Chapter 6
I screamed until my throat burned.
Dante grabbed the phone from the table.
“Trace it,” he ordered.
His men moved instantly.
Silvio did not smile now.
For the first time, he looked angry.
Not afraid.
Angry that my mother had spoken before he could stop her.
Dante turned toward him.
“If she dies—”
Silvio lifted both hands.
“You heard a sound. Not proof.”
I stepped toward him.
Nico cried against my shoulder.
“You hurt her.”
Silvio looked at me with disgust.
“That woman sold you before she loved you.”
My feet stopped.
Dante’s eyes cut to me.
I hated that he heard it.
I hated that some part of me already knew it was true.
Silvio continued.
“She took money to remove you from the hospital. Then she grew a conscience too late.”
“Shut up,” I whispered.
“Truth hurts, little sister.”
Dante struck him then.
One punch.
Clean.
Silvio hit the wall and laughed through blood on his lip.
“You still don’t understand,” he said. “Every person in this room is guilty of something.”
Police sirens sounded below.
Silvio wiped his mouth.
Then he looked at Dante.
“You cannot protect her and the child at the same time.”
The lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Nico screamed.
Someone shouted.
A window broke.
Dante’s hand closed around my arm and pulled me down behind the table.
Not rough.
Protective.
Gunfire cracked outside, distant but real.
My body froze.
Dante’s voice came near my ear.
“Stay low.”
I clutched Nico to my chest.
The baby cried into my neck.
Footsteps rushed in the dark.
A man cursed.
A body hit the floor.
Then emergency lights flashed red.
Silvio was gone.
The window stood open.
Cold air rushed in.
Dante ran to it, then stopped.
On the table, where Silvio had been standing, lay a small silver flash drive.
Beside it was a note.
Sofia died because she chose you.
My hands went numb.
Dante looked at me.
Then at Nico.
And I understood.
May you like
Silvio was not running from proof.
He was leaving a trail because he wanted us to follow.
