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The Mafia Princess Returns - Ten Years of Betrayal - FULL DramaReel
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Short filmTranscript
00:02I've been preparing for the wedding for six months.
00:06The church, the flowers, the invitations, the rehearsal dinner.
00:12Every detail done exactly the way I like it.
00:17While somewhere I can't see, he's pouring that same effort into wearing another woman down.
00:29Tezoro, I've seen you in the wedding dress. As for the wedding itself, I won't be there.
00:34Yante Moretti buckles my seatbelt like he always does, then casually calls off our wedding next week.
00:41I freeze, still holding the garment bag from my final fitting.
00:46What do you mean?
00:48There's someone else. She wouldn't settle for anything less than being my wife, so I married her.
00:53Last night, in Vegas.
00:55His voice stays easy, almost gentle.
00:58I'm another woman's husband now. If I still go through with a wedding with you, my wife's gonna get hurt.
01:04White noise floods my head. My voice comes out thin and shaking.
01:09Why? We're one week away from getting married.
01:12Tezoro, don't look at me like that.
01:14You know you're the one I love.
01:17But she kept turning me down.
01:20Again and again.
01:22For six months.
01:23And I can't even remember the last time anyone had the nerve to tell me no.
01:28Keep the dress.
01:29Throw your little wedding party if it means that much to you.
01:33I hate seeing you upset.
01:35The dress is still in the back seat.
01:37White.
01:38Now it looks like a shroud.
01:40My hand trembles as I shove the ultrasound printout back into my bag.
01:45I was going to surprise him with it.
01:47He's right about one thing.
01:49I deserve better than this.
01:53Dante brushes a strand of hair behind my ear like nothing has changed.
01:57You know how stubborn she is.
01:59Wouldn't let me touch her unless I put a ring on it.
02:02Six months of chasing her.
02:04And last night, she finally gave in.
02:07I stare at him.
02:08Numb and freezing.
02:09Like invisible fingers are closing around my throat.
02:12Right there in that seat too.
02:13She's like a little wildcat.
02:15Scratches first, then melts all over you.
02:17The handprints are still there.
02:19One large.
02:20One small.
02:20Overlapping.
02:23Nausea rolls through me so hard I almost choke on it.
02:25I grip the seatbelt until my knuckles ache and my vision burns.
02:29He cups my face, frowning a little like he honestly doesn't understand.
02:34Why are you crying?
02:36You're still mine.
02:38His eyes are nearly black.
02:39And behind them is something that looks horrifyingly close to tenderness.
02:44As if the man calmly telling me he married another woman.
02:47Then savoring the memory of taking her in my seat.
02:51Isn't the same man touching me now.
03:00I know this hurts.
03:02But if I show up, she'll take it badly.
03:04I spent six months chasing her, Talia.
03:07Six months.
03:07She wanted the real thing.
03:09A ring.
03:10My name.
03:11Not half a man.
03:13So be reasonable.
03:15She wanted the real thing.
03:17A ring.
03:18My name.
03:19Not half a man.
03:21So be reasonable.
03:24Six months.
03:25We've been planning our wedding for six months too.
03:29The church.
03:31The flowers.
03:32The invitations.
03:33The rehearsal dinner.
03:34Every detail done exactly the way I like it.
03:37While somewhere I can't see, he's pouring that same effort into wearing another woman down.
03:42If you married someone else, then we're done.
03:46You've been mine since you were 18.
03:49You've bled for me twice.
03:53Leave me?
03:54What man out there would dare touch what belongs to me?
03:57What?
03:58Now?
03:58Don't say stupid shit when you're upset.
04:02I just look at him.
04:04My chest feels banded from the inside out.
04:08Ten years.
04:12We used to cram ourselves into a freezing apartment in East Brooklyn with no heat.
04:17Split one dollar slice and call it dinner.
04:21On the worst days, we filled our stomachs with tap water and pretended it helped.
04:25We couldn't even afford basic birth control.
04:27No insurance.
04:29No safety net.
