He Ruined Me Twice and Killed My Child,Then I Walked into the Sea

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The night before my alliance was to be sealed, my betrothed looted my Family's tribute, emptied the Vitale purse to the last coin, and vanished across the water with Bianca Marchetti.

My parents, hounded by debtors to the edge, threw themselves into the dark. I went to the Falcones demanding the blood I was owed.

Instead, the old men of the Falcone house drugged me and put me aboard a yacht where the powerful played their cruelest games.

Dozens of men dragged me into a private lounge and filmed every shameful second of it.

At the exact moment I climbed onto the deck, ready to throw myself into the sea, my betrothed's brother appeared. He became my one and only salvation.

He cleared every obstacle from my path, made every person who had hurt me pay.

He told me he had loved me for a long time, that he didn't care what had been done to me.

To marry me, he walked away from his place in the Falcone Family and gave me a wedding every made man in the city still spoke of.

Five years into our marriage, I boarded that same yacht again as the Don's Donna.

And by accident, I overheard him speaking with his Consigliere.

"Lorenzo, back then you drugged Adriana Vitale and destroyed her, all for Bianca. Now she's finally with child, and you've brought her here to run the same play again. Isn't that too cruel?"

"Cruel? I gave Bianca my word that only her blood would carry the Falcone name. The little parasite in Adriana's belly cannot be allowed to live. Besides, a soiled woman like that doesn't deserve to bear my son."

"Will the men come the way they did last time? Same as five years ago, no holding back, until Adriana loses it. And remember, don't let her catch on."

So the salvation I'd believed in was just another abyss.

The love I'd believed in was nothing but a lie he had carefully spun.

If that was how it was, then I would help him get exactly what he wanted.

On the deck, Lorenzo Falcone stood facing the sea wind, every word soaked in grief, every syllable dressed up as regret.

"Since Bianca has already bound herself to my brother, the most I can do is clear away every obstacle in her path. Looting the Vitale tribute was only the first step. Their territory, their fortune, call it my wedding gift to the happy couple."

"Adriana's already soiled. A woman like that doesn't deserve to bear my child."

Beside him, Matteo Russo drew his brows together, his face unable to hide its discomfort.

"But the men who dragged her into that lounge five years ago, you put them there yourself. For years now she's fought the dark inside her because of it, and you've sat at her bedside through every treatment. No one knows that better than you. You run the same play again, how do you expect her to keep living after that?"

Lorenzo's face went cold. He raised a hand and lit himself a cigarette, the flame steady in the wind.

Smoke curled around him as he spoke, his voice flat.

"Worst case, I keep sitting through her treatments. No matter what, her child cannot be born."

"I gave Bianca my word that Adriana would never be a threat to her."

He ran his thumb slow along the edge of his wedding ring as he said her name.

"And Adriana? Does she deserve to be schemed against like this? She's innocent. She loves you so much. How could you"

Before Matteo could finish, Lorenzo cut him off, his voice ice.

"Enough. I told you, do it the way I laid it out. If anyone's to blame, blame her for showing up at the wrong time."

"Give me the drug. I need to go back and watch her swallow it with my own eyes."

Seeing there was no moving him, the Consigliere set his glass down without a sound, laced his fingers a moment, then simply turned and walked away.

The tears slipped free before I could stop them.

The sea wind carried them up into the night sky.

I held my arms tight around myself, shaking all over and unable to stop.

Five years ago, Salvatore Falcone drove my Family's tribute into ruin and left for another country with all our money and Bianca Marchetti.

Cornered by debtors with nowhere left to turn, my parents chose to jump.

I went to the Falcones alone, wanting the justice owed in blood.

Instead they drugged me and put me on this yacht.

I became a thing for the powerful to use in their darkest little games.

Dozens of men dragged me into a private lounge and filmed countless videos of my disgrace.

In despair, I crawled out to the deck, ready to throw myself into the sea and be done with it all.

It was Lorenzo Falcone who appeared out of nowhere and pulled me into his arms.

He gave me the only warmth I had.

Gently, stroke by stroke, he wiped away my tears and the blood.

He said:

"Wait for me. Every single person who hurt you, I won't let a single one go free."

That night, the Don's vessel had been full of screaming.

My body kept the trauma long after, dragging me into nightmares every night.

