- 35 minutes ago
The Mafia Princess Returns Ten Years Of Betrayal
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00I've been preparing for the wedding for six months.
00:03The church, the flowers, the invitations, the rehearsal dinner.
00:09Every detail done exactly the way I like it.
00:14While somewhere I can't see, he's pouring that same effort into wearing another woman down.
00:26Tesoro, I've seen you in the wedding dress.
00:28As for the wedding itself, I won't be there.
00:31Yante Moretti buckles my seatbelt like he always does,
00:35then casually calls off our wedding next week.
00:37I freeze, still holding the garment bag from my final fitting.
00:42What do you mean?
00:44There's someone else.
00:46She wouldn't settle for anything less than being my wife, so I married her.
00:49Last night. In Vegas.
00:51His voice stays easy. Almost gentle.
00:54I'm another woman's husband now.
00:56If I still go through with a wedding with you, my wife's gonna get hurt.
01:00White noise floods my head.
01:02My voice comes out thin and shaking.
01:05Why? We're one week away from getting married.
01:08Tesoro, don't look at me like that.
01:10You know you're the one I love.
01:13But she kept turning me down.
01:16Again and again.
01:18For six months.
01:19And I can't even remember the last time anyone had the nerve to tell me no.
01:23Keep the dress.
01:25Throw your little wedding party if it means that much to you.
01:28I hate seeing you upset.
01:30The dress is still in the back seat.
01:33White.
01:34Now it looks like a shroud.
01:36My hand trembles as I shove the ultrasound printout back into my bag.
01:40I was going to surprise him with it.
01:43He's right about one thing.
01:45I deserve better than this.
01:48Dante brushes a strand of hair behind my ear like nothing has changed.
01:53You know how stubborn she is.
01:55Wouldn't let me touch her unless I put a ring on it.
01:58Six months of chasing her.
01:59And last night, she finally gave in.
02:02I stare at him.
02:04Numb and freezing.
02:05Like invisible fingers are closing around my throat.
02:07Right there in that seat too.
02:08She's like a little wildcat.
02:10Scratches first, then melts all over you.
02:12The handprints are still there.
02:14One large.
02:15One small.
02:16Overlapping.
02:18Nausea rolls through me so hard I almost choke on it.
02:20I grip the seatbelt until my knuckles ache and my vision burns.
02:24He cups my face, frowning a little like he honestly doesn't understand.
02:29Why are you crying?
02:31You're still mine.
02:33His eyes are nearly black.
02:34And behind them is something that looks horrifyingly close to tenderness.
02:39As if the man calmly telling me he married another woman, then savoring the memory of taking her in my
02:44seat, isn't the same man touching me now.
02:55I know this hurts, but if I show up, she'll take it badly.
02:59I spent six months chasing her, Talia.
03:01Six months.
03:02She wanted the real thing.
03:03A ring.
03:04My name.
03:05Not half a man.
03:07So be reasonable.
03:09She wanted the real thing.
03:11A ring.
03:12My name.
03:13Not half a man.
03:15So be reasonable.
03:18Six months.
03:19We've been planning our wedding for six months, too.
03:24The church, the flowers, the invitations, the rehearsal dinner.
03:28Every detail done exactly the way I like it.
03:31While somewhere I can't see, he's pouring that same effort into wearing another woman down.
03:36If you married someone else, then we're done.
03:39You've been mine since you were 18.
03:42You've bled for me twice.
03:46Leave me?
03:48What man out there would dare touch what belongs to me?
03:51What?
03:51Now?
03:52Don't say stupid shit when you're upset.
03:56I just look at him.
03:58My chest feels banded from the inside out.
04:02Ten years.
04:05We used to cram ourselves into a freezing apartment in East Brooklyn with no heat.
04:10Split one dollar slice and call it dinner.
04:14On the worst days, we filled our stomachs with tap water and pretended it helped.
04:18We couldn't even afford basic birth control.
04:21No insurance.
04:22No safety net.
04:28I got pregnant twice.
04:33I lose the first baby during the coldest winter in New York.
