\u201cTonight I finally said it out loud.\u201d<\/p>\n
He drove south, away from the bright hotels and polished streets, into a part of the city where the buildings stood closer together and watched more honestly.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy apartment is not safe,\u201d I said. \u201cRoman owns the doorman, the cameras, probably half the walls.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward him. \u201cYou know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know many things about Roman Castellano.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you know being seen with me starts a war.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dante glanced at me. \u201cWar started before you left the ballroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words sat between us, dark and certain.<\/p>\n
My father had once used that tone.<\/p>\n
Antonio Moretti had not been a saint. Saints did not survive in our world long enough to raise daughters. But he had loved me in a way that did not require witnesses. When he died, Roman came to my mother\u2019s house with flowers and a promise.<\/p>\n
I will protect Evelyn.<\/p>\n
Everyone had praised him for it.<\/p>\n
No one mentioned that wolves often guarded lambs from other wolves for only one reason.<\/p>\n
Dante turned into an underground garage beneath a narrow brick building near the river. No sign, no doorman, no valet. Just a steel gate and a camera hidden in shadow.<\/p>\n
Inside the elevator, I felt suddenly aware of my bare shoulders.<\/p>\n
Dante removed his coat and held it out.<\/p>\n
I looked at it.<\/p>\n
He said nothing.<\/p>\n
That silence decided me. I took the coat and put it around myself. It was warm from him, heavy, smelling faintly of cedar.<\/p>\n
The elevator opened into a private apartment that looked nothing like Roman\u2019s polished prison. No marble floors. No gold fixtures. No portraits of dead men glaring from expensive frames. Dante\u2019s place was dark wood, low light, bookshelves, steel-framed windows overlooking the river.<\/p>\n
A woman stood near the kitchen island.<\/p>\n
She was in her sixties, silver-haired, sharp-eyed, wearing a black turtleneck and pearls. She looked me over once and saw everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is Evelyn Moretti,\u201d Dante said.<\/p>\n
The woman\u2019s expression changed at my last name. Not much. Enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know who she is,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I tightened the coat around me. \u201cAnd you are?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLucia Vale. Dante\u2019s mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
I had heard of her.<\/p>\n
Everyone had.<\/p>\n
Lucia Vale had once been Lucia Bellini, daughter of a family that controlled half the docks before the Castellanos swallowed them piece by piece. Rumor said she had buried two husbands and three enemies, all in black dresses, all without trembling.<\/p>\n
She poured amber liquor into a glass and pushed it toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t drink,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
I took the glass.<\/p>\n
The liquor burned my throat and gave my body something to do besides shake.<\/p>\n
Lucia looked at Dante. \u201cHow bad?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe gave Vanessa Lane the ring in front of three hundred witnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time, Lucia smiled.<\/p>\n
It was not kind.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t do it for approval,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Lucia replied. \u201cYou did it because you finally understood symbols are only chains until you use them as weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n
My fingers tightened around the glass.<\/p>\n
Dante leaned against the counter. \u201cRoman will spin it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll try,\u201d Lucia said. \u201cBut old families listen to superstition before strategy. That ring has rules.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked between them. \u201cWhat rules?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dante\u2019s face became unreadable.<\/p>\n
Lucia studied me carefully. \u201cRoman never told you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRoman told me many things. Most of them were useful only to Roman.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Castellano ring is not just jewelry,\u201d Lucia said. \u201cIt is a legal marker. An old one. When Roman\u2019s great-grandfather came from Sicily, he tied family succession, estate access, and certain offshore trusts to the woman recognized publicly as keeper of the ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said slowly. \u201cThat cannot be true.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is inconveniently true.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would Roman let me give it away?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dante answered. \u201cBecause he didn\u2019t think you knew what it meant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you chose the one punishment he couldn\u2019t interrupt without exposing himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The apartment seemed to tilt.<\/p>\n
I thought of Roman\u2019s face in the ballroom.<\/p>\n
Fear.<\/p>\n
Not anger.<\/p>\n
Fear.<\/p>\n
Lucia continued, \u201cFor decades, Castellano men used the ring as theater. The wife wore it. The wife hosted events. The wife smiled beside the man. But beneath the theater, documents remained. Wives inherited influence. Access. Signatures. Certain vaults cannot open without the ring-bearer\u2019s authorization.\u201d<\/p>\n
