Page 71 of Angelo

He stated firmly, "I have made my decision, you cannot change my mind, and I refuse to drag you down with me. All the pieces are in play. It is too late to back out now."

"If you go to prison over this..."

"You keep talking as though I am going to get caught. I outlived my brothers. I outplayed Aberto, Domenic, and Carlo. There is a devil in me that cannot be beaten. Have faith, wife. Hell is already my playground.”

"I want to believe in you, Alessio—truly, I do—but what if you fail?"

"Then I fail," he said, "and prison will welcome me with open arms. Even behind bars, though, I will make sure that you are well taken care of."

Elyse felt at a loss. Listening to him talk and talk and talk was making it hard to breathe. She was beginning to feel borderline hysterical. “Just shut up.Please.”

“What?”

Her emotions erupted like hellfire, "I don't care about what happens to me! What about us? What about our marriage? You promised that we would grow old together!"

Alessandro looked at her brokenly. "I am trying to do what is best for us!"

She loved him for his selflessness. But she hated him for it even more. He should've consulted her. The idiot was ready to go to prison over his noble, idiotic plan. In this instance, one could argue that her husband had, when push finally came to shove, chosen woman overcosca, but never did she think such a triumph would taste like defeat.

Elyse was on the verge of a breakdown. Hot, uncontrollable tears spilled down her cheeks. "H-Has it ever occurred to you that I want what's best for you? Why didn't you talk to me first?"

Her husband's thumb swept across her cheek to wipe away the wetness. "Do not cry,cuore mio, I promise—"

A knock at the door interrupted Alessandro in mid-sentence.

"Signora Vitale?There is an important call for you."

It was Malina.

The timing couldn't have been worse. Elyse tried to calm the storm within her. "Who is it, Malina?"

"I have a woman on hold right now," came Malina's reply. "Her name is Abby Sommers. She claims to be a representative from the John Sheldon Walsh Home."

Elyse's eyes rounded out with dismay. The John Sheldon Walsh Home was the hospice in New York where Robbie Romero was being kept on life support.

Through the door, Malina informed Elyse, "She has news to share about your father."

Words held the power to change everything within seconds.

Hello, Dr. Romero.

In the past, she’d always been on the giving end of this sort of life-changing news.

My name is Abby Sommers.

As a trauma surgeon, she was the one who shared these words with the families of patients.

I'm the hospice chaplain from the John Sheldon Walsh Home.

This was the first time Elyse had been on the other end.The receiving end. The chaplain's words spun round and round like a broken record.

While she was on the call, Alessandro had been standing beside her. Worry was etched into every line on his face, but Elyse barely noticed him. The world faded away.

I regret to inform you that—

Her body grew numb as a torrent of grief set in. It felt dull, jaded, and heavy. After the lengths she had gone through, to graduate medical school, to become a surgeon, to use her salary to pay off her father's debts, to suffer under Stefano's beck and call for one whole year—

Your father, Robert Romero, passed away today at 4:44 am. He died of a heart attack.

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