04:36I'm working three jobs at once.
04:37A diner.
04:39A laundromat.
04:40Night shifts at a boyaga.
04:40I stay cold for so long my body gives out.
04:44The second baby dies after one of Dante's rival crews shoves me down a staircase.
04:51I live through both losses.
04:53Barely.
04:54I cry until there's nothing left in me.
04:57Then I bury two children I never get to hold.
05:01Dante kneels beside my hospital bed.
05:04He pulls a knife from his waistband and slices two lines across his lower stomach.
05:08Blood runs down his skin.
05:12With that same bloody hand, he covers my eyes.
05:16Leah.
05:17I swear on my blood.
05:19I'll give you the life you deserve.
05:21And if I ever betray you, may I die with no one left to mourn me.
05:25A blood oath.
05:27In his world, that is the heaviest promise a man can make.
05:32And I believe it for half my life.
05:35Now that promise loses to a woman he's known for six months.
05:38I don't understand it.
05:41How does a man who once loved me like that go rotten this fast?
05:46His phone rings.
05:49The ringtone is distinctive.
05:51I've heard it at night more times than I can count.
05:54Dante always says it's business.
05:56I trust him so completely I never question it.
05:59Now I know how stupid that makes me.
06:01He doesn't answer right away.
06:03His tone stays calm, patient.
06:05Like he's humoring a child.
06:08Why are you picking a fight with a plaything?
06:11We've got ten years together.
06:13You really want to throw that away over a piece of paper?
06:16You can Uber home.
06:17I need to pick her up.
06:22You're not twenty anymore, Talia.
06:24No family name.
06:25No connections.
06:27No one coming for you.
06:30I'm the only man who'd keep you.
06:32So stop making a scene before I stop finding it cute.
06:35He pulls the car over.
06:37You can Uber home.
06:38I need to pick her up.
06:39Think about what I said.
06:40The door shuts.
06:42I watch his blacked out escalade tear down the street.
06:45Then I bend over on the curb and throw up until my face is wet.
06:49Dante is wrong.
06:50No man signs a marriage license with a plaything.
06:53That piece of paper I waited ten years for?
06:55He gives it to someone else in six months.
06:58Love doesn't change.
07:00It just moves.
07:01Then I take out my phone and dial a number.
07:03I saved it six months ago.
07:05I've never called it.
07:07Natalia, is that you?
07:09Papa.
07:11I need to come home.
07:13Tell me where you are.
07:14I'll send someone.
07:15Tonight.
07:16Not tonight.
07:17There's something I need to deal with first.
07:20When I get home, Dante's blacked out escalade is already parked outside.
07:26A woman's breathy moan spills out.
07:30Say my name.
07:31Dante.
07:33Who do you love most?
07:37You, Dante.
07:39Good girl.
07:42I stop where I am.
07:44My face goes numb.
07:46The summer night is stifling, but suddenly I'm back in the coldest night of a New York winter.
07:51An hour later, Dante walks in with a small woman tucked under his arm.
07:55The second Bianca sees me sitting in the living room.
07:57Why is she here?
07:58You told me this was our home.
08:00Her voice quivers perfectly.
08:02Were you lying to me?
08:03You're still not over her, are you?
08:05I won't be the other woman.
08:06I don't care how much I love you.
08:08I'm not throwing away my dignity for this.
08:10I'm leaving.
08:10Right now.
08:14What are you talking about?
08:15The marriage license is signed and filed.
08:18You're my wife.
08:19Of course this is our home.
08:21She's just here to pack.
08:22Then he looks at me.
08:23No explanation.
08:25No apology.
08:26Tala, the house upstate is empty this time of year.
08:28Quiet, too.
08:29Go stay there for a while.
08:30For one second, my mind blanks.
08:32Pain hits before anger does.
08:34Dull.
08:35Physical.
08:35Right in the heart.
08:36Three years ago, when we moved into this brownstone, Dante held me so tight his eyes
08:41went red.
08:42Leah, this is our home.
08:44You, me, and our kids someday.