04:35I got pregnant twice.
04:40I lose the first baby during the coldest winter in New York.
04:43I'm working three jobs at once.
04:44A diner.
04:45A laundromat.
04:46Night shifts at a boyaga.
04:48I stay cold for so long my body gives out.
04:52The second baby dies after one of Dante's rival crews shoves me down a staircase.
04:58I live through both losses.
05:00Barely.
05:01I cry until there's nothing left in me.
05:05Then I bury two children I never get to hold.
05:08Dante kneels beside my hospital bed.
05:11He pulls a knife from his waistband and slices two lines across his lower stomach.
05:16Blood runs down his skin.
05:20With that same bloody hand, he covers my eyes.
05:23Leah, I swear on my blood.
05:26I'll give you the life you deserve.
05:28And if I ever betray you, may I die with no one left to mourn me.
05:32A blood oath.
05:35In his world, that is the heaviest promise a man can make.
05:40And I believe it for half my life.
05:43Now that promise loses to a woman he's known for six months.
05:47I don't understand it.
05:49How does a man who once loved me like that go rotten this fast?
05:54His phone rings.
05:57The ringtone is distinctive.
06:00I've heard it at night more times than I can count.
06:02Dante always says it's business.
06:04I trust him so completely I never question it.
06:06Now I know how stupid that makes me.
06:10He doesn't answer right away.
06:12His tone stays calm, patient.
06:14Like he's humoring a child.
06:16Why are you picking a fight with a plaything?
06:19We've got ten years together.
06:21You really want to throw that away over a piece of paper?
06:25You can Uber home.
06:26I need to pick her up.
06:31You're not twenty anymore, Talia.
06:33No family name.
06:34No connections.
06:35No one coming for you.
06:38I'm the only man who'd keep you.
06:40So stop making a scene before I stop finding it cute.
06:44He pulls the car over.
06:45You can Uber home.
06:47I need to pick her up.
06:48Think about what I said.
06:49The door shuts.
06:51I watch his blacked out escalade tear down the street.
06:54Then I bend over on the curb and throw up until my face is wet.
06:58Dante is wrong.
06:59No man signs a marriage license with a plaything.
07:02That piece of paper I waited ten years for?
07:04He gives it to someone else in six months.
07:07Love doesn't change.
07:09It just moves.
07:10Then I take out my phone and dial a number.
07:12I saved it six months ago.
07:14I've never called it.
07:16Natalia, is that you?
07:19Papa.
07:20I need to come home.
07:22Tell me where you are.
07:23I'll send someone.
07:24Tonight.
07:25Not tonight.
07:26There's something I need to deal with first.
07:29When I get home, Dante's blacked out escalade is already parked outside.
07:35A woman's breathy moan spills out.
07:40Say my name.
07:41Dante.
07:43Who do you love most?
07:46You, Dante.
07:49Good girl.
07:51I stop where I am.
07:53My face goes numb.
07:56The summer night is stifling, but suddenly I'm back in the coldest night of a New York winter.
08:01An hour later, Dante walks in with a small woman tucked under his arm.
08:05The second Bianca sees me sitting in the living room.
08:07Why is she here?
08:08You told me this was our home.
08:10Her voice quivers.
08:12Perfectly.
08:12Were you lying to me?
08:14You're still not over her, are you?
08:15I won't be the other woman.
08:17I don't care how much I love you.
08:18I'm not throwing away my dignity for this.
08:20I'm leaving.
08:21Right now.
08:24What are you talking about?
08:26The marriage license is signed and filed.
08:28You're my wife.
08:30Of course this is our home.
08:31She's just here to pack.
08:33Then he looks at me.
08:34No explanation.
08:35No apology.
08:36Tala, the house upstate is empty this time of year.
08:39Quiet too.
08:39Go stay there for a while.
08:41For one second, my mind blanks.
08:43Pain hits before anger does.
08:45Dull.
08:45Physical.
08:46Right in the heart.
08:47Three years ago, when we moved into this brownstone, Dante held me so tight his eyes went red.
