“I am very sorry for what happened to Ella Sinders. It was a tragedy,” Monty Verona began, finally setting his wine glass down to respond to Rome’s statement. “She was a beautiful young woman with her whole life in front of her. I have to say, though, son, I think it is for the better that you had disassociated with her. She clearly wasn’t stable.”

Anger began to seethe below the surface, but Rome fought it. So much of what his dad had to say made him want to yell, to reach across the table and punch his own father in the mouth. “Ella Verona--I don’t care what you did...