And it was him, always him, who stayed beside me.

The moment I jolted awake from a bad dream, his hand was there, stroking my back, soothing me.

He told me he couldn't rein in Salvatore, but Salvatore owed me a blood debt.

He swore he'd pay it back tenfold, a hundredfold.

To give me a wedding, he broke from the old Falcone line and built his own name in the territory.

He declared his devotion to me before every made man and his wife.

But in the end, five years of happiness had been nothing but a mirage.

The man who pulled me out of the abyss was the same man who shoved me into hell.

I stumbled back into the private lounge below deck.

Lorenzo saw how pale I'd gone, and his eyes flushed red with panic.

He gathered me into his arms and, just like before, patted my back gently.

"What's wrong, Adriana? Did you remember something again? Don't be afraid. This time I'm here with you. Those men won't ever come back."

"Before we boarded, I had the doctor send your medicine up. Drink it when the water's cooled a little."

Watching the false tenderness in his eyes, I said softly,

"Lorenzo, I don't want to take the medicine anymore."

"I'm better now. I want to go home."

The warmth in his eyes dropped a few degrees. Somewhere on deck, a clock ticked into the silence between us.

He reached out and tapped the tip of my nose. His thumb moved once along the edge of his wedding ring.

"Be good, Adriana. These things come back easily. The medicine helps you recover faster."

"Once you take it, you won't have nightmares anymore."

Before I could say another word, he'd already pushed the pills past my lips.

The warm water went down, but the cold spread through every inch of me.

He seemed certain I'd lose consciousness soon after taking it.

Lorenzo didn't stay with me any longer.

He turned and hurried out of the lounge, the door clicking shut behind him.

I knew where he was going. To find those men from five years ago.

The memories, shattered like a nightmare, came flooding back.

Cold sweat broke out over my whole body.

I collapsed onto the floor, writhing.

As my mind blurred, warm lips brushed my forehead.

"Good girl, Adriana. It'll be over soon. I'll be waiting for you."

What came next was a tearing, splitting pain.

Blood kept pouring out from beneath me.

That familiar feeling swallowed me whole.

Countless rough hands dragged across my skin.

I don't know how long it lasted before I heard Lorenzo's voice again.

"Did she lose it?"

"She did, Don Falcone. But the men couldn't rein it in. Went a little too hard, looks like. Miss Vitale probably won't be able to conceive again."

"Well done. Double the cut. Collect it when you're off the boat."

When I opened my eyes again, five hours had passed.

Lorenzo was clutching my hand tight in his, his eyes brimming with tenderness and grief.

"I'm sorry, Adriana. I didn't protect you."

"It was those men from five years ago. They learned you were aboard and came for the vendetta. We couldn't save the baby. The doctor said you'll have trouble ever conceiving again..."

"Don't worry. This time I caught every last one of them. They'll never surface again. Don't cry. No matter what happens, I'll be right here beside you. If the baby's gone, then it's gone. All I need is you."

I stared straight at the deck.

So numb I couldn't even feel the pain anymore.

I was the one who'd been violated, the one who'd lost a child.

Yet he wept harder than I did.

His acting was flawless. The performance of a man who'd ordered killings without blinking and could still summon tears on command. I couldn't be bothered to expose it.

After a while, when his voice finally fell silent,

I spoke slowly.

"Avenging me must have worn you out."

"Get some rest, Lorenzo. I'm fine."

Seeing that I wasn't making a scene, he let out a breath of relief, closed his eyes, and lay down beside me.

His breathing gradually evened out.

I quietly picked up his phone. My hands lay still after, no longer reaching for the ring on my finger.

Five years of marriage, and this was the first time I unlocked his screen.

The passcode was Bianca Marchetti's birthday.

His messaging app was still open in the background. There was only one contact. Saved under the name Bianca.

I tapped in, and there it was, five years of conversation stretching from then to now. Every single day, the good-mornings and good-nights, never once missed. Bianca lived across the water, yet she sent Lorenzo her schedule each day. Either she was out shopping and taking her coffee, or she was tending whatever front she ran, sitting through her own little sit-downs. No matter what she sent, Lorenzo never let her down. One photo earned her a reward of a hundred thousand dollars. That was how he stayed woven into her life, day after day. Until ten thousand photos filled the album.