08:46Now the same man is throwing me out of it.
08:50Talia, my wife is upset.
08:52I'm not saying this twice.
08:56After a long silence, with all that smug certainty in his eyes, I smile.
09:01I understand.
09:02Dante watches me stand.
09:03Something shifts in his face.
09:05He strides after me and catches my wrist.
09:07His voice softens.
09:08There's a gala this afternoon.
09:10Come with me.
09:11It's Bianca's first time at an event like that.
09:13Help with her train.
09:15Show her the ropes.
09:16I just stare at him.
09:18The whole thing is so absurd, I almost laugh.
09:20Then I think about how little time I have left, and I don't argue.
09:24Before the gala, Bianca claims she has nothing suitable to wear.
09:27From my closet, she picks the most expensive birthday gift Dante ever gave me with surgical
09:31precision.
09:32A Valentin Haute Couture gown, plus the antique diamond peragi that goes with it.
09:35At the Met Charity Gala, Bianca walks in on Dante's arm.
09:39I carry her trail.
09:40She becomes the center of the room, and I become the joke trailing behind her.
09:45The whispers follow me everywhere.
09:47Moretti really knows how to keep his women in line, huh?
09:49The fiancé carrying the train for the mistress, and she doesn't even flinch.
09:52What fiancé?
09:53Didn't you hear?
09:54Moretti flew that little thing to Vegas and married her.
09:56Talia Rossi is nothing.
09:58Ten years for free, then tossed aside.
10:00Not even worth gossiping about.
10:02How dumb do you have to be to give a man a decade and walk away with nothing?
10:05Hell, even strays have more pride.
10:07She'd be better off dead.
10:09I leave the ballroom and lock myself in the powder room.
10:13Then I hear voices outside.
10:15Someone is teasing Dante.
10:17Come on, Moretti.
10:18Talia's been with you for ten years.
10:20You really married Bianca?
10:21Bianca wanted security.
10:23A piece of paper.
10:24That's all it is.
10:25What does it really change?
10:26And if Talia leaves you over it, you won't regret that?
10:29My heart jerks hard in my chest.
10:32Then Dante laughs.
10:35Her whole world is me.
10:37She's been with me ten years.
10:38She wouldn't know how to function without me.
10:40Right now she's like an old coat shoved in the back of a closet.
10:43Comfortable, sure.
10:45But not something I'd ever be seen wearing.
10:46I know her better than she knows herself.
10:49When I'm done having my fun, she'll still be right where I left her.
10:51What else is she gonna do?
10:52Wait.
10:55I don't hear the rest.
10:57I stumble to the sink and splash water over my face again and again.
11:02Then I bite down on my finger to keep from making a sound.
11:05Water drips from my chin.
11:07Humiliation falls with it.
11:09Still, I don't cry out.
11:11Dante Marati.
11:12This time, you bet wrong.
11:14That old coat you tossed aside?
11:16It's not waiting for you anymore.
11:18I turn and walk out of the powder room.
11:21And a slap cracks across my face.
11:23I clamp a hand over my burning cheek and turn.
11:26Stunned.
11:27Bianca rolls her wrist once.
11:29Calm as you please.
11:30The sweet, harmless look is gone from her face like someone ripped the mask right off.
11:34You heard him.
11:35He married me.
11:38The ring, the name, the license?
11:40They're mine.
11:46And you're still here, hanging on like some stray dog that doesn't realize it's been kicked out.
11:51God, that's pathetic.
11:53Her mouth curls.
11:57If you're this desperate to be used, there are corners in the Bronx where men will pay for it.
12:02At least then you'd finally be earning your keep.
12:06Though for someone like you?
12:07Ten years freeloading.
12:09A charity case who gives it away for free.
12:11You're probably only good enough for gutter trash in the project.
12:12There's a loud buzzing in my head.
12:15There's a loud buzzing in my head.
12:16All I can see is her mouth moving.
12:19Sharp.
12:19Ugly.
12:20Relentless.
12:21I'm so angry I almost laugh.
12:23But Bianca doesn't give me the chance to answer.