I set the glass down.<\/p>\n
\u201cVanessa has it now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucia\u2019s eyes glittered. \u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
A laugh escaped me, small and breathless. \u201cThen I handed my husband\u2019s empire to his mistress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot all of it,\u201d Dante said. \u201cBut enough to make him bleed.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned to the windows.<\/p>\n
The river below was black, cut by trembling light.<\/p>\n
For months, I had planned only to leave him. Quietly. Carefully. I had hidden cash inside old books, copied documents from Roman\u2019s study, memorized names from ledgers he thought I was too frightened to understand. I had imagined vanishing to a city where no one called me Mrs. Castellano.<\/p>\n
But I had not known about the ring.<\/p>\n
I had not known the thing he used to mark me could mark someone else.<\/p>\n
\u201cVanessa doesn\u2019t know,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Dante replied. \u201cAnd Roman will make sure she never learns if he can.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
I remembered Vanessa\u2019s trembling mouth. Her fingers closing around the sapphire. The way she looked at Roman before taking it.<\/p>\n
She had thought she was being chosen.<\/p>\n
Poor girl.<\/p>\n
No. Not poor.<\/p>\n
I was done handing pity to women who stepped over broken glass because a powerful man promised them silk shoes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens now?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Lucia took the empty glass from my hand. \u201cNow Roman hunts the ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dante\u2019s voice lowered. \u201cYou he hunts for pride.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first call came fourteen minutes later.<\/p>\n
My phone was in my purse back at the Drake, but Dante\u2019s phone lit up on the kitchen island.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
He answered on speaker.<\/p>\n
For one second there was only silence.<\/p>\n
Then Roman\u2019s voice filled the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut my wife on.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one moved.<\/p>\n
Dante looked at me.<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
He slid the phone across the counter.<\/p>\n
I did not touch it. I leaned closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour wife left at the hotel,\u201d I said. \u201cTry looking under the chandelier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another silence.<\/p>\n
When Roman spoke again, the charm was gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think this is clever.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I think it is finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou embarrassed yourself tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI embarrassed you. There\u2019s a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucia\u2019s eyes flicked toward me with faint approval.<\/p>\n
Roman inhaled slowly. I knew that sound. He made it before breaking things.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome home, Evelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a request.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt stopped being one the moment you brought Vanessa to my birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very calm.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what worries me.\u201d<\/p>\n
A small smile touched my mouth. \u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice softened then, and that was worse. \u201cYou don\u2019t understand what you did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t. That ring does not belong to her. It does not belong to you. It belongs to my family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen maybe your family should have taught you not to humiliate the woman wearing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The line crackled with his silence.<\/p>\n
Then Roman said, \u201cDante Vale cannot protect you from me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dante leaned forward. \u201cYou sound uncertain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roman laughed once. \u201cVale. Of course. I should have known. How long has my wife been entertaining you?\u201d<\/p>\n
I expected shame to rise in me.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the difference between you and decent men,\u201d I said. \u201cYou assume every woman must belong to someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roman ignored me. \u201cBring her back before midnight, Dante, and I will forget you were stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dante\u2019s face did not change. \u201cYou forget nothing. That\u2019s why your father trusted accountants more than sons.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words struck something.<\/p>\n
Roman\u2019s breath shifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should not have said that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should not have walked into a room wearing arrogance like armor when your house is made of paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
The call ended.<\/p>\n
For a moment, the apartment was very still.<\/p>\n
Then Lucia said, \u201cHe\u2019ll send Matteo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dante nodded.<\/p>\n
