n't s

ill smell him on me. That cold smile. Those merciless gray eyes. The way he'

d, I sat by the window watching the city breathe, my ph

life in Lagos and had been protecting Luca e

e middle of the night and disappear again.

before. We ca

the idea of r

Russo didn't forget. They didn't forgive. They hunted until they found

r was me, but the next tim

e exhaustion I couldn't afford to show. By eight-thirty, I was dressed in black Arma

ll, I would do it lookin

glass and steel and the kind of money that didn't need to announce itself.

e had. I ro

to chance. He was meticulo

and moved so smoothly I barely felt it rising. Forty-three floors. Each

r-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Hudson. Minimalist furniture that probably cost more than most cars. Art on the walls that m

er of it all, backlit by

te shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Casual. Comfortable. L

he said withou

d not to

reath caught. How even now, even knowing what he was capable of, my body remem

the elevator doors close behind me. No esca

re papers were already laid out, neat and

eed protection. We both get som

ts, scanned it like he hadn't already memorize

uld you

t mine. "A

s, heavy with meaning I

terms. Six months of marriage. You'll live here, attend events with me, play the role of de

l jargon. Clauses about public appearances a

like. Everything col

lause that made

. "Full custody of any minor chil

ard la

ed during the marriage." I looked

n't de

sign over cust

ou to acknowledge that I have rights. That you don't get

ind.. I snarled in controlled

rom you to pr

that careful control shattering. "From me? From

thouse. The city. The violence that lurked beneath every polished surfac

pt him

weakness. "The second you brought him back to New York, you made him a target. Vincent know

im that. His

face. "Luca," he repeated softly.

rying to protect me the night of the massacre. The one who had pushed me

es

poke again, his voice had lost some of

eatened. I hadn't cried in seven

aid, forcing my voice ste

don't hav

Called his bluff. "Good luck finding

ri

Didn't tu

Right now, he is probably assembling a team. They will come for you tonight, maybe tomorrow. C

curled in

name and move into this penthouse, you become untouchabl

not y

ou could be. For six months. Long enough to find whoeve

nder his eyes. The tension in his jaw. The way his hands were clenc

custody clau

N

oint custody. We both hav

ee him calculating, weighing

id. "But he lives here. With u

his glass tower with a father he didn't kn

sa

of power I could nev

going to have questions. About why we're s

tell him

alf of New York's underworld? That his mother is a dead woman wal

arents. That we love him. And that we're going to keep

d lies and broken promises

oint custody with Dante's handwritten changes already

oretti

ht I'd see. A life I'd

nths,"

mon

after

o go." His eyes held mine.

won

ll s

from his pocket.

would sign away six months of my life. Would bind me to a

ld also sa

he whole world

sig

nte's smaller, more careful, like even

dded his own signature wit

and the name sounded like a threat and

s what I'd just done, his phone buzzed. He gl

?" I

ld see the screen. A text me

. TELL MORETTI'S DAUG

d turne

alls, his voice sharp with commands I bar

-four

t waiting. Wa

already

s a marriage contract still drying on the table and a man

his call.

ll meet you there. You have two hours be

hou

eyes were cold. Flat. The eyes of a