“He misses you. He wants to apologize. He said he has many regrets.”
I stare at him. My eyes couldn’t blink, even if they wanted to.
“And I mean, if the cost of replacing the head of the New York mafia with someone who’s going to be subverting the entire organization is one short yearly phone call—”
“Yearly?”
He studies my face. “Is this going well? I can’t tell.”
I’m about to search for something to smash over his skull, but he sidetracks me by saying, “Because if not, maybe this will help.”
He takes the paper from me, flips it a few pages forward, folds it in half, and holds it out.
I snatch it from his hands and look at the headline of the article he gestures to.
“An Anonymous Donor Gifted the Red Cross One Hundred Million Dollars.”
My heart stops. Then a line in the article jumps out at me and my heart starts to pound.
An unsigned note included with the donation contained four lines from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare:
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee
The more I have, for both are infinite.
Killian murmurs, “I know you said one million, but I wanted your engagement gift to be special.”
He holds out his hand. In his palm sits a ring.
It’s an eternity band composed entirely of diamonds.
The newspaper flutters to the floor. I clap my hands over my mouth. Tears instantly spring into my eyes and begin to slide down my cheeks.
His voice husky, he says, “Since I’m dead, we won’t be able to live in Boston anymore. I’m thinking Paris. You and your merry band of thieves can take your operation international.”
I sob, looking up at him. His eyes burn with a dark, beautiful fire.
The most beautiful fire I’ve ever seen.