Like some exiled immortal descended from the heavens.
Rosalia couldn't look away.
"From this day forward, everything in this estate falls under your authority."
Rosalia helped Emilio to his feet with her own hands.
"The money, the staff, the land, and every business venture. All of it goes to Emilio."
Everything I had built.
One sentence from the Don's eldest daughter, and it all belonged to Emilio Ferraro.
I dropped to my knees.
"I'm asking for a severance. A clean dissolution."
Rosalia stiffened.
She was about to speak, but Emilio tugged gently at her sleeve.
"If my brother stays any longer, he'll only taint the dignity of your household. Better to grant him what he asks."
Rosalia swallowed whatever she'd been about to say.
"Granted."
When I walked out of the Castellano compound with the dissolution papers in hand, the men loitering outside the social club on the corner all stopped to stare.
Some speculated about what I'd done wrong.
Others said I deserved it.
That my head was full of nothing but money, nothing like my brother and his lofty principles.
I ignored every last one of them.