I knew Matteo Russo. Roman\u2019s cousin. His fixer. A man with pale eyes and no visible appetite for anything except obedience.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe won\u2019t come here,\u201d Dante said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll go to Vanessa,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
They both looked at me.<\/p>\n
My pulse quickened. \u201cRoman needs the ring. Vanessa has it. He won\u2019t wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucia\u2019s expression sharpened. \u201cWould she give it back?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight? Maybe. Tomorrow? Not if she learns what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dante watched me. \u201cWhat are you thinking?\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Vanessa standing under the chandeliers, smiling like triumph while fear shook at the edge of her mouth.<\/p>\n
Then I thought of Roman sliding the sapphire onto my finger four years ago.<\/p>\n
Now everyone knows where you belong.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe made a public transfer,\u201d I said. \u201cThe entire room saw it. Cameras saw it. If Vanessa gives it back quietly, he controls the story. If she refuses, he loses control. If she disappears, everyone knows why.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dante\u2019s eyes narrowed slightly. \u201cYou want to warn her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to use her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucia\u2019s smile returned.<\/p>\n
This time, it looked almost proud.<\/p>\n
Vanessa Lane was not at Roman\u2019s penthouse.<\/p>\n
She was not at the Drake.<\/p>\n
She was at the Langham, checked into a suite under a name so false it might as well have been written in crayon.<\/p>\n
Dante found her in seven minutes.<\/p>\n
That frightened me more than I admitted.<\/p>\n
We did not go through the lobby. Dante took us through a service entrance, past two men who stepped aside without speaking. The city beneath the city opened for men like him: back hallways, freight elevators, kitchens, doors without signs.<\/p>\n
Vanessa opened the suite door wearing Roman\u2019s suit jacket over her red dress.<\/p>\n
Her makeup had begun to break beneath her eyes.<\/p>\n
When she saw me, her lips parted.<\/p>\n
Then she saw Dante behind me and tried to close the door.<\/p>\n
I caught it with my palm.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoman is coming,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
She froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cMove.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have to listen to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cYou have about twenty minutes to decide whether you want to live as Roman\u2019s ornament or die as his inconvenience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Color drained from her face.<\/p>\n
Dante remained in the hallway, giving her the choice to let us in.<\/p>\n
Finally, she stepped back.<\/p>\n
The suite smelled of roses and panic. Champagne sat open on ice. Two glasses. One untouched. The bedspread had not been disturbed.<\/p>\n
Vanessa crossed her arms tightly. The ring was on her right hand, too large for her finger, the sapphire tilted sideways.<\/p>\n
Seeing it there did something strange to me.<\/p>\n
It should have hurt.<\/p>\n
Instead, it looked ridiculous. A crown placed on a frightened actress between scenes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her hand closed over it. \u201cYou gave it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen it\u2019s mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor tonight, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her chin lifted. \u201cRoman said you were unstable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRoman also said you understood loyalty. We both know which lie was prettier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face flushed.<\/p>\n
Dante moved to the window, checking the street below.<\/p>\n
I stepped closer to Vanessa.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen carefully. That ring is tied to Castellano assets. Trusts. Access. Authority Roman does not want you to have. In that ballroom, in front of witnesses, I gave it to you and named what came with it. The man, the name, the bed, the shame. That was not poetry. That was transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re lying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I were.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward Dante. \u201cIs she lying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Her breathing changed.<\/p>\n
The fantasy began collapsing in her eyes, piece by piece.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoman loves me,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n
I remembered whispering something like that once.<\/p>\n
Maybe not the same words. Maybe worse ones.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cRoman loves reflections of himself. You were useful because you made me bleed. Now you are dangerous because I made you visible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her hand trembled over the ring.<\/p>\n
A phone rang on the table.<\/p>\n
Roman.<\/p>\n
Vanessa did not move.<\/p>\n
It rang again.<\/p>\n
I picked it up and answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cVanessa,\u201d Roman said, cold and controlled, \u201copen the door when Matteo arrives.\u201d<\/p>\n
I said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cVanessa.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s busy,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
On the other end, silence sharpened.<\/p>\n