And when I shared something with him, all I ever got was one line:

"Adriana, I'm in a meeting. We'll talk when the Family's business is done."

To keep Bianca happy, every gift he bought on this side of the water passed through hand after hand before it finally reached her. The auction-house orders ran on for dozens of screens. A lot of the names looked familiar. Lorenzo had given me one of those gifts too. It was nothing but a complimentary throw-in from one of her auctions.

The newest video in the album was from five hours ago. The thumbnail was me, sunk into unconsciousness after the pills he fed me. Around me stood a dozen faces I knew. Made men. Soldiers who had kissed his ring.

My fingers shook so badly I couldn't make the video open, no matter how hard I pressed. In the end I clumsily hit delete. And switched off his phone.

Lorenzo, since we began with a lie. This time, let me end it with one too.

Without hesitating, I sent a message to Francesca Conti. I told her to bring a boat to the far side and wait for me tomorrow night. Then I found the papers I needed, the dissolution of the alliance, a release I would sign in my own hand, downloaded the digital copy, and attached it to an email.

When it was all done, cold sweat broke out across the sleeping Lorenzo's forehead. He murmured the words over and over:

"Adriana... no, nothing can happen to you."

"Adriana!"

The instant his eyes opened, he pulled me into his arms like a man who'd lost me and gotten me back. Our chests pressed tight together, our heartbeats running at different speeds. After a long moment, he surfaced from the nightmare.

"Thank God you're all right."

His thumb found the edge of his wedding ring and turned it, slow, against my back.

Scenes like this had played out so many times. I used to think it was love run deep, that he ached where I ached. But now I saw it for what it was. A performance. Nothing but masterful acting.

I bowed my head and let him hold me, let him comfort me.

"There now. I'll go bring you something to eat. Wait for me."

Lorenzo had barely stepped out before I slipped after him. He didn't go to the kitchens. He turned instead toward the private lounge downstairs, the one where deals got struck and nothing that happened was ever spoken of again.

The moment he walked in, a slender wrist curled up over his shoulder. And pulled him inside.

I stood outside the door, listening to the breathing inside quicken fast. Lorenzo's voice came low and restrained:

"So you finally decided to come back?"

Bianca's face bloomed into a smile as she rose on her toes and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"If I'd stayed away any longer, I was afraid you'd really fall for Adriana."

"I heard you pulled the same old trick again? She's your wife of five years, sworn to you before every Family, and she'd just gotten pregnant. How could you bear it..."

"If Adriana ever finds out, she'd want to skin me alive." She laughed, that bright, brittle little sound, a half-beat too soon.

Lorenzo laughed softly at her teasing, holding her tighter, pinning her against the back of the door.

"I told you. As long as I'm here, no one would dare touch you."

"As long as you're happy. You'd pave my road with her own flesh and blood."

A passing waiter spotted me and gasped out loud.

"Donna Falcone? What are you doing here? You haven't recovered, you can't be wandering the halls. If the Don finds out, it's our skins he'll have."

"Let me take you back."

The words trailed off.

The made men walking past all looked at me with something mocking in their eyes.

"That's the Don's wife? The one a dozen men dragged into a lounge a little while ago? I heard she's already been used twice. The Don really isn't an ordinary man, swallowing all that down without a word."

"Twice? Try more than that. A dozen men at a time, and you do the math. The Don's got enough horns on his head to knit a sweater. He must be blind, taking a woman like that into his bed. Just holding her at night would turn your stomach."

"Who knows if she was forced or willing. Probably no better than she should be, anyway. Why else would it always be her getting into trouble, and on the Don's own vessel? This time the kid's gone too. Any baby cursed with a mother like that is better off in the sea."

I stood off to the side, my legs nearly giving out under me. The salt wind off the deck did nothing to steady them.

Lorenzo had heard the commotion carry down the corridor, and this was the scene he walked into. Conversations cut off the moment he appeared. The made men nearest the door straightened without thinking.

The color drained from his face in an instant.

A second before I hit the floor, he caught me and pulled me into his arms.

"Adriana? What are you doing here?"

"You're not feeling unwell, are you? Let me take you back."

I said nothing. My eyes followed past his shoulder to Bianca.

