The Crown Had My Name, But His Hands Held It

I was in the middle of a sit-down over the wire, three of the Family's silent partners staring back at me through the screen, when the group chat from my old ward, dead for the better part of a decade, detonated all at once.

Adriana, did you see Bianca's post? She's getting married today! Are you really not coming?

The messages came fast, one after another, and through the noise I pieced it together. Bianca Ferraro, the crowned beauty of our circle, the girl every associate's son had chased, was tying the knot today.