Then Roman said, \u201cEvelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always did know how to find women in hotels.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeave her out of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed before I could stop myself. \u201cYou brought her into it wearing red.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice dropped. \u201cGive me my ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not yours anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa stared at me, horrified.<\/p>\n
Roman understood a heartbeat later.<\/p>\n
I could hear it in the quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut her on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I held out the phone.<\/p>\n
Vanessa shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake it,\u201d I mouthed.<\/p>\n
Her fingers closed around the phone as if it might bite her.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoman?\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice changed instantly. Softer. Warmer. Poison wrapped in velvet.<\/p>\n
\u201cBaby, listen to me. Evelyn is upset. She doesn\u2019t know what she\u2019s saying. Take off the ring and give it to Matteo when he arrives. Then I\u2019ll come to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa looked at me.<\/p>\n
I said nothing.<\/p>\n
Roman continued, \u201cYou trust me, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
The hook.<\/p>\n
Vanessa\u2019s eyes filled, but she did not cry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cTradition.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn says it\u2019s money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe says many things when she wants attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it money?\u201d<\/p>\n
His silence answered.<\/p>\n
Vanessa\u2019s face hardened with a speed that almost made me respect her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVanessa.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much am I wearing on my finger, Roman?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat ring is not a toy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Apparently I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time, I saw the woman beneath Roman\u2019s polish. Not innocent. Not helpless. Angry.<\/p>\n
Good.<\/p>\n
Angry women were less easy to bury.<\/p>\n
Roman\u2019s voice went flat. \u201cDo not make me regret choosing you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa smiled then, and it was a small, cracked thing. \u201cToo late.\u201d<\/p>\n
She ended the call.<\/p>\n
The room seemed to exhale.<\/p>\n
Dante turned from the window. \u201cMatteo\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa whispered, \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Below, three black SUVs had stopped across the street.<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSix visible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVisible,\u201d Vanessa repeated weakly.<\/p>\n
Dante crossed to the door. \u201cWe leave now.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the hallway outside had gone silent in the wrong way.<\/p>\n
Dante stopped.<\/p>\n
One hand moved beneath his jacket.<\/p>\n
Lucia\u2019s voice came through his phone, calm and lethal. \u201cService corridor is blocked. Take the west stairwell. Two minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dante opened the suite door.<\/p>\n
A hotel maid stood outside with towels.<\/p>\n
For half a second, she and Dante looked at one another.<\/p>\n
Then she dropped the towels.<\/p>\n
The gun beneath them hit the carpet soundlessly.<\/p>\n
Dante moved first.<\/p>\n
He shoved me back with one arm, pulled Vanessa down with the other, and the hallway erupted.<\/p>\n
The sound was not like movies.<\/p>\n
It was not dramatic.<\/p>\n
It was deafening, ugly, close.<\/p>\n
Glass shattered. Vanessa screamed. Dante fired twice. A man fell against the wallpaper, leaving a dark smear as he slid down.<\/p>\n
\u201cMove!\u201d Dante snapped.<\/p>\n
We ran.<\/p>\n
I had never run in heels like that. Silk tearing at my thighs, Dante\u2019s coat slipping off one shoulder, Vanessa sobbing behind me with the ring clutched in her fist.<\/p>\n
At the stairwell, another man appeared.<\/p>\n
Before Dante could raise his gun, Vanessa swung the champagne bottle she had carried without any of us noticing.<\/p>\n
It cracked against the man\u2019s temple.<\/p>\n
He dropped.<\/p>\n
Vanessa stared at him, breathing hard.<\/p>\n
Then she looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a softball captain,\u201d she said shakily.<\/p>\n
Despite everything, I laughed.<\/p>\n
We plunged down the stairs.<\/p>\n
On the tenth floor, alarms began screaming. On the eighth, smoke drifted beneath the door. On the sixth, Dante stopped suddenly and pushed us behind him.<\/p>\n
Matteo Russo stood three steps below.<\/p>\n
Pale eyes. Black coat. No expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Castellano,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is Moretti.\u201d<\/p>\n
His gaze moved to Vanessa. \u201cMiss Lane. Mr. Castellano requests his property.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa lifted her chin. \u201cHe can request hell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matteo sighed. \u201cUnfortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n
He raised his gun.<\/p>\n
Dante fired.<\/p>\n
Matteo moved with terrifying speed, twisting aside. The shot tore plaster from the wall. Matteo fired back. Dante staggered, one hand hitting the railing.<\/p>\n
Blood spread across his sleeve.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d I shouted.<\/p>\n
Dante did not fall.<\/p>\n