12:25She suddenly lets out a shriek, grabs the front of her dress, and yanks the neckline open.
12:29Then she throws herself backward.
12:31Talia!
12:32Please!
12:33Stop!
12:36Talia!
12:47Talia!
12:47Dante rushes over, lifts Bianca up, and folds her into his arms.
12:52She's crying so hard she can barely stand.
12:54Dante, I'm the other woman.
12:57I'm the one who ruined what you had.
13:00It's all my fault.
13:02I never should have come into your life.
13:06I'm the homewrecker here.
13:08I'm the villain.
13:09Who said that to you?
13:11Bianca bites her lip and clutches at her torn dress.
13:14Please, don't ask.
13:19Then her eyes flick to me.
13:21Fear.
13:22Delicate.
13:22Calculated.
13:23Someone like me could never go up against someone like her.
13:27Wives from powerful families.
13:29Her voice trembles harder.
13:30I'm nothing next to that.
13:32Dante, I'm not good enough for you.
13:34Just let me go.
13:36Please.
13:37I don't want to wake up dead over something I didn't even do.
13:40His face turns cold.
13:42He looks at me.
13:44Explain.
13:45I lower my hand and show him my swollen cheek.
13:49You should ask her what she said.
13:51Miss Rossi!
13:52Yes, I slapped you.
13:54But only after you threatened to make my parents disappear from this world.
13:59They're ordinary people.
14:02If you're still mad, hit me back.
14:04But leave my family out of it.
14:07That's a lie.
14:08You were the one who-
14:09Enough!
14:10Dante cuts across me.
14:12His stare is flat with disappointment.
14:15Talia, I spoiled you.
14:17He takes one slow step closer.
14:19Do you really think just because you have no family name and nobody backing you I won't touch you?
14:24A hollow laugh escapes me.
14:26My eyes sting.
14:27So what are you going to do?
14:29Defend your wife?
14:30He walks up to me, unhurried.
14:32Then his fingers close around the ring on my hand.
14:34The ring he made himself after he earned his first real money.
14:37A rough diamond, hand cut and set by him alone.
14:40Inside the band, one word is engraved.
14:42Semper always.
14:43He slides it off my finger.
14:45Then he turns to Marco.
14:46Make the call.
14:47Get our people at the precinct down here.
14:49Boss?
14:50Tell them my wife's jewelry was stolen.
14:52Caught red-handed.
14:54I forget how to move.
14:55My mind goes completely blank.
14:57Dante never has it easy.
14:59He claws his way up from the streets of Brooklyn.
15:01Men like him survive by being harder, meaner, more ruthless than everyone else.
15:06I am the one exception.
15:07His one soft spot, right or wrong, he always stands in front of me.
15:12No one in New York dares use dirty tricks on me until now.
15:15And the one driving the knife straight into my heart is him.
15:19Dante rubs his thumb over the ring.
15:20My tears blur his cold face until he looks like a stranger.
15:24You disappointed me, Talia.
15:25Go sit inside for a few days and think about what you did.
15:29Don't worry.
15:30It won't be long.
15:31When you get out, I'll put this back on your finger myself.
15:37Two uniformed officers walk in.
15:39Cops on Dante's payroll.
15:40They cuff my wrists.
15:42At the same time, I pull my hand free from his grip.
15:44The sudden emptiness seems to unsettle him.
15:47Dante's brow tightens.
15:48He stares at my back with the strangest look on his face,
15:51like something is slipping away and he can't get it back.
15:53He starts toward me.
15:55Bianca beats him to it, looping herself around his arm.
15:57Dante!
15:59Thank you for standing up for me.
16:01I was so scared.
16:05What do you want to make it up to you?
16:07Bianca bleams.
16:08Then she plucks the ring from his hand and drops it into the track.
16:11Dante's face changes.
16:12Only for a second.
16:14A muscle jumps in his jaw, then disappears.
16:17Bianca's eyes go wide at once.
16:19Hurt rushes into them like she can summon it on command.
16:21Was it that important?
16:22She bends toward the trash can.
