you were looking at that magazine, your eyes were glued to this ring. Couldn't look away."

"So I bought it for you."

There was a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. He had no idea I'd only stared at the ring so he could pay off his debt faster.

The cold of the diamond crept up my finger and into my chest. I shivered.

But he didn't need my help. Did he?

The voice on the phone had just called him Don.

The Angelo I knew was a broke kid drowning in mob debt.

What a joke.

"Three whole years," My voice came out cold. "A Don playing dirt-poor with me. Was it fun?"

He smiled and reached for my hand like nothing had happened.

"Hey. Being the Don of the Ferro Family, it's not that big a deal."

But there was pride at the corner of his mouth.

I stepped back, out of reach.

"So the bet with Vivian — that's why you put on this act for three years?"

"You've got the talent. Why not head to Hollywood with her?"

Finally, the careless mask slipped. His brow tightened.

"Don't get the wrong idea. The bet was just whether you'd believe this ring came from a sweepstakes."

He pressed his lips together. "She didn't mean any harm. She just thought it was funny. Don't take it to heart."

He skipped right over Vivian's line about him only going after me to spite her. He played dumb.

I stared at his face. I wanted to be stubborn, but the tears wouldn't stop.

Three years. More than a thousand days.

To help Angelo pay off the million he supposedly owed for his mother's illness, I'd counted every cent.

My mother was sick too. I knew what it felt like