“I was countersigning a ten-million-dollar patent license under a Department of Defense classification stamp when my mother called.
“”Isabella’s marrying into the Marchettis this weekend. You must come home.””
Click. She hung up.
The Marchettis. One of the Five Mafia Families.
For a Vitale girl to marry a Marchetti was what my mother had been praying for for twenty years.
I opened the friends-and-family group chat I’d had muted for a long time.
My brother Elliot had actually mentioned me for once.
【Every Don on the Eastern Seaboard is going to be at that wedding. Wear something decent. Don’t embarrass Isabella.】
Ethan Colombo, who’d grown up two houses down from ours, jumped in right after.
【Ten years out of high school. If you’d worked half as hard as Isabella and gotten into an Ivy, you’d have your foot in the Marchettis’ door by now. Instead you’re pulling espresso shots in some hole in Queens.】
I scrolled down.
I stopped at a message from Melanie Ricci, the girl who used to be my best friend.
【Hazel, Isabella’s going to be a Marchetti in five days. If New York isn’t working out, come home. Ask Isabella to put in a word. The Marchettis can place you somewhere respectable.
Hostess at the club. Anything is better than what you’re doing to the Vitale name.】
I lowered my eyes.
The Marchettis.
Over the last three months, Don Salvatore Marchetti himself had reached out to me three times through back channels, requesting a thirty-minute meeting.
Every request went unanswered.
The group chat kept pinging.
I couldn’t be bothered to read the rest. I typed back:【OK. I’ll be there.】”
Don Bowed To Me Chapter 34 8:47 p.m. Marchetti soldiers stormed an abandoned warehouse in north Newport. Vincenzo had been waiting there for six hours. His original plan was to load Isabella into a black Escalade at nine o’clock. Then deliver her to a private dock on the east side of Providence airport. The destination
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Don Bowed To Me Chapter 33 After the family meeting ended. Enzo Bellandi found me. “Dr. Vitale, someone has been kneeling outside the east gate of the estate for two hours.” I looked up. “Who?” “Matteo Marchetti. He says there’s something extremely important—regarding Isabella Vitale.” I was silent for a few seconds. “Let him in.”
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Don Bowed To Me Chapter 32 The council chamber was silent for a full thirty seconds. The first person to stand was the old man seated at the far end of the table. Rocco Vitagliano. Seventy-nine years old. He’d been working for the Marchetti family since 1968. The most senior capo in the room. Rocco
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Don Bowed To Me Chapter 31 Ten o’clock in the morning. The council chamber of the Marchetti estate. Fifty-two chairs lined the long table. Don Salvatore sat at the head. Consigliere Enzo Bellandi sat at his left. Sebastian sat at his right. The seat that had belonged to the underboss was empty. The remaining forty-nine
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Don Bowed To Me Chapter 30 When Vincenzo was led out of the main hall. Don Salvatore said only one thing. “Thirty days to leave the East Coast.” “After thirty days, if you’re still in America.” He paused for a second. “I will no longer grant you the family name.” Vincenzo didn’t resist. He only
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Don Bowed To Me Chapter 29 The color drained from Vincenzo’s face, inch by inch. “That photo…” His voice dropped. “Where did you get it?” I put the phone away. “Your Boca Raton house had its network infrastructure re-laid in 2019.” “The contractor was a small firm out of Palm Beach.” “That firm was later
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Don Bowed To Me Chapter 28 Vincenzo walked to the center of the hall. He gave Don Salvatore a brief nod first. Then turned around. “Dr. Vitale.” For the first time, a hint of a smile crept into his voice. That smile was more dangerous than no smile at all. “Welcome to the Marchetti household.”
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Don Bowed To Me Chapter 27 The carved wooden doors of the Great Hall swung shut behind us, and Sebastian and I got into the car heading for the Marchetti estate. His blood was still seeping through the silk scarf. I grabbed his wrist. “Hospital first.” “No need.” He glanced down at his arm. “There’s
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Don Bowed To Me Chapter 26 My mother is frozen on the carpet. Then a scream tears out of her, more animal than human. “Hazel Vitale!” She springs up from the carpet and lunges at me. Her eyes are red in this moment. That completely unhinged, past-caring kind of red. “You owe me an answer
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Don Bowed To Me Chapter 25 In that instant, every whisper in the Great Hall dies. Sebastian Marchetti is standing in the doorway. A deep navy three-piece Brioni. Two Marchetti soldiers behind him. The murmurs erupt across the hall. “Is that… Sebastian Marchetti?” “Don Salvatore’s oldest grandson?” “The next Don Marchetti?” “Why would he be
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