He smiled.<\/p>\n
It was the first real smile I had seen from him.<\/p>\n
Then he slammed his shoulder into Matteo and drove him down the stairs.<\/p>\n
They crashed into the landing below.<\/p>\n
Vanessa grabbed my arm. \u201cWe have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down.<\/p>\n
Dante and Matteo were locked in brutal silence, all elbows, fists, metal, blood.<\/p>\n
Dante looked up once.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn. Go.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hated him for saying it.<\/p>\n
I obeyed.<\/p>\n
Vanessa and I ran down two more flights and burst into a laundry corridor. Steam rolled from industrial machines. A woman in a gray uniform grabbed Vanessa by the wrist and me by the shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d I demanded.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone who likes getting paid alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
She shoved us through a loading door into cold night.<\/p>\n
A van waited there.<\/p>\n
Lucia Vale sat inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet in.\u201d<\/p>\n
We did.<\/p>\n
The van pulled away before the door fully closed.<\/p>\n
I twisted around, staring through the rear window.<\/p>\n
No Dante.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is he?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Lucia\u2019s face remained forward. \u201cHandling Matteo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been shot before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not comforting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa sat across from me, shaking violently now. The Castellano ring gleamed between her fingers.<\/p>\n
The van turned hard into traffic.<\/p>\n
Behind us, sirens began to rise.<\/p>\n
Lucia handed me a phone. \u201cCall Roman.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her. \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause now he thinks he can still contain this. Correct him.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hand closed around the phone.<\/p>\n
Roman answered before the first ring ended.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have something of mine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I looked at Vanessa.<\/p>\n
She looked back at me, mascara streaked, hair loose, red dress torn, sapphire bright in her fist.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d I said. \u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBring it to me, and I may let you leave Chicago breathing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStill negotiating like you have leverage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have Dante.\u201d<\/p>\n
My blood went cold.<\/p>\n
Lucia\u2019s head turned slightly.<\/p>\n
Roman continued, \u201cMatteo is very efficient. Your rescuer should have chosen his enemies more carefully.\u201d<\/p>\n
I gripped the phone so hard my fingers hurt.<\/p>\n
Then another voice came on the line.<\/p>\n
Low. Amused. Alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell your cousin he bleeds slowly, Roman.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dante.<\/p>\n
My breath caught.<\/p>\n
Roman\u2019s silence was a wound.<\/p>\n
Dante spoke again, closer to the phone now. \u201cYou lost the wife. You lost the mistress. You lost the ring. Bad birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n
The call cut.<\/p>\n
Lucia\u2019s mouth twitched.<\/p>\n
Vanessa let out something between a laugh and a sob.<\/p>\n
But I did not feel relief.<\/p>\n
Because through the van\u2019s windshield, across the street at the next red light, I saw a black car pull beside us.<\/p>\n
In the back seat sat Roman Castellano.<\/p>\n
No guards visible. No Vanessa. No ballroom smile.<\/p>\n
Just Roman, his face turned toward mine.<\/p>\n
He lifted one hand.<\/p>\n
Not waving.<\/p>\n
Showing me something.<\/p>\n
My father\u2019s gold watch.<\/p>\n
The one buried with him four years ago.<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.<\/p>\n
Lucia saw it too.<\/p>\n
For the first time since I had met her, her face went completely pale.<\/p>\n
The light changed.<\/p>\n
Roman\u2019s car vanished into the night.<\/p>\n
Vanessa whispered, \u201cWhat was that?\u201d<\/p>\n
I could not answer.<\/p>\n
Because my dead father\u2019s watch had just appeared in my husband\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n
And engraved on the inside of that watch was a name no one but my father and I should have known.<\/p>\n
Dante Vale.<\/p>\n
…If you want to know what happened next, please type \u201cYES\u201d and like for more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cTonight I finally said it out loud.\u201d He drove south, away from the bright hotels and polished streets, into a part of the city where the buildings stood closer together … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readmydairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readmydairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readmydairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readmydairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readmydairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/readmydairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45,"href":"https:\/\/readmydairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions\/45"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readmydairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readmydairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readmydairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readmydairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}