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The day of the funeral—that fateful day—things had risen to the surface like so much toxic oil Claudio had walked towards hins of Let’s bury the hatchet for your father’s sake And Matteo’s urge to be coe Here was his father’s best friend, full of remorse, co he knew about Claudio he’d wanted to keep so of his father alive—even a corrupted friendship

He’d been ready to forgive until, deep in Claudio’s embrace, he’d heard those words

‘Get your hands off my son’

And he had seen hisalone behind him

‘Don’t you touch hiain’

And then he had known The suspicion that had wor rage had fallen It was his father Claudio had loved—not his mother That was the reason for his presence that had shadowed their lives for years

His father—his hero, his rock

Who was the man they’d just buried?

Ashes and dust and the truth gone with him And Matteo’s oorld had crumbled and died too

His paralysis had been broken He’d lunged forward and bone had met flesh His mother had screaround Women had shrieked andhiet his hands on hi through the blood

‘Get out of here! Get out of our house or I’ll kill you!’

He remembered his own roar He remembered the words He remembered the faces of the police officers as they told hie hiive up on the idea of bla anyone for his father’s death There was no way he could prove that the alcohol in his bloodstream was the responsibility of anyone but himself

HisWords she’d never drea her secrets while he’d held her grief-wracked body close

He learned that his father’s relationship with Claudio had gone further than friendship