Chapter 9
Physical therapy was hell.
Not the dramatic kind.
The boring kind.
Repetition.
Sweat.
Humiliation.
Pain that was real in places that still worked and ghostly in places that did not.
The therapist, Nadia, did not baby me.
Emma had clearly warned her.
Good.
Bad.
I could not decide.
“Again,” Nadia said.
“I hate that word.”
“Most useful words are irritating.”
Emma sat in the corner pretending to read.
She watched everything.
I pretended not to notice.
One afternoon, I managed to transfer from chair to mat without help.
A small thing.
A humiliating thing.
A huge thing.
Emma’s eyes filled.
I snapped, “Don’t cry.”
She wiped her face.
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
Nadia laughed.
I wanted to fire everyone.
I didn’t.
Bellaro pleaded guilty when the ledger proved too heavy to bury.
Vance received prison time.
Alan too.
Rose’s guardianship was restored to Emma.
Thomas Carter’s death was reopened and ruled homicide tied to organized crime.
My shooting conspiracy was closed with Marco named as the inside contact.
I visited Marco’s grave alone.
Well, almost alone.
Emma insisted on driving.
“You don’t need to come close,” I said.
“I won’t.”
She stayed by the car.
I rolled to the stone.
Marco Moretti.
Beloved brother.
I stared at that word.
Beloved.
Was betrayal strong enough to erase love?
I wanted it to be.
It wasn’t.
“You sold me,” I said to the grave. “And I still miss you.”
The wind moved over the cemetery.
No answer.
Maybe that was mercy.
At home, Luke waited in the study.
He handed me his resignation.
I stared at it.
“What is this?”
“I failed to see Marco.”
“So did I.”
“That doesn’t clear me.”
“No.”
He nodded.
“I’ll leave if you want.”
I thought of everyone who had stayed out of fear.
Luke stayed out of loyalty.
Imperfect.
Human.
Real.
“Burn it,” I said.
His eyes lifted.
“You sure?”
“No. But do it anyway.”
That night, Emma found me in the hallway outside my bedroom.
Not raging.
Not broken.
Just tired.
She leaned against the wall beside me.
“Do you feel lighter?”
“No.”
“Good,” she said. “Lighter is suspicious.”
May you like
I laughed.
It surprised us both.
