Page 35 of The Devil Can Be Kind

“I’m sorry you had to hear that, but I felt you deserved the truth.” I could feel him watching me.

I replied with a weak ‘Yup’before gulping back the remainder of my champagne.

“Are you alright?” Concern resonated in Marco’s voice, his gaze still grazing my skin, but I refused to meet it.Couldn’tmeet it.

“It’s not every day you find out how…worthlessyou are. Even to your own family.” I just shook my head sadly, unable to formulate the words without feeling my heart breaking all over again.

The room fell into a tormented silence as I looked at my hands numbly.

“I want to give you a chance to start over, Ada. Here in Chicago.”

Of all the things I was expecting to come out of his mouth, I wasn’t expectingthat. It took my brain a full minute to catch up.

“Through marriage?” I guessed, fully aware of what ‘fresh starts’often meant in our society.

Marco didn’t respond right away, instead waving at the waiters who moved in unison to remove our plates and placing before us a warm chocolate dessert. Only once he had picked up his spoon and had taken a bite did he deign to continue.

“It’s something I am considering.”

I nodded, powerless to stop it even if I had wanted to…but I didn’t. It was the best I could hope for given my situation, and itwas more than I could have expected. I doubted that any other Don would have considered it, given that I was the daughter of his enemy.

If I were married off to one of Marco’s men, it would mean that I’d be cared for financially and given a home. I could learn to care for my husband in time, perhaps even come to love him. If not, then at least I still had my children to live for and a home to run… It was my best chance at happiness.

“Until I can come to some kind ofarrangementwith that, you will live here. You are no longer confined to the estate, but you will take security with you when you leave and return here every evening. Other than that, you can go about your life just as every other female in my family does.”

A small spark of hope lit in my chest.

“Can I go shopping?” I asked tentatively.

“That constitutes going out, doesn’t it?” He responded dryly, wolfing down another mouthful.

“Can I get a job?”

Marco looked slightly insulted by my question, pausing mid-chew and meeting me with a curious expression on his face. “Do you want a job?”

I guess it wasn’t common for women in the Cosa Nostra to want to work, with many perceiving it as a blight on the male she was attached to. Indeed, my Mamma certainly never had to lift a finger before the ‘Parker Family’ ruse and even then, exactly what she did at her store couldn’t be consideredworkin the traditional sense. She had staff forthat.

It just wasn’t the way in our society and while the rest of modern women have marched on with the times, most of us were happy enough with our traditions to not wish for more.

I contemplated my answer a moment. “Maybe. I will need some way of financing mywonderfulnew life in Chicago after all.” I finished sardonically.

“If that is your only reason for working, then you need not bother.”

Marco reached into his jacket and pulled out something small and black between his fingers. He then rose from his seat and slowly walked the distance to my end of the room, much like a Lion casually stalks its prey.

He came to a stop mere feet away and slid a shiny card across the table beside me.

“Abuse it and you will lose it.”

I stared cautiously at the onyx card while he retook his seat, feeling a swell of gratitude for the Don who was seemingly less of a monster with every day that passed.

I glanced over at him and met his gaze. A glass tumbler of whiskey already swirled in his hand.

“Thank you.”

CHAPTER

EIGHT

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