Exit Clause for Two

Livia placed a sealed disclosure packet on the table. “The authorities and the casino compliance board already have complete copies. Mr. Puglisi, you may address them through your solicitor.”

Nerina rang for coffee.

The wedding continued. The bride got her cake. Civilization survived, though several Bellomo uncles had to sit down with unusual care.

That afternoon, Tullia and Ruggiero went to the town hall with Nerina and Giada as witnesses. Their first agreement had been a family arrangement built for access and protection; this time, there were no strategic clauses hidden in the margins.

The registrar asked whether each entered freely.

“Yes,” Tullia said.

Ruggiero looked at her. “Still yes?”

“Yes,” she said again, and signed her name.

Forty-eight hours after the casino office, they found themselves on the fourth row of a packed intercity bus leaving Palermo. Tullia wore her wedding band, carried the sealed evidence packet beneath her coat, and had kept her return ticket inside Ruggiero’s satchel for the joke of it.

He rested his ink-marked hand over hers.

“May I?”

“Yes.”

Their knees met on a sharp turn. Outside, Palermo gave way to road, fields, and a future with no family crest stamped across it.

Together, they said, “We write our own exit.”

At the end of the route, they let themselves into a small rented flat overlooking a noisy street and a bakery that had already decided morning was everybody’s problem. Ruggiero set down their bags and left the door unlocked.

Tullia pulled him close by his shirtfront. “I want you.”

“Tell me what you want.”

“Your mouth first. Then you—with a condom. And you keep asking.”

His answer was immediate. “Gladly.”

She undressed him with deliberate hands, then stepped out of her clothes and lay back across the bed. Ruggiero knelt between her thighs.

“Still yes?”

“Yes. Touch me.”

He kissed her, then lowered his mouth to her cunt. His tongue circled her clitoris while his hands held her open exactly as she liked. Tullia told him when to press harder, when to slow, when to add two fingers. He followed every word. Pleasure tightened low and fierce until she came with his name on her tongue.

She pulled him up. “Condom.”

He put it on while she watched, then paused above her.

“Do you want me inside you?”

“Yes. Now.”

He entered slowly, giving her time to take him, then moved when she drew him closer with both legs. Tullia met each thrust, directing the pace until she wanted more. Ruggiero gave it to her, steady and attentive, his hand between them exactly where she needed it.

“Again,” she said.

Her second climax took her hard around him. Ruggiero came moments later, saying her name without restraint.

Afterward, Tullia lay beside him and considered the ceiling.

“The exit clause remains.”

“Of course.”

“But I think I would like to keep choosing you.”

Ruggiero turned toward her. “Then I will keep asking.”