t 3:23 P.M., my premature son died in my arms while my husband, Chicago's most feared mafia boss, was flying home from a vacation with his mistress.

Damian waited three weeks before writing to Claire.

His attorney advised him to keep the letter short and avoid language that could be interpreted as pressure. Damian disliked being told how to speak to his wife, but he followed the advice.

He wrote the letter himself.

Claire,

I am not asking you to come home.

I am not asking you to forgive me.

I need to tell you that I understand I chose to stay in Capri after you told me you were in labor. Nobody forced me to remain. No business emergency prevented me from leaving. I chose to believe I had more time.

Gabriel did not have more time.

I cannot change that. I cannot make you carry my regret, and I will not use our son's death to demand your attention.

I have ended my relationship with Alessia. That decision should have happened long before you called me from the hospital.

I will respect the agreement you signed. I will not send security to follow you or ask anyone to bring you home.

If you ever want to speak, I will answer.

If you never do, I will still respect your choice.

Damian.

He sent it through Katherine's office, not directly to Claire's address.

Claire read it twice.

The first time, she felt anger.

The second time, she felt exhaustion.

She had imagined receiving an apology so many times that the real thing felt strangely inadequate. It could not restore the hours she had spent beside Gabriel's incubator. It could not give her husband the memory of their son's weight against his chest.

Still, the letter contained something she had not heard from Damian in a long time.

Responsibility without an excuse.

She placed it in a drawer.

She did not reply.

That afternoon, Adrian arrived with groceries after Claire mentioned that her car had failed to start. He had offered to help, but she had insisted on paying for the repair herself.

He had accepted her answer.

Now he noticed the letter on the table.

"Do you want me to leave?"

Claire shook her head.

"It's from Damian."

Adrian set the grocery bag down.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know."

"Then we don't have to."

She studied him.

"Doesn't it bother you that he still matters to me?"

Adrian answered honestly.

"Of course it does."

The admission surprised her.

"But he was your husband," he continued. "And he is Gabriel's father. You don't erase that because you leave. I won't ask you to pretend the past didn't happen just to make me comfortable."

Claire felt something in her chest loosen.

She had been afraid that moving forward would require her to deny the years she had loved Damian.

Adrian was telling her she did not have to.

She could grieve the man she had married and still refuse to return to him.

That evening, after Adrian left, Claire wrote a reply.

Damian,

Thank you for acknowledging what happened without asking me to comfort you.

I am not ready to speak in person. Please continue communicating through Katherine for now.

I hope you become the man Gabriel deserved to have as a father.

Claire.