Page 62 of Cara

“He’s married, Sophie… Xavier is married.”

The pin drops.

The silence between us expands.

As quickly as my ears have taken her words in, they want to expel them. I'm flat on my back in a rush, eyes trapped on the stars. My chest is crashing, a paralyzing whirlwind. “No, he’s not.”

“He is.”

I can’t speak.

I can only gape at the heavens, trying to reason. For years, I’ve been too scared to know the truth.

Clearly, I was right to be.

My lips quiver. “To who?”

“Her name is Rosa Barbieri.”

That name slams into my gut like a knife.

In an instant, I’m visualizing vibrant red hair spread across his chest, her slender arms wrapped around his waist, and I’m gasping, pulling myself out of the serene scene I was in. I’m on my feet, seconds from imploding on myself like a dying star, a consuming black hole running out of fuel to live.

Victoria winces, delivering another blow. “Arturo is dead. He’s been dead for years.”

Dead.

Arturo is dead.

His father is dead.

The man who absolutelyshatteredme is dead.

I can’t even rejoice. Thoughts scatter too fast.

Arturo is dead. A Boss… is dead.

Confusion slips into horror, realizing what she’s saying. What she’s trying to tell me. She waits for me to piece it all together.

“Xavier has taken over his position,” I state.

It’s not a question.

It’s the only answer that makes sense here… because surely, if Arturo were dead, he would have come. If he were free to, he wouldn’t have wasted a moment.

My husband would have come for me.

“He owns everything,” she says. “He’s the most powerful man in New York. He integrated Vito’s and Arturo’s companies years ago, acquired control over new districts. The other families? They dabble in side hustles. Marcello operates on a different level. He broke the scale.”

“I told Bo where I was. I told him, and he said if he could, he would tell him…”

He wouldn’t marry… not unless he had to.

I know him.

I know?—

I turn, hiding my face from her as it begins to crumble. It doesn’t happen all at once. My wincing eyes wander in fear first. My nostrils flare as I try to catch my breath. My lips slacken, quivering.Fuck. I sink to my knees, hearing her stand and step back to give me space.