Chapter 20 48 % መ D X A second memory crashed in . One I'd buried deep . The day she came home from the cremation . She was holding the urn like it was the last piece of her heart . Her hands were trembling . My parents said she cursed them . That she was unstable . That she'd threatened them . So I slapped her . Slapped her so hard she dropped the urn . The ashes scattered across the marble floor like dust . And fuck she knelt down and started scraping them back together with her bare hands , sobbing like an animal that had just lost its only child . I didn't help her . I didn't even stay . I turned and left the room because I couldn't stand the sight of her pain . Now I know why … Because I caused it . Every moment of it . I let my son die . And I left the mother of my child to suffer alone while I smiled for the camera and danced in someone else's arms . I grabbed the whiskey bottle and hurled it against the wall . It shattered , but I needed more . The glasses went next . The chairs . The table . Everything had to break . Everything had to bleed like I was bleeding inside . Mico didn't speak . He stood there quietly , a split lip and pity in his eyes . But I didn't want his pity . I wanted time to rewind . I wanted a second chance . But the one thing money can't buy … is mercy . And Therese ? She had none left for me . ** I used a burner number . She blocked every damn line connected to me , and I couldn't blame her . After what I did … what I didn't do . The phone rang twice . Then three times . Then … " Hello ? " Her voice came through , soft but confused . She didn't recognize the number . Not . yet . I couldn't speak right away . My throat was raw . Like every word might cut me on the way Chapter 19 3/3 57.6 % 22:11 Sun , Aug 10 48 % X out . " Therese … " I breathed her name like it could bring her back . " Wait . Don't hang up . Please . Just listen for a second . I didn't know , okay ? I didn't know Cleo was gone . If I knew , if I had known- " " You would've what ? " she snapped , ice - cold now . " Left your mistress's bed for five fucking minutes ? " I flinched . She recognized my voice too fast . I shouldn't have expected softness . Not after everything . I tried to say her name again . To say something but she hung up . Just like that . Like I was nothing . Like I deserved nothing . I didn't even think . I hit redial . I needed her to hear me . To know I wasn't some heartless bastard who … Click . The call connected , but this time it wasn't her . A man's voice . Calm . Unshaken . " Stop calling my wife , Mr. Massaro . " My eyes narrowed . " Wife ? Is that what she calls herself now ? " I laughed , but there was no humor in it . " That's cute . Playing house with a man who'll never know her the way I do . " He didn't rise to the bait . No emotion in his voice . Just steel and finality . " You had your chance . And you buried your own son while laughing with another woman . She's not your problem anymore . She's mine now . Call her again , and the only thing you'll be dialing next is your lawyer . " He hung up before I could speak . The silence after that call ? FUCK ! It was louder than anything . I grabbed the phone and hurled it across the suite . It cracked against the mirror and shattered into pieces . Just like everything else in my life . I wasn't done . I flipped the glass table with my bare hands and sent it crashing into the bar counter . Bottles smashed . Liquor spilled everywhere . The rage was boiling out of me , and I didn't want to stop it . Chairs went flying . The framed photo of my father on the shelf ? Gone . I shattered that too . I smashed the lights . Punched the goddamn wall until my knuckles split and the drywall gave way . Outside the door , I could hear them . Mico . The boys . Whispering like I couldn't hear them . " If only he chose his wife instead of the mistress … " " He didn't even know the kid was dying . He was too busy celebrating Ruby's son's birthday … " " Well boss didn't know she was a Duke's daughter all along . He thought she was just an Chapter 20 2/3 59.6 % 22:12 Sun , Aug 10 48 % อ X orphan ." " He humiliated the wrong woman . " " Therese will never forgive him . " I kicked the fucking door . They went quiet . Like rats . Like cowards . I dropped onto the floor , surrounded by the mess I made . Blood on my knuckles . Scotch soaking my shirt . And silence in my ears where my son's laugh used to be . I fucking hated myself . Hated myself for thinking Therese was just playing the victim again . Hated myself for letting Ruby poison my mind and tell me Cleo was doing better . That he was improving . That Therese was exaggerating things like always . But she wasn't . She wasn't . She was telling me the truth . And I left her to face death alone . I chose the wrong woman . And now I've lost the only two people who ever really loved me . And FUCK help me … I deserved it . I never meant for any of this to happen . Not like this . I used to think I had control over everything : money , people , emotions . But sitting here now , in the wreckage of my own damn life , all I can do is drown in it . Grief , guilt , and memories that won't shut up … Flashbacks . The night I met Therese , it was supposed to be just another bar night . I was at Brass Lantern , alone , same as usual , scotch in hand and bitterness on my tongue . Ruby had left a few months before that , walked out like a storm , and I let her . I told myself I didn't care . But deep down , I was empty . Then I saw her .