The Capo’s Daughter Needs No Permission Chapter 30
After the ceremony, my mother was waiting for me at the exit.
Four years had passed, and there was much more white in her hair.
My father stood beside her, his hands empty.
Marco gave me a quiet nod from a few feet back.
At last, they understood that I didn’t need a bank card, or jewelry, or a last-minute cruise ticket.
My mother held the metal box out to me.
“I’ve thought about it for a long time, and I still think this belongs to you.”
“You earned every one of these yourself.”
I didn’t take it.
Her hand dropped.
“Romy, I’m not asking you to come back to Newark.”
“I only want to ask if there might ever be a chance… to have a meal with you, once in a while.”
My father turned his face away.
His eyes were red, too.
“We won’t bring Ava, and we won’t ask you to forgive us.”
“You decide the place and the time. You can say no whenever you want.”
Finally, they were giving the choice back to me.
Only many years too late.
I was silent for a moment.
“Give me the box.”
My mother looked up, her expression startled.
I took it from her.
“This doesn’t mean we’re going back to how things were.”
“I know,” she said, nodding hard.
“I know.”
Someone called my name from behind me.
I turned and saw Ava standing a short distance away.
She had grown thinner, and she wasn’t carrying a designer bag.
“Can I talk to you for two minutes?”
My mother instinctively stepped forward, as if to shield me.
I shook my head.
This time, I was the one who would decide if I wanted to listen.