16:26Then I'll get it back for you.
16:28Ten years is still ten years.
16:30Even if she did hurt me, I don't want to make things harder for you.
16:33Dante catches her by the waist and pulls her back.
16:36Not a chance.
16:37His voice softens.
16:46He slips his black Amex into her palm.
16:53Go buy whatever you want.
16:57She pouts and pushes it back.
17:01I don't want your money.
17:03I love you.
17:04Not your money.
17:11He presses the card into her hand again.
17:17If you don't use it, it'll bother me.
17:24Fine.
17:25Only because you insist.
17:28Like she's humoring him.
17:29No one picks the ring back up.
17:31It stays in the trash.
17:32Buried between cocktail napkins and cigarette butts.
17:35The word engraved inside the band faces up.
17:38Sempera.
17:38Forever.
17:39Buried with the garbage.
17:43Three days later, they drag me out of holding.
17:46I barely know where I am.
17:48Three days in a precinct Dante controls.
17:50Locked up with real predators.
17:52No one tells me why I'm still there.
17:54No one asks if I need a doctor.
17:57Bianca even sends a message as Mrs. Moretti.
17:59She's a thief.
18:00He despises her.
18:01Make sure she learns her lesson.
18:03Don't hold back.
18:04They drive me straight to one of Dante's nightclubs.
18:07His club is terrible.
18:09Then they shove me into a VIP room.
18:13Dante and Bianca are on the center couch.
18:16Sharing a grape from opposite ends.
18:20The grape falls.
18:22They end up kissing instead.
18:25The room erupts around me.
18:27Men shouting.
18:28Women laughing.
18:29Glasses clinking.
18:30The whole place practically shakes with it.
18:32I don't know how long I stay in my life to Dante.
18:35His eyes land on my face.
18:37My cheeks are hollow now.
18:39My skin is almost gray.
18:40His expression darkens instantly.
18:42What the hell happened to you?
18:45Did someone in there put their hands on you?
18:47Before I can answer, Bianca lets out a light laugh.
18:52Miss Rossi really knows how to play a man's heart.
18:55Come on.
18:56Because of your history with Dante, who would dare touch her?
19:00That sickly little look is makeup.
19:02Pretty convincing though.
19:03Must have taken a while.
19:04Dante pauses.
19:06Then he sinks back down.
19:07He taps a cigarette from the pack and leans into the flame.
19:10Bianca holds out for him.
19:12Smoke curls between us, blurring his face.
19:14Only his eyes stay clear.
19:16Hard.
19:17Tired.
19:18Already annoyed.
19:19If you're done reflecting, come apologize to Bianca.
19:22She sits curled in his lap like innocence itself.
19:24I really didn't want to make things difficult for you.
19:27But you insulted my family.
19:29You threatened them.
19:31Anyone would be upset.
19:32Then she pauses.
19:34Oh.
19:35Right.
19:36I forgot.
19:37Your parents threw you away when you were little.
19:40You grew away when you were little.
19:42You grew up in the system.
19:44A foster kid nobody wanted.
19:47So maybe you don't even know what family means.
19:50She sets her drink on the coffee table and pushes another glass toward me.
19:54Green liquid fizzes under the low lights, glowing like poison.
19:57Abthance.
19:5960%.
20:00Drink it.
20:01And I'll forgive you.
20:03I stare at the glass.
20:04Then, without thinking, I look at Dante.
20:07I'm allergic to alcohol.
20:08The last time it got bad enough, I ended up in the ICU.
20:11Dante was terrified.
20:13After that, he never let me touch a drink again.
20:15Now he only exhales a thin stream of smoke.
20:19Casual.
20:20Detached.
20:20Like we're talking about the weather.
20:23Tally, it's one drink.
20:24Your tolerance can handle that.
20:26I don't expect anything from him anymore.
20:29Still, my heart clenches so hard hard it hurts.
20:34I pick up the glass.
20:37And swallow.
20:43Fire tears down my throat and hits my stomach like a blade.
20:49Bianca watches with bright, eager eyes.
