Page 65 of The Cost of Corruption

She wouldn’t understand that once an idea lodged in his head, there was no getting it out or that his pride was more important than his own flesh and blood.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” This time, I tried dodging to the left, but I still came up short.

“Well, too bad,” Liv shot back. “Because I don’t want you to leave.”

The sincerity in her voice cracked another fissure in my already broken heart.

“Neither do I, but…”

Liv’s hands cupped over my shoulders, holding me in place. “Butwhat?”

“But…I can’t.”

I knew it wasn’t enough, but it was the only answer I could give.

“Did you get in a fight with Matteo?” she asked. “Did something bad happen in the club last night?”

I shook my head, but in the absence of an answer, Liv just kept throwing out one wild speculation after another.

“Did one of the club girls come on to him?” she asked. “Because that still happens with Gabriel sometimes. But youknow, just because they throw themselves at our guys, it doesn’t mean that Gabriel or Matteo are interested. Or—Oh God!—did he actually hook up with someone else?”

I could have lied and agreed with any of the scenarios she was tossing out there. It would have made what I had to do next so much easier. But even imagining Matteo doing something so cruel that made my stomach churn.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “This is my decision. It was always part of our deal that I could go back to the convent if I wanted to, and last night, I realized I wanted to.”

Liv’s eyes narrowed. Even though everything I said was technically the truth, she could clearly sense the lie underneath.

“But you just said you didn’t want to leave.”

Right.

“I don’t,” I admitted. “Part of me wants to stay, but a bigger part wants to go.”

That was the part that wanted Matteo’s family and mine to survive. The part that wanted to keep the streets of New York free from the violence and bloodshed of a mob war. The part that knew that there was no other way.

Liv’s mouth flattened into a thin, straight line as she stared at me for another few seconds.

Then, even though suspicion and doubt were written all over her face, she let go of my shoulders and stepped to the side, letting me pass.

Of course, it wasn’t a complete surrender. Being Liv, she still felt compelled to make her misgivings known.

“I don’t know about this,” she said as I loaded the last of my things into the bag and zipped it up. “Everything seems…off.”

She wasn’t wrong

It was a screwed-up situation. One where there were no good answers or easy solutions.

Hooking the bag in the crook of my arm, I turned around to face one of the only true friends I’d ever had in my life.

“I’m going to miss you,” I said.

Her lips pulled down in a hard frown even, as her eyes started to mist up with tears. “I’m going to miss you, too.”

She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tight.

“I wrote Matteo a note,” I said. “Will you make sure he gets it?”

The moment Liv released her hold on me, I pointed to the table where the envelope sat. Inside was a detailed explanation of why I had to leave. After everything he’d given me this week, I figured the least I owed him was the truth.

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