08:52Leah, this is our home.
08:55You, me, and our kids someday.
08:57Now the same man is throwing me out of it.
09:00Tala.
09:01My wife is upset.
09:03I'm not saying this twice.
09:07After a long silence, with all that smug certainty in his eyes, I smile.
09:12I understand.
09:13Dante watches me stand.
09:14Something shifts in his face.
09:16He strides after me and catches my wrist.
09:18His voice softens.
09:19There's a gala this afternoon.
09:21Come with me.
09:22It's Bianca's first time at an event like that.
09:24Help with her train.
09:25Show her the ropes.
09:27I just stare at him.
09:29The whole thing is so absurd, I almost laugh.
09:31Then I think about how little time I have left, and I don't argue.
09:35Before the gala, Bianca claims she has nothing suitable to wear.
09:39From my closet, she picks the most expensive birthday gift Dante ever gave me with surgical
09:43precision.
09:43A Valentin Haute Couture gown plus the antique diamond peragi that goes with it.
09:47At the Met charity gala, Bianca walks in on Dante's arm.
09:50I carry her trail.
09:52She becomes the center of the room, and I become the joke trailing behind her.
09:56The whispers follow me everywhere.
09:58Moretti really knows how to keep his women in line, huh?
10:00The fiancé carrying the train for the mistress, and she doesn't even flinch.
10:03What fiancé?
10:04Didn't you hear?
10:05Moretti flew that little thing to Vegas and married her.
10:08Talia Rossi is nothing.
10:10Ten years for free, then tossed aside.
10:12Not even worth gossiping about.
10:13How dumb do you have to be to give a man a decade and walk away with nothing?
10:17Hell, even strays have more pride.
10:19She'd be better off dead.
10:21I leave the ballroom and lock myself in the powder room.
10:25Then I hear voices outside.
10:27Someone is teasing Dante.
10:29Come on, Morelli.
10:30Talia's been with you for ten years.
10:32You really married Bianca?
10:33Bianca wanted security.
10:35A piece of paper.
10:36That's all it is.
10:37What does it really change?
10:38And if Talia leaves you over it, you won't regret that?
10:41My heart jerks hard in my chest.
10:44Then Dante laughs.
10:47Her whole world is me.
10:49She's been with me ten years.
10:50She wouldn't know how to function without me.
10:52Right now she's like an old coat shoved in the back of a closet.
10:55Comfortable, sure.
10:57But not something I'd ever be seen wearing.
10:59I know her better than she knows herself.
11:01When I'm done having my fun, she'll still be right where I left her.
11:03What else is she gonna do?
11:05Wait?
11:07I don't hear the rest.
11:09I stumble to the sink and splash water over my face again and again.
11:14Then I bite down on my finger to keep from making a sound.
11:18Water drips from my chin.
11:20Humiliation falls with it.
11:22Still, I don't cry out.
11:24Dante Marotti.
11:25This time, you bet wrong.
11:27That old coat you tossed aside?
11:29It's not waiting for you anymore.
11:31I turn and walk out of the powder room.
11:33And a slap cracks across my face.
11:36I clamp a hand over my burning cheek and turn.
11:39Stunned.
11:39Bianca rolls her wrist once.
11:42Calm as you please.
11:43The sweet, harmless look is gone from her face like someone ripped the mask right off.
11:47You heard him.
11:48He married me.
11:51The ring, the name, the license.
11:53They're mine.
11:59And you're still here.
12:00Hanging on like some stray dog that doesn't realize it's been kicked out.
12:04God, that's pathetic.
12:06Her mouth curls.
12:10If you're this desperate to be used, there are corners in the Bronx where men will pay for it.
12:15At least then you'd finally be earning your keep.
12:19Though for someone like you, 10 years freeloading.
12:22A charity case who gives it away for free.
12:24You're probably only good enough for gutter trash in the project.
12:26There's a loud buzzing in my head.
12:28All I can see.
12:28There's a loud buzzing in my head.
