The Mafia's Undoing-Chapter 26: Playing with Fire

"Dinner tonight?" Luca stood in my office doorway, leaning on the frame with a confidence that no doubt made every woman in town swoon.

"No, thank you." I did not even bother to look up from my screen. "I have work to finish."

"Katherine, you’ve said no fourteen times in the past two weeks. His smile was gentle, not pushy. "I’m starting to think you don’t like me. "

"I like you fine as a colleague."

"Ouch." But he was still smiling. "What if I promise it’s completely professional? Two coworkers discussing the Steinberg account over pasta?"

"The Steinberg account is perfectly fine."

"Then there’s discussing how you take your coffee. Or your favorite book. Or anything for that matter that doesn’t involve spreadsheets." He straightened. "I’m not asking you to marry me, Katherine. Just to have dinner with another human being who thinks you’re brilliant."

I was about to protest again with my mouth when my phone dinged. Susan’s text message with a link: You need to see this.

The pictures began to load - last night’s charity dinner. Tony, dashing in his tux, looking like sin itself. Victoria holding his chest with her hand, her gown a stunning white. And the accompanying headline: Marvin-Sterling Wedding Plans Heat Up: December Date Confirmed.

I couldn’t breathe as my chest contracted.

There were more pictures. Tony laughing at something Victoria had said. Their hands entwined. Tony planting a kiss on her cheek with her smiling broadly for the cameras.

He looked happy... really happy.

"Katherine?" Luca’s voice was nearer now, tinged with concern. "Are you alright?"

I couldn’t respond. Couldn’t speak past the knot in my throat.

"Is it him?" He didn’t have to say who it was. "Let me see."

I should have said no. I should have shut down the browser and kept myself professionally distant. I chose to turn on the phone screen so he could see it.

"Bastard. He’s flaunting her in your face," Luca’s jaw clenched.

"He’s moved on." The words echoed back empty. "Like I should."

"Then have dinner with me."

His voice was soft but insistent. "Not on a date. As two individuals who both know what it is to be trapped by others’ expectations. As friends."

I studied the picture. Tony’s smile. Victoria’s triumph. December 15th is the date when everything will be made official.

"Okay." The word slipped out before I could stop it. "Dinner. As friends."

***

Luca took me to a small Italian restaurant in the West Village - nothing fancy, just food and wine and talk that flowed like it shouldn’t have. His stories unfolded: his childhood, watching his father transform into something evil, and deciding never to be like that.

"What I’d like to do is build something legitimate," he continued, his dark eyes burning. "My family’s resources turned into real businesses. Legitimate ones. Profitable ones. That’s why I need someone with your skills, your expertise in finance. But also understands the principle"

"But if your family doesn’t want to change?"

"Then I can do it without them." He refilled my wine glass. "I’m sick of being defined by my father’s choices. By other people’s perceptions of what a Torrino is supposed to be."

I understood this all too well. "I’ve spent my entire life trying to be perfect. Perfect grades, a perfect job, and a perfect daughter bringing up her brother. What for? I’ve still lost everything."

"You didn’t lose everything." His fingers pressed down on top of mine on the table. "You’re a genius at your work. Your brother loves you. And you’re here now, showing that Katherine Blaire doesn’t need anyone to define her."

When was the last time someone had seen me like this? Not as Tony’s ex, not as a pawn in mafia politics, but just as Katherine?

"Thank you," I whispered. "For treating me like a person."

"You are a person. An interesting one." His thumb made circles on my palm. "And I meant what I said. I’m not going anywhere."

He walked me home after dinner, his touch on my lower back both protective and not possessive. At my door, he lifted my hand and pressed his lips to my knuckles. Old-fashioned, but perfect.

"I won’t rush you, Katherine. "But I need you to know this: I see you. All of you. And I’m not going anywhere."

He left before I could answer, and I stood alone in my empty hallway feeling something I hadn’t for weeks: hope.

I turned to open my door and saw a package on the mat.

A white envelope. Thick paper. Calligraphy script with my name.

I knew what it was before I even opened it.

Mr. Anthony Marvin and Ms. Victoria Sterling cordially invite you to their wedding. December 15th, The Plaza Hotel.

A message written by hand slipped out with Victoria’s flawless script: Do try to be happy for us. I know this must be difficult.

The paper crumpled in my fist. I was happy for them. She wanted me to be happy while she married the man I loved. While she wore a white dress and said vows that should have been mine.

I made it to the couch before the sobs started. Great, gasping cries that tore from somewhere deep inside me. All the pain I’d been holding back for weeks erupted at once - the betrayal, the loss, and just plain unfairness about loving someone who’d chosen to love someone else.

I had my phone in my hand even before I made my decision. Luca picked up on the first ring.

"Katherine? What’s wrong?"

"Can you-?" I choked. "Can you come over? I can’t do this by myself. I can’t do this alone."

"I’m already in my car."

He showed up fifteen minutes later, still in his dinner clothes, and pulled me into his arms without a word. I cried on his chest while he hugged me, his hands rubbing my hair with one hand and my back with the other.

"He’s actually marrying her," I managed to say. December 15th. It’s true."

"I know, and I’m sorry."

"I thought - God, I was so stupid, I thought maybe he’d change his mind. That he’d realize what we had was real." I pulled back to look at Luca through my tears. "But he’s gone. And I need to move on." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Katherine-"

"Help me forget him." Those words burst out, desperate and foolish. "For just tonight. Please. I can’t bear this pain any longer."

"Are you sure?" his eyes darkened with something that might have been desire, or maybe concern.

I kissed him instead.

Really kissed him. Put every bit of my desperation, pain, and need into it. His lips were softer than Tony’s, his touch more gentle. He reacted for a moment, his hands going up to frame my face, and I felt nothing.

No spark. No fire. Just emptiness trying to fill emptiness.

Then he pulled back, his face torn.

"Not like this." His voice was harsh. "Not when you’re trying to forget him."

"Luca"

"When you kiss me, I want it to be because you want me. Not because you’re running from him." He stood up, leaving space between us. "I’ll be here when you’re ready. But I won’t be your rebound, Katherine. I won’t be the man you settle for because you can’t have the man you love."

He left, and I landed on my couch, feeling lonelier than I’d ever felt. I used the wedding invitation as a tissue, my mascara staining Victoria’s impeccable calligraphy.

I don’t know how long I was there in darkness until I saw it.

A piece of paper on the floor by my door. It had to have been pushed there while I was crying.

I recognized the handwriting even before I read the words.

I’m sorry for everything. I love you. I’ve always loved you.

- T

I was shaking as I held this note. Tony’s confession: finally honest, finally real.

However, it was too late.

I’d already kissed Luca. Had already begged him to help me forget. Had already crossed a line I couldn’t uncross. Meanwhile, in another part of town, Tony was busy planning a December wedding with another woman. I read his note, I read my invitation to the wedding, I surveyed my empty apartment, and I understood with bleak clarity: We’d destroyed each other completely.

And there was no going back.