Chapter 4

In the bulletproof Bentley on the way back to the estate, Bianca curled up in Dante's arms like a frightened kitten, sniffling.

"Tonight was the most humiliating night of my life..."

Dante showed no impatience at all. He gently rubbed her back, and only coldly told Sean, "Take my wife to the guest room."

Sean had been raised by the Moretti family since he was a boy. As he walked me upstairs, he looked at my ashen face and spoke quietly.

"Mrs. Moretti, when the boss was a kid, he went through something bad in a street shootout. The sound of gunfire used to set off terrible panic attacks. Bianca left him back then because she thought it was embarrassing, the way he fell apart."

"Thank God he met you. You were the one who helped him get past the fear. That's how he became the don he is today."

"That 'other personality' is just stuck on the past. The boss will come back to himself one day. Please don't give up on him."

I thanked him.

My phone lit up. A message from Julian.

First thing tomorrow, I'll come get you at the pier myself.

I'd met Julian the first time Dante took me to a formal dinner.

Just because Julian looked at me one second too long, Dante got into a fistfight with him in the men's room right then and there.

Later, the two of them became allies in the arms business.

Julian once told me that if I ever wanted out, he'd help me, anytime.

I'd assumed it was just the kind of empty courtesy men in their world traded. I never imagined he'd meant it as a promise.

Thinking about finally getting out of this hell, I drifted off to sleep.

Bang!

The door was kicked off its hinges.

Dante's eyes were bloodshot. He gripped my shoulders so hard it felt like my bones would snap. "What did you do to Bianca?!"

"I wronged you tonight. But she's innocent!"

Dante slammed his phone down in front of me.

On the screen, Bianca was tied to an iron chair with thick rope, her face streaked with tears and grime, sobbing desperately into the camera.

"Dante, help me... please... I don't want to die. Don't let Nina kill me!"

A muffled male voice came from off-camera. "If you want her to live, Don Moretti, you'll do exactly what we say."

"What did you do to her?!" Dante seized me by the throat and slammed me against the wall.

His eyes were bloodshot and full of murder. "Where is she?!"

I couldn't breathe. All I could do was claw at his wrist.

"It wasn't me..." I forced the words out of my throat, tears streaming from the lack of air. "Dante, I didn't take her!"

But he wasn't listening.

He threw me to the floor like a bag of trash, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and dragged me all the way up the stairs to the rooftop terrace.

The icy sea wind sliced across my face like a blade.

The three girls who'd looked out for me most back at the underground club were hanging from rough ropes over the edge of the terrace, blindfolded, gagged with rags.

Below them was a drop of a hundred feet or more, down to the cliffs and the churning black sea.

It was like being back on the harbor cliffs, the day Dante chose Bianca. I was just as hopeless now as I'd been then.

"I'll ask you one last time. Where is Bianca?" His voice was colder than the night wind.

"I really don't know! Dante, don't hurt them! Please!"

He'd shown me only his gentlest side for so long that I'd almost forgotten that, deep down, he was a ruthless killer.

I screamed, tears pouring down my face.

But he just casually lit a cigarette and gave a cold little tilt of his chin.

His man understood instantly and cut one of the ropes.

The youngest girl didn't even have time to scream before she vanished into the black waves.

"No!" My mind went blank. I pounded on his chest like a madwoman. "You psycho!"

"Talk. Where is she?" he repeated, his face blank.

Broken, I collapsed onto the rough concrete and clung to the leg of his suit pants.

I pressed my face to the cold ground and sobbed so hard I couldn't breathe.

"I really don't know... Let them go. If you want someone, take me. Please!"

He tipped my chin up with the toe of his dress shoe.

"When I brought you into the Moretti family, I swore I would never hurt you."

He raised his hand again, and a second figure was dropped off the cliff.

"No!" I wrapped my arms around his leg and wailed.

His gaze finally turned to Lily.

In that underground club that reeked of drugs and cheap perfume, Lily had protected me like a mother hen.

Whenever some VIP-room client tried to force drinks on me or drag me into the restroom, she was the one who came over with a bottle to break it up. She was the one who took the slaps meant for me.

"I'll count to three."

"Three."

His voice echoed through the empty night wind.

Slowly, I got to my feet.

"Two."

I forced out a smile uglier than crying. Blood and tears ran together into my mouth.

Dante, this is where we end.

Before he could say "One," I turned without a moment's hesitation and threw myself off the edge.

The world spun.

I saw boundless panic flood across Dante's face. He lunged for me like a madman. His fingertips brushed the hem of my clothes, and caught nothing at all.

"NINA!"