He Chose My Copy I Became The Law Chapter 11
“Ravenport law permits either spouse to seek a unilateral dissolution after six months of living apart.” My expression remained tranquil. “As of today, exactly six months have elapsed.”
“I was at fault.” He seized the hand I had laid on the sofa arm, his fingertips glacial against my skin.
“Valentina, I understand that now. I truly understand. Sofia has been dealt with completely. I drove her and that meddlesome mother of hers out of Ravenport. I also uncovered what happened in the old apartment fire. She deliberately knocked down the kerosene lamp so she could keep me…”
“And?” I slipped my hand free. “Adrian, have you traveled all this way merely to assure me that I didn’t start the fire?”
“No. That’s not what I’m saying.”
His head moved in frantic denial, red circling his eyes. “What I’m saying is… I’ve finally seen what a bastard I was. Just give me one last chance. We could begin again, couldn’t we? I can’t manage the territory and the Family by myself.”
“Valentina, I need you.”
Rising, I crossed to the wall of windows.
Night had hushed the old city outside, and the distant chime of a cathedral bell floated through the air.
“Adrian,” I said without facing him, “do you remember the year you entered the Family as an ordinary foot soldier?”
He went rigid.
“You took your men into a firefight with narcotics dealers to claim that ground in the Dockside Ward, while I stayed behind and kept your accounts.”
After swallowing some of the potent liquor, I went on. “The evening before the assault, you cleaned your weapon and said to me, ‘Valentina, if the streets take my life tomorrow night, grab the cash and flee. Never turn around.'”
“My answer was, ‘Adrian, if you have the nerve to die, I will barter my soul to the devil to pay an assassin to avenge you.'”
“Afterward, during a territorial fight, you were stabbed three times. One wound missed your heart by no more than two inches. I spent the entire night awake in that blood-soaked underground clinic. There, I vowed that if you lived, I would gladly decay beside you in the slums until my final breath.”Â