12:30All I can see is her mouth moving.
12:32Sharp, ugly, relentless.
12:34I'm so angry I almost laugh.
12:36But Bianca doesn't give me the chance to answer.
12:38She suddenly lets out a shriek, grabs the front of her dress, and yanks the neckline open.
12:43Then she throws herself backward.
12:45Talia!
12:46Please!
12:47Stop!
12:50Talia!
12:56Talia!
13:01Dante rushes over, lifts Bianca up, and folds her into his arms.
13:06She's crying so hard she can barely stand.
13:08Dante, I'm the other woman.
13:12I'm the one who ruined what you had.
13:14It's all my fault.
13:16I never should have come into your life.
13:20I'm the homewrecker here.
13:22I'm the villain.
13:24Who said that to you?
13:26Bianca bites her lip and clutches at her torn dress.
13:28Please, don't ask.
13:33Then her eyes flick to me.
13:35Fear.
13:36Delicate.
13:37Calculated.
13:38Someone like me could never go up against someone like her.
13:42Wives from powerful families.
13:44Her voice trembles harder.
13:45I'm nothing next to that.
13:47Dante, I'm not good enough for you.
13:49Just let me go.
13:51Please, I don't want to wake up dead over something I didn't even do.
13:55His face turns cold.
13:56He looks at me.
13:59Explain.
14:00I lower my hand and show him my swollen cheek.
14:04You should ask her what she said.
14:06Miss Rossi!
14:07Yes, I slapped you.
14:09But only after you threatened to make my parents disappear from this world.
14:14They're ordinary people.
14:17If you're still mad, hit me back.
14:20But leave my family out of it.
14:22That's a lie.
14:23You were the one who-
14:25Enough!
14:25Dante cuts across me.
14:27His stare is flat with disappointment.
14:29Talia.
14:30I spoiled you.
14:32He takes one slow step closer.
14:35Do you really think just because you have no family name and nobody backing you I won't touch you?
14:39A hollow laugh escapes me.
14:41My eyes sting.
14:43So what are you gonna do?
14:45Defend your wife?
14:46He walks up to me, unhurried.
14:48Then his fingers close around the ring on my hand.
14:50The ring he made himself after he earned his first real money.
14:53A rough diamond, hand cut and set by him alone.
14:56Inside the band, one word is engraved.
14:58Semper always.
14:59He slides it off my finger.
15:00Then he turns to Marco.
15:02Make the call.
15:03Get our people at the precinct down here.
15:05Boss.
15:06Tell them my wife's jewelry was stolen.
15:08Caught red-handed.
15:10I forget how to move.
15:11My mind goes completely blank.
15:13Dante never has it easy.
15:15He claws his way up from the streets of Brooklyn.
15:17Men like him survive by being harder, meaner, more ruthless than everyone else.
15:22I am the one exception.
15:24His one soft spot, right or wrong, he always stands in front of me.
15:28No one in New York dares use dirty tricks on me until now.
15:31And the one driving the knife straight into my heart is him.
15:35Dante rubs his thumb over the ring.
15:37My tears blur his cold face until he looks like a stranger.
15:40You disappointed me, Talia.
15:42Go sit inside for a few days and think about what you did.
15:45Don't worry.
15:47It won't be long.
15:48When you get out, I'll put this back on your finger myself.
15:54Two uniformed officers walk in.
15:56Cops on Dante's payroll.
15:57They cuff my wrists.
15:58At the same time, I pull my hand free from his grip.
16:01The sudden emptiness seems to unsettle him.
16:04Dante's brow tightens.
16:05He stares at my back with the strangest look on his face, like something is slipping away and he can't
16:09get it back.
16:10He starts toward me.
16:12Bianca beats him to it, looping herself around his arm.
16:14Dante, thank you for standing up for me.
16:18I was so scared.
16:22What do you want to make it up to you?
16:24Bianca bleems.
16:25Then she plucks the ring from his hand and drops it into the trash.
16:28Dante's face changes.