20:51Well, if Miss Rusi can hold her liquor that well, maybe she should finish these too.
20:56She points to a row of shots lined up on the table.
21:00Tequila.
21:00Vodka.
21:01Mezcal.
21:02More absinthe.
21:05My face goes cold.
21:08Bianca turns to Dante, wounded all over again.
21:12Dante.
21:13She called me a homewrecker.
21:15She threatened to have my parents killed.
21:17I'm traumatized over this.
21:19And all I'm asking for is a tiny little penance.
21:22She tilts her head.
21:23That's not too much, is it?
21:25Of course not.
21:27Dante wraps an arm around her and crushes his cigarette into the ash roll.
21:30Then he looks at me like this is the most reasonable thing in the world.
21:33Tala, I'm trying to help you here.
21:36You took it too far.
21:37Do what Bianca says.
21:39Once she calms down, you can start making this right.
21:42I nod.
21:43Calmly.
21:44One hand presses against the twisting pain in my lower stomach.
21:49Then I reach for the bottle of absinthe.
21:53A few glasses won't cover it.
21:55I'll drink the whole bottle.
21:57I just want to get drunk enough to stop feeling any of this.
22:00The bottle empties down my throat.
22:01And the whole world goes silent.
22:03I don't hear the glass hit the floor.
22:06I only feel something spill from the corner of my mouth.
22:09Hot.
22:11Metallic.
22:12Blood spatters across the floor.
22:14My legs give out and I collapse.
22:16Fianna recoils several steps, disgust flashing across her face.
22:19Miss Rossi, it's one bottle.
22:21Seriously?
22:22You even brought fake blood for this?
22:23His brows knit in irritation.
22:25That's enough.
22:26How long are you going to keep this up?
22:27Bianca's already shown you more mercy than you deserved.
22:30Stop embarrassing yourself and get up.
22:32Blood!
22:33There's blood all over her pants.
22:34This is...
22:34Oh my god, she's mismarrying.
22:36I look up.
22:37All the color drains out of Dante's face in one violent sweep.
22:40And for the first time today, I smile for real.
22:43You can add your child to what you gave her.
22:45Is that enough now?
22:46Years ago, he took a hit during a turf war.
22:49Low in the abdomen.
22:50Too close.
22:51Later, doctors told him he'd almost certainly never have children.
22:54When I found out I was pregnant, I laughed and cried so hard I couldn't breathe.
22:58For one reckless second, I thought God had finally looked my way.
23:02I was waiting for the dress fitting to be over so I could tell him.
23:05I pictured it a hundred different ways.
23:07We'd make up the nursery together.
23:08Argue over baby gear.
23:10Sit up too late with a book of baby names.
23:12Debating Italian names or American ones.
23:15I never imagined betrayal would get there first.
23:18That his affair would come before our baby ever had a chance.
23:21So now I give it all back.
23:23The room explodes into chaos.
23:25Dante moves so fast he knocks the coffee table over.
23:28It crashes aside as he drops to his knees in front of me.
23:31Blood keeps spreading under me.
23:33Soaping through my clothes.
23:34Seeping into the marble.
23:35Too much.
23:36Far too much.
23:37Dante's mouth opens, but nothing comes out at first.
23:40He's shaking all over.
23:41His hands hover over me.
23:43Useless.
23:44Terrified.
23:44He doesn't even dare touch me.
23:46His eyes are so red they look torn open.
23:48I didn't know.
23:49I swear to God, I didn't know.
23:50Leah.
23:51The baby.
23:52Our baby.
23:52Then he jerks for his phone.
23:54911.
23:55Right.
23:55Fuck.
23:56Call 911.
23:57But after he hits the first three numbers, a hand snatches the phone from him and powers
24:01it off.
24:02Are you out of your fucking mind?
24:03Dante, you forgot?
24:05I volunteered at a women's clinic.
24:07I can help.
24:07Let me help.
24:08Bianca crouches.
24:09Her eyes sweep over me.
24:10Cold and glittering.
24:11Then she puts on a show.
