a

r in the city, begging for a parley. I sat at the long mahogany table inside the Chicago safe h

the sound a violent crack in t

ed from travel, and there were bruise-like circles under his eyes. He had clearly flown f

g room, taking up positions behind

open, palms up in a gesture of supplication I had never w

ather-bound file. I dropped it onto the table wh

ded, her voice thin and shrill. "Are

aid. I did not look at her. I

the heavy

een-thousand-dollar bribe paid to the precinct captain when y

the paper. He

Thirty thousand dollars for the underground surgeon who removed a bullet from

e. He looked at the columns of red

is eyes scanning the numbers. "I thought

I corrected him, my tone dev

e and pushed the entire le

y-seven thousand in operational expenses. Eighty thousand you embezzled for your mistress's penthouse

the paper. His dark eyes met mine, and in

ame. "Seven years. It cannot end like a transaction. I will give you the

anguage of command, clinging to an

. I synced it to the large television

r asked, gripping his cane so t

it

n. The faint, but undeniable sound of Serena moaning Dante'

and covered her mouth,

which had always seemed so broad, suddenly slumped. The

faded stain on the Persian rug near the fireplace. "I took a bullet fo

were wet. He took a halting step

letting it fall to my

once loved. I looked at

was an empty vessel, the girl who used to care l

the thi

nowledge the debt. All four hun

n on the large screen. The faint sound of Serena's pleasure filled

oad shoulders were rigid. He looked li

the silence, which had grown so de

n, a reflexive act of aristocratic pride. "He is the Don. He was under great strai

taken a bullet. I felt nothing for he

absolute. "It was a three-year campaign of deception. And

her. His dark eyes were wide with the sickening

His voice was the sound of s

against the mahogany table.

he phone, his hand

r it,"

hovered over the dev

commanded. My voice w

ressed the green button an

thick with a manufactured, theatrical distress. "My fat

t me. His eyes

ed no c

s in the room w

line was absolute before she spoke again, her voice sharp.

ested my elbows on the

, Serena. The one he incur

weet facade had shattered, revealing the venom beneath. "You fetch water for

. The muscles in his

mouth," Dante gro

her speak

message Serena had sent me. I read it aloud,

three years ago. Thank you for keeping his par

nst the floor. The loud crack echoed

house?" his father roared at Dante. "Yo

stared at the phone on the table, unable

tion," Dante said. His voice

his weak defense. "You let her watch from the wings while I

a yelled. "Dante promised me New

. It was a binding debt contract, its language recognized by

ve the penthouse. You can have the Don. But if you take the crown,

silence from

a?" I

l disco

cross the polished wood, the sound of th

it," I

at, Dante!" she implored. "She is bluffing! Sh

old pen resting beside the ledger. His hand

ar finally broke free and track

d, his voice shattering on th

ven years, feeling nothing but the col

n begin your rep

and the scratch of his si

t, and placed it in my bag. The sound of his moth

on of New York, had just signed

a woman alone in a city ruled by men who would love nothing more than to see Dante Morretti's former fiancée disappear. But I alr