Page 54 of The Fixer

Her words slice deep, cutting open a scar that’s never completely healed. “It’s been twenty years, Francesca,” I say quietly.

“So what?” she demands bitterly. “Patti is dead. Does the passage of time change that?” She picks up a cushion and sets it down again. “Our mother begged her not to get involved with you, and I pleaded with her to walk away. We all knew that marrying you was signing her death sentence, but Patti wouldn’t listen. She never did.”

Her comment kicks me in the gut. “Silvia didn’t want me to marry Patrizia?”

“What did you expect, Leo? You’re Mafia. Your world is too bloody, too violent. So many times, I warned Patti that if she married you, it would end in tears. And it did, didn’t it? The moment you put a ring on my sister’s finger, she was a dead woman.”

She covers her face in her hands and sinks onto the couch. I stay frozen where I am, my head reeling. My mother and I lived next door to Silvia and her two daughters. The three of us grew up together. I ate dinner with them every single Sunday. Silvia would make plump gnocchi because it was my favorite. I loved her as much as I loved my own mother.

And it turned out that the entire time I thoughtthey were family,they were warning Patrizia to stay away from me.

Francesca takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” she says, her voice stiff. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It was rude of me. As you said, Patti died a long time ago.”

It’s an apology that’s notable not because of what she’s saying but because of what she isn’t. The words she doesn’t say? I wish you well. I don’t blame you for Patricia’s death. You deserve to be happy.

Then again, why should she? She’s not wrong. I was responsible for her sister’s death. The moment I asked Patrizia to marry me, I marked her.

And I’m doing it again.

Once upon a time, the woman I loved died, and it wrecked me. Yet here I am, setting another wedding date. What the fuck is wrong with me? I’m putting a ring on Rosa’s finger, and I’m drawing a target on her back.

And if something were to happen to her. . .

I will not be able to survive it.

26

ROSA

Imake sure to wear my ring when I go to the gym on Monday evening, hoping to avoid another Simon incident, but he isn’t there. Phew. Relieved that I’ve missed him, I head to the women’s changing room, where Ali is lacing her shoes. “Hey, Rosa,” she chirps. “I have your dress, so don’t let me forget to give it to you.” She bounces to her feet. “What happened to you Wednesday? I was going to ask you if you wanted to grab a drink after class, but you tore out of here.”

I move my hand behind my back so she can’t see my ring. It’s a dumb thing to do, and I don’t know why I’m feeling so weird about announcing my engagement. Things are going really well with Leo, and I’m significantly more hopeful about mymarriage than I was this time last week. But Ali knows about my crush on Leo. She knows I invited him to my hotel room after Valentina’s wedding and that he turned me down. When she sees the ring, Ali will have a thousand questions about how and when we got together, and unlike my mother, she won’t be easy to fool.

“I had dinner plans,” I mumble, bracing myself. She’s bound to ask me who I had dinner plans with and whether it was a date, and then I’m going to have to tell her everything.

But she doesn’t seem to register my words. “You’ll never guess what happened this weekend,” she bursts out. “It’s the most unbelievable thing.”

Ali has a positively gleeful expression on her face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look this thrilled. “What happened?”

“Simon didn’t show up to teach his class on Friday. I called him, and he didn’t even pick up his phone.”

“There’s nothing unbelievable about that. Why do you look excited?”

“Because of the next part. On Saturday, he finally called me back. Guess what he said?”

She looks thrilled. I can’t think of a single thing that Simon would say to put that look on her face. “Ihave no idea. Just tell me.” Ali is one of my favorite people, but she takes forever to get to the point. Her stories are a road trip, detouring at every scenic attraction on the way.

“Well, first, he gave me some bullshit excuse about why he didn’t show up to teach his class, but that’s not the most important thing. He’sout.”

Hang on, is she saying what I think she is? “He’s left the gym? He finally sold his share to you?” I hope Ali didn’t have to go into even more debt to buy him out, but she probably did. Still, she looks delighted. So am I. Simon was awful. The gym will be a nicer place without him and much safer for the women who attend.

“Not just the gym. He’s leaving Venice and moving back to London.”

“No way.” I freeze in the act of pulling on my shorts, suddenly suspicious. This can’t be Leo’s doing, can it? I’m pretty sure I haven’t mentioned Simon to him. “Did he say why?”

“Nope, nothing. But to answer your earlier question, he didn’t sell his share of the business to me. He sold it to somebody else.”

“Wait, he can do that? Can he just sell his half to a stranger? How does that even work?”

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