24:13Checks my pulse.
24:13Presses here, there.
24:14And then her hands sink into my lower of abdomen.
24:17Her stileti nails bite through fabric.
24:18She presses down again.
24:19Pain destinates through me so violently my vision goes black at the edges.
24:22I can't even scream.
24:23Warmth keeps pouring out from under me.
24:25My breathing turns shallow.
24:28One dead bastard isn't enough.
24:30I prefer two for the price of one.
24:32She pushes away from me.
24:34She pushes away from me and stands.
24:35Miss Rosie, you're beyond saving.
24:38She judgers at the blood.
24:40With this much bleeding, a normal person would already be dead.
24:44Do you think everyone here is stupid?
24:46What the hell are you saying?
24:47Bianca lets out a dramatic sigh.
24:50Dante, she played you.
24:52I've seen enough cases to know she was never pregnant.
24:55She's perfectly healthy.
24:56This half-dead act?
24:57All fake.
24:58God knows how many blood bags she hit on herself.
25:00Dante looks at her.
25:02Then at me.
25:03Fake?
25:04She's faking a miscarriage because she doesn't want to apologize to me.
25:07Forget it.
25:08I won't hold it against her.
25:09Let's go.
25:10Once there's no audience, she'll bounce right back.
25:13I drag in one last raggled breath.
25:17Hospice.
25:18Spital.
25:19Dante crouches.
25:20He takes my hand.
25:22He even smiles.
25:24Then, slowly, he peels my fingers off him one by one.
25:28I thought you were smarter than this, Talia.
25:30If you love performing that much, finish the show by yourself.
25:33He wraps an arm around Bianca's shoulders and walks out the door while I watch.
25:38Helpless.
25:39I lie there on the floor.
25:41The last ten years unspool across my mind like burning film.
25:45The apartment in Brooklyn with no heat.
25:48Dollar pizza.
25:49The way he used to grin and push his half toward me.
25:51The first baby lost in that brutal winter.
25:54And Dante dropping to his knees in the snow, sobbing like a man being torn apart.
25:58The second baby gone after the fall down the stairs.
26:01Dante cutting his own flesh open and swearing a blood over me.
26:05Semperi, he said.
26:06Forever.
26:08That ring is in a trash can now.
26:11And I'm on the carpet of his nightclub VIP room, drowning in the blood of our child.
26:15Every memory turns to smoke.
26:17Every promise goes with it.
26:19Something warm slides down into my hairline.
26:22Tears.
26:23Then darkness starts to pull me under.
26:25Just before I black out, the VIP room door bursts open.
26:29Save her!
26:29Now!
26:30For the next half month, I know nothing.
26:32No sense of time.
26:33No memory.
26:34Just darkness.
26:35But Dante apparently is doing fine.
26:37He sinks deeper into Bianca's arms.
26:38Takes her to galas.
26:40Flies her to Miami.
26:41Spends his nights wrapped around her like he can't get enough.
26:44Half a week after nearly drinking himself nut on her body.
26:47He attends a friend's private party.
26:49You heard?
26:49The DeLuca family in Boston found their daughter.
26:52The one who was missing for 20 years.
26:54The DeLucas?
26:56The most powerful family on the East Coast?
26:58Those DeLucas.
26:59Don DeLuca and his wife refused to have another child while they were looking for her.
27:0220 years.
27:03Now that they finally have her back, they guard her like she's made of glass.
27:06They threw a homecoming gala for her.
27:07Everyone who matters on the East Coast showed up.
27:09Not much detail on the girl herself though.
27:11Just that she was taken as a child by a mole bought off by a rival family.
27:14Somehow ended up in the New York foster care system.
27:16Missing for 20 years.
27:17I heard Don DeLuca turned over half the East Coast looking for her.
27:20Damn near burned down the underworld trying to find that kid.
27:23He just stands there with his drink in hand.
27:25A daughter missing for 20 years.
27:27Foster care.
27:27New York.
27:28The words land one after another.
27:30And for no reason he can explain.
27:32Something heavy drops in his chest.
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