16:30Only for a second.
16:31A muscle jumps in his jaw, then disappears.
16:34Bianca's eyes go wide at once.
16:36Hurt rushes into them like she can summon it on command.
16:39Was it that important?
16:40She bends toward the trash can.
16:43Then I'll get it back for you.
16:45Ten years is still ten years.
16:47Even if she did hurt me, I don't want to make things harder for you.
16:51Dante catches her by the waist and pulls her back.
16:53Not a chance.
16:55His voice softens.
16:59You matter more.
17:00Don't dirty your hands.
17:04He slips his black Amex into her palm.
17:11Go buy whatever you want.
17:14She pouts and pushes it back.
17:19I don't want your money.
17:20I love you, not your money.
17:25Yeah?
17:26Well, I want to spend money on my wife.
17:30He presses the card into her hand again.
17:35If you don't use it, it'll bother me.
17:42Fine.
17:44Only because you insist.
17:46Like she's humoring him.
17:48No one picks the ring back up.
17:49It stays in the trash.
17:51Buried between cocktail napkins and cigarette butts.
17:53The word engraved inside the band faces up.
17:56Sempra, forever.
17:58Buried with the garbage.
18:01Three days later, they drag me out of holding.
18:04I barely know where I am.
18:06Three days in a precinct Dante controls.
18:09Locked up with real predators.
18:11No one tells me why I'm still there.
18:13No one asks if I need a doctor.
18:15Bianca even sends a message to Mrs. Moretti.
18:18She's a thief.
18:19He despises her.
18:20Make sure she learns her lesson.
18:22Don't hold back.
18:23They drive me straight to one of Dante's nightclubs.
18:26His club, his table.
18:28Then they shove me into a VIP room.
18:32Dante and Bianca are on the center couch.
18:35Sharing a grape from opposite ends.
18:39The grape falls.
18:41They end up kissing instead.
18:44The room erupts around him.
18:46Men shouting.
18:47Women laughing.
18:48Glasses clinking.
18:49The whole place practically shakes with it.
18:52I don't know how long I've spent a doctor.
18:54His eyes land on my face.
18:56My cheeks are hollow now.
18:58My skin is almost gray.
19:00His expression darkens instantly.
19:01What the hell happened to you?
19:04Did someone in there put their hands on you?
19:06Before I can answer, Bianca lets out a light laugh.
19:11Miss Rossi really knows how to play a man's heart.
19:14Come on.
19:16Because of your history with Dante, who would dare touch her?
19:20That sickly little look is makeup.
19:22Pretty convincing though.
19:23Must have taken a while.
19:24Dante pauses.
19:25Then he sinks back down.
19:27He taps a cigarette from the pack and leans into the flame.
19:30Bianca holds out for him.
19:31Smoke curls between us, blurring his face.
19:34Only his eyes stay clear.
19:36Hard.
19:37Tired.
19:38Already annoyed.
19:39If you're done reflecting, come apologize to Bianca.
19:41She sits curled in his lap like innocence itself.
19:44I really didn't want to make things difficult for you.
19:47But you insulted my family.
19:49You threatened them.
19:51Anyone would be upset.
19:53Then she pauses.
19:54Oh.
19:55Right.
19:56I forgot.
19:58Your parents threw you away when you were little.
20:00You grew away when you were little.
20:02You grew up in the system.
20:04A foster kid nobody wanted.
20:07So maybe you don't even know what family means.
20:10She sets her drink on the coffee table and pushes another glass toward me.
20:14Green liquid fizzes under the low lights, glowing like poison.
20:18Abthance.
20:1960 percent.
20:21Drink it.
20:22And I'll forgive you.
20:24I stare at the glass.
20:25Then without thinking, I look at Dante.
20:27I'm allergic to alcohol.
20:29The last time it got bad enough, I ended up in the ICU.
20:32Dante was terrified.
20:34After that, he never let me touch a drink again.
20:36Now he only exhales a thin stream of smoke.
20:39Casual.
