Evie would call what she and Art had a good start, and look where they were now.
Who doesn't dream of being rescued, of having a knight in shining armor to defend you? But at what cost?
"Remember, Evie, marriage is like any friendship. Don't cast aside an old friend just because you make a new one."
He was no longer the young man she'd fallen for. She was not the young woman he'd fallen in love with. They both had changed.
Art's expression turned to stone, and he stood abruptly, leaving her all alone to wonder just what would happen next.
Was she supposed to just leave now, like a dog with her tail between her legs?
Art couldn't ask for a better wife than Evie. As his father had said of her on their wedding day, he'd chosen well.
"Evie can never know why I sent her away," Art whispered.
"She will not."
The one person in the world, the one person who really mattered, who could make it all better, wasn't with him, and worst of all, thought he didn't love her anymore.
You know that I would never kill unless it was to protect myself or my family. You know that about me.
His father's good opinion of his son was the only thing that let Art sleep at night.
I'm not gonna let all your hard work come to nothing. I'm gonna make you proud, Papa.
And now was the time.
Then and there he vowed to find Mario's killer, no matter the cost, even if it took him the rest of his life.