Afraid I'd seen, Lorenzo rushed to explain:

"Don't read too much into it. Bianca only just came back across the water. I ran into her by chance and came to see how she was."

"That whole business was five years ago. Bianca was afraid you'd be upset, so she stayed abroad all this time. She finally managed to come home, and we are all the same famiglia in the end, so maybe we could just"

"Don't worry. As long as I draw breath, that bastard Salvatore won't set foot near you again."

"Mm. It's in the past. I won't speak of it again."

I knew what he was trying to say.

Better to put myself in a corner.

No. Better to be the one who said it first.

At least that way I could keep my dignity.

The same men and their wives who'd been sneering a moment ago saw the Don step out onto the deck. In an instant they scattered, the way they always did when his shadow fell across a room.

"Adriana. Long time no see."

Bianca smiled and greeted me, the limited-edition piece on her wrist catching the deck lights as she let it show.

I gave a silent nod, swallowing the hurt as I spoke:

"I came out for some air. Since you're busy, I'll head back first. I wouldn't want to cause you any trouble out here, in front of everyone."

Lorenzo thought I was angry and trailed after me all the way back to the private lounge.

His eyes went red with tenderness.

Watching how eager he was to play the part, the heat of his desire still not faded from his gaze. His thumb moved slow along the edge of his wedding ring.

I suddenly felt the urge to laugh.

To clear the way for Bianca.

He had drugged me and destroyed my whole bloodline without a second thought. He had let the Vitale name be looted down to the bone.

Now that he'd gotten what he wanted, I lived buried under the contempt of every made man and his wife, unable to lift my head.

So who was the act for now?

"Don't worry. It was five years ago. I forgot about it long ago. The lounge was just stuffy, and being shut in there kept dredging up things I'd rather not remember, so I went out for air."

Lorenzo let out a breath of relief.

He wiped the tear tracks from the corners of my eyes himself.

After feeding me the drug, he went out the door again.

This time he headed toward the dining hall.

Ten minutes later, an associate slipped an invitation to the family banquet through the crack of the door.

I knew this was Bianca's doing.

But I went anyway.

Before I left, I threw the suitcase I'd brought with me into the sea, down to where the Don sent the things he wanted gone.

At the banquet, Bianca appeared in a haute couture gown. Every gesture radiated poise, as though she had been bred for this floor.

She used the name Donna Falcone.

Every made man in the room was speculating about her standing beside the Don. Murmurs drifted between the tables.

Guests came forward, lifting their glasses, praising what a perfect match the two of them made, an alliance written in the stars.

Lorenzo hurried over, busy working the room the way a Don must, and didn't notice me there.

Bianca, however, came up to me and led me outside the lounge. Her gaze swept over the bruises mottling my neck. She lifted her face into a smile.

"Adriana. Five years, and you're still nothing but garbage."

"Well? How did it feel, getting dragged in there? You couldn't protect the Vitale family back then, and now you can't protect your child either. You're a joke."

"You still don't know, do you? Those men weren't an accident. Your beloved husband arranged the whole thing. While you were being stripped bare, he stood right there and watched. I feel sorry for you, I really do."

Hatred surged up inside me.

Before I could move, Bianca struck herself across the face. Twice.

The instant the scream tore out of her, she pitched forward over the brass railing of the Don's private vessel and dropped straight down into the sea.

Her thin body thrashed in the black water.

I hadn't even registered what was happening before Lorenzo shoved me hard to the ground.

He didn't spare me a single glance. He just turned and dove in after her.

The moment he pulled Bianca out, she buried herself against his chest, sobbing without end. The made men along the deck went quiet, every one of them watching their Don cradle a woman who was not his wife.

When Lorenzo finally looked at me, not a trace of the old love was left in his eyes.

"Adriana, have you lost your mind?"

"So this is what you meant by 'it's in the past'? Bianca heard what happened to you. She came over out of kindness, to see you, to clear up the misunderstanding from back then, and you raise a hand to her? What gives you the right?"

I lay sprawled on the deck, my clothes twisted open, the red marks on my skin laid bare for every silent partner aboard to see.

My expression only went colder.

"A misunderstanding? The misunderstanding from back then. Shouldn't you be the one owing me an explanation!"

"If it weren't for you, how would I have ever sunk low enough to need her charity visit!"