20:40Detached.
20:41Like we're talking about the weather.
20:43Tali, it's one drink.
20:45Your tolerance can handle that.
20:47I don't expect anything from him anymore.
20:51Still, my heart clenches so hard hard it hurts.
20:55I pick up the glass.
20:58And swallow.
21:04Fire tears down my throat and hits my stomach like a blade.
21:10Bianca watches with bright, eager eyes.
21:12Well, if Miss Rusi can hold her liquor that well, maybe she should finish these too.
21:18She points to a row of shots lined up on the table.
21:21Tequila.
21:21Vodka.
21:22Mezcal.
21:23More absinthe.
21:27My face goes cold.
21:30Bianca turns to Dante, wounded all over again.
21:33Dante.
21:34She called me a homewrecker.
21:36She threatened to have my parents killed.
21:38I'm traumatized over this.
21:40And all I'm asking for is a tiny little penance.
21:43She tilts her head.
21:45That's not too much, is it?
21:47Of course not.
21:49Dante wraps an arm around her and crushes his cigarette into the ash roll.
21:52Then he looks at me like this is the most reasonable thing in the world.
21:55Tala, I'm trying to help you here.
21:57You took it too far.
21:59Do what Bianca says.
22:01Once she calms down, you can start making this right.
22:04I nod.
22:05Calmly.
22:06One hand presses against the twisting pain in my lower stomach.
22:11Then I reach for the bottle of absinthe.
22:15A few glasses won't cover it.
22:17I'll drink the whole bottle.
22:19I just want to get drunk enough to stop feeling any of this.
22:22The bottle empties down my throat.
22:23And the whole world goes silent.
22:26I don't hear the glass hit the floor.
22:28I only feel something spill from the corner of my mouth.
22:31Hot.
22:33Metallic.
22:34Blood spatters across the floor.
22:36My legs give out and I collapse.
22:38Bianca recoils several steps, disgust flashing across her face.
22:41Miss Rossi, it's one bottle.
22:43Seriously?
22:44You even brought fake blood for this?
22:46His brows knit in irritation.
22:48That's enough.
22:48How long are you going to keep this up?
22:50Bianca's already shown you more mercy than you deserved.
22:52Stop embarrassing yourself and get up.
22:54Blood!
22:55There's blood all over her pants.
22:57This is...
22:57Oh my god, she's mismarrying.
22:58I look up.
22:59All the color drains out of Dante's face in one violent sweep.
23:03And for the first time today, I smile for real.
23:06You can add your child to what you gave her?
23:08Is that enough now?
23:09Years ago, he took a hit during a turf war.
23:12Low in the abdomen.
23:13Too close.
23:14Later, doctors told him he'd almost certainly never have children.
23:17When I found out I was pregnant, I laughed and cried so hard I couldn't breathe.
23:21For one reckless second, I thought God had finally looked my way.
23:24I was waiting for the dress fitting to be over so I could tell him.
23:28I pictured it a hundred different ways.
23:30We'd make up the nursery together.
23:31Argue over baby gear.
23:33Sit up too late with a book of baby names.
23:35Debating Italian names or American ones.
23:38I never imagined betrayal would get there first.
23:41That his affair would come before our baby ever had a chance.
23:44So now I give it all back.
23:46The room explodes into chaos.
23:49Dante moves so fast he knocks the coffee table over.
23:51It crashes aside as he drops to his knees in front of me.
23:54Blood keeps spreading under me.
23:56Soaping through my clothes.
23:57Seeping into the marble.
23:59Too much.
24:00Far too much.
24:01Dante's mouth opens.
24:02But nothing comes out at first.
24:04He's shaking all over.
24:05His hands hover over me.
24:07Useless.
24:07Terrified.
24:08He doesn't even dare touch me.
24:09His eyes are so red they look torn open.
24:12I didn't know.
24:12I swear to God I didn't know.
24:14Leah.
24:15The baby.
24:15Our baby.
24:16Then he jerks for his phone.
24:18911.
24:18Right.
