Chapter 14 - Debts Paid in Iron and Ice
The trial of Celeste Arden was brief.
She sat in the federal courtroom in an orange jumpsuit, her blonde hair dull,
her designer makeup long gone.
Her crooked nose was a permanent reminder of the warehouse floor.
When the jury foreman read the verdict—guilty on all counts, without eligibility
for parole—she didn't cry.
She turned her hollow, bitter eyes toward the gallery.
I was sitting in the front row, wearing an ivory wool coat.
Richard’s arm was resting firmly around my shoulders.
My sapphire engagement ring caught the fluorescent courtroom lights.
Celeste stared at the ring.
The ring that was supposed to buy her an empire.
Now it belonged to the maid she had burned with boiling tea.
The marshals grabbed her arms and hauled her toward the heavy steel holding
cells.
She didn't get to speak.
She didn't get to explain.
The heavy iron door slammed shut behind her, sealing her away from the sun for
the rest of her life.
Outside the courthouse, dozens of journalists swarmed the stone steps.
Microphones were thrust into Richard’s face.
"Mr. Castellano! Does this end the war with the Moretti family?"
"Don Castellano, who is the woman beside you?"
Richard stopped at the top of the steps.
He didn't duck his head.
He didn't hide from the cameras.
He pulled me to his side, letting the whole world see.
"The Moretti syndicate no longer exists," Richard stated clearly for the
microphones.
"And this is Naomi Castellano. My wife."
He led me down the steps to our waiting car.
The flashbulbs flared like harmless lightning.
I didn't flinch.
May you like
I didn't look down.
I held my head high, my hand locked inside his.