His brows knotted. A flicker of panic crossed his eyes. His thumb moved once along the edge of his wedding ring.

"Explain what? You knew the Vitale bloodline was finished, the tribute looted, the name dishonored. I took you in out of the goodness of my heart!"

"And tonight, if you hadn't disobeyed and gone wandering off, how would you have ended up. I'm not God, I can't be glued to your side every second. You went looking for trouble. What right do you have to pin it on Bianca? Blame yourself for having no self-respect!"

"Adriana, apologize to Bianca!"

Before I could say a word, the tears were already sliding down Bianca's face.

"Don't, don't be hard on Adriana. The fall of the Vitales was all my fault. I didn't stop Salvatore in time. I'm the one who wronged her. Tonight, let it count as my way of making it up to her." She laughed, a small bright sound a half-beat too soon. "Since she hates me this much, let's just not see each other anymore. I don't want to put you in a difficult position."

My nails dug deep into my palms, and blood slid down, drop by drop.

Watching the two of them walk off in each other's arms across the lamplit deck, I knew. We were finished.

Five years of love turned to ash in that single moment.

All around, the gathered wives and made men kept the insults coming.

"So that's the Falcone woman who got ruined twice? She's a fallen thing herself, and she still has the nerve to give Signora Marchetti grief? Has she no shame? At least Signora Marchetti is pure. Not like her."

"No wonder the Don never brings her out before the Families these last few years. Afraid of the embarrassment, isn't he? A man like Lorenzo Falcone, and he weds a slut. Who even knows whose baby it was that she miscarried. Tsk, tsk. If word got out, the Falcone name would never live it down."

"Signora Marchetti is the one who suits the Don. I hear they were together since they were children. If she hadn't gone overseas, this one would never have gotten through the door. No one but the Don could be blind enough."

"..."

I stumbled back into the private lounge below deck.

The blood beneath me had already soaked through my dress.

It was only after I'd cleaned myself up that Lorenzo sent a message to explain:

"Don't read too much into tonight. Bianca is my brother's wife in name, after all, and half the men on this vessel are silent partners of the Family. You hurt her. It made me lose face before them. Making you apologize was only a show for outsiders."

"Once I've seen to her injuries, I'll come back and make it up to you, all right? I told you I'd give you a gift. Don't be upset, okay?"

But I knew this show was never for outsiders.

It was for me.

This devotion. He'd faked it for five years.

And now it was time for it to end.

I let my hands lie still in my lap and did not touch the ring on my finger. Then I signed my name on the dissolution of the alliance, the release sealed where it counted, and along with the video screenshots lifted from his phone, I set them all to send on a timer.

I took the medicine, sat at the head of the bed, and waited until the small hours.

He still never came.

Only the attendant came, bearing news.

Word ran through the vessel that the Don of the Falcone Family had moved heaven and earth tonight for the woman he loved.

Bianca had only caught a chill from falling in the water, and he'd summoned every last physician aboard.

For that, he'd thought nothing of throwing away a fortune.

At daybreak, I called him.

He was too busy auctioning jewels for Bianca to spare me a moment.

They released paper lanterns into the dark above the water.

All around, the envious murmurs of the guests rose and fell.

Only then did he remember the call he'd picked up.

"Adriana? I'm getting your gift ready. Are you feeling unwell somewhere? Let me send the doctor over to you first. I'll be there right away."

I lowered my head and watched the countdown on the screen tick down, second by second, to the moment the message would send.

Down in the great hall, Lorenzo held Bianca tight against him.

"It's nothing. You go ahead, then. I won't keep you."

"All right. Be good and wait for me in the room. Your husband will be there soon."

The call ended.

I turned and walked away from all of it.

The auction wrapped up.

As always, Lorenzo gave the jewels to Bianca.

He left behind that gift, took the gift box, and headed back toward the private lounge.

But the room was empty.

A faint unease stirred in him.

He was about to call and ask when Matteo burst in from the doorway, his face ashen.

"It's bad, Lorenzo. Something's happened to Adriana. Those men from before, I don't know what went wrong, but they never went ashore the way they were supposed to. Someone saw them leave the vessel, and they took Adriana with them."

The words had barely landed when Lorenzo's phone rang.

A message had come in.