na

ther's slap threw

at felt as if it were cons

ard, his face a mask o

hat the price of my severance was the f

the mahogany bar cart and picked u

t directly

es shut and brac

me; Donna Rosa threw

hed into her shoulder

and stumbled backwar

Isabella casually walked o

a steaming cup

pty of all but malice, and poured the scaldi

the ink of the official seals blurri

nd laughed, a cruel, high soun

, my voice a raw

mned her for dest

ther rushed forward and sh

nd crashed onto the

shielding Isabella's sm

ght to threaten my sister ove

d stone, my hear

my sister from me was the final, killing blow

tly and reached down with h

rself up to her full heigh

ia, she formally declared that she was t

ng to go straight to the Don's T

ashed across my

to the towering front do

a was a human trafficker tr

sabella holding up her phone, he

he entire confrontation live on

my father s

in, pushing the e

o much; Rosa lost her footi

iking the sharp edge of a stone

from her temple, pooling in a dark,

in a raw, a

s, I pulled my ph

nd, I shattered the un

emergency line for

nswered, and the wor

y accused my own blood family of att

my palm against Rosa's bleeding temple, my other hand still clutching the phone as if it were the only anchor in a world that had just tilted v