24:19Fuck.
24:20Call 911.
24:21But after he hits the first three numbers, a hand snatches the phone from him and powers
24:25it off.
24:26Are you out of your fucking mind?
24:27Dante, you forgot?
24:29I volunteered at a women's clinic.
24:31I can help.
24:31Let me help.
24:32Bianca crouches.
24:33Her eyes sweep over me.
24:34Cold and glittering.
24:35Then she puts on a show.
24:36Checks my pulse.
24:38Presses here.
24:38There.
24:39And then her hands sink into my lower of abdomen.
24:41Her stileti nails bite through fabric.
24:42She presses down again.
24:43Pain destinates through me so violently my vision goes black at the edges.
24:46I can't even scream.
24:47Warmth keeps pouring out from under me.
24:50My breathing turns shallow.
24:52One dead bastard isn't enough.
24:54I prefer two for the price of one.
24:57She pushes away from me and stands.
24:59Miss Rosie, you're beyond saving.
25:02She jedgers at the blood.
25:04With this much bleeding, a normal person would already be dead.
25:08Do you think everyone here is stupid?
25:10What the hell are you saying?
25:12Bianca lets out a dramatic sigh.
25:15Dante, she played you.
25:17I've seen enough cases to know she was never pregnant.
25:19She's perfectly healthy.
25:21This half-dead act?
25:22All fake.
25:23God knows how many blood bags she hid on herself.
25:25Dante looks at her.
25:26Then at me.
25:27Fake?
25:28She's faking a miscarriage because she doesn't want to apologize to me.
25:32Forget it.
25:33I won't hold it against her.
25:34Let's go.
25:35Once there's no audience, she'll bounce right back.
25:38I drag in one last raggled breath.
25:41Oh, this is a spittle.
25:44Dante crouches.
25:45He takes my hand.
25:47He even smiles.
25:49Then, slowly, he peels my fingers off him one by one.
25:53I thought you were smarter than this, Talia.
25:55If you love performing that much, finish the show by yourself.
25:58He wraps an arm around Bianca's shoulders and walks out the door while I watch.
26:04Helpless.
26:04I lie there on the floor.
26:06The last ten years unspool across my mind like burning film.
26:10The apartment in Brooklyn with no heat.
26:13Dollar pizza, the way he used to grin and push his half toward me.
26:17The first baby lost in that brutal winter and Dante dropping to his knees in the snow, sobbing like a
26:22man being torn apart.
26:24The second baby gone after the fall down the stairs.
26:27Dante cutting his own flesh open and swearing a blood over me.
26:55For the next half month, I know nothing.
26:58No sense of time.
26:59No memory.
27:00Just darkness.
27:01But Dante apparently is doing fine.
27:03He sinks deeper into Bianca's arms.
27:05Takes her to galas.
27:06Flies her to Miami.
27:07Spends his nights wrapped around her like he can't get enough.
27:10Half a week after nearly drinking himself nut on her body.
27:13He attends a friend's private party.
27:15You heard?
27:15The DeLuca family in Boston found their daughter.
27:18The one who was missing for 20 years.
27:21The DeLucas?
27:22The most powerful family on the East Coast?
27:24Those DeLucas.
27:25Don DeLuca and his wife refused to have another child while they were looking for her.
27:2820 years.
27:29Now that they finally have her back, they guard her like she's made of glass.
27:32They threw a homecoming gala for her.
27:34Everyone who matters on the East Coast showed up.
27:36Not much detail on the girl herself though.
27:37Just that she was taken as a child by a mole bought off by a rival family.
27:40Somehow ended up in the New York foster care system.
27:43Missing for 20 years.
27:44I heard Don DeLuca turned over half the East Coast looking for her.
27:47Damn near burned down the underworld trying to find that kid.
27:50He just stands there with his drink in hand.
27:52A daughter missing for 20 years.
27:54Foster care.
27:54New York.
27:55The words land one after another.
27:57And for no reason he can explain, something heavy drops in his chest.
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