felt like a throne room. High above the rain-slicked ribs of Milan's skyline, the a

inct worlds. To his left, a holographic display flickered with the real-time fluctuations of the global gold market-numbers and charts representing million

om his Swiss vaults to a buyer in Dubai. It was a delicate dance of maritime law and syndicate

rti. In it, Bianca was laughing, her head tilted back to catch the sun, her green eyes bright

ante," Enzo Ferraro said, his voi

nd his back. He didn't need to look at the desk to know what Dante

er. "She spent three years in a conservatory program before moving to Milan. She works eighteen h

neuro-ward in Garda isn't covered by state insurance. She's been liquidating her father's antique clock coll

nts, all while her own life was being slowly eroded by debt. He felt a sharp, possessive thrum in his chest

. "People who sacrifice themselves for others are easil

ut his eyes sharp. "The Dubai deal is worth forty million. The girl is worth n

he digital gold of the monitors. "My father is in the ground. I am th

the center screen. With a few swift strokes, he authorized the release of the shipment fro

ething clean. An educational foundation or an anonymous patron. I want a full audit o

her debts anonymously, she will simply continue her life. If you want h

of his ring. A slow, dark smile spread across his face-

to be the only person she owes. I want her to wake up one morning and realize that every breath

an hung in the air, b

frantic energy of a man who had just come from the docks. "Don, we have a problem at the ware

hless Capo instantaneous. He closed the folder on Bianca Rossi, but he didn

Enzo as he walked toward the private elevator. "

n the basement

ection in the mirrored doors showing a ma

Dante said as the doors slid shut

ium. The violence waiting for him below was familiar, a comfort. But the girl-the girl was a variable. She was a

"interrogation" that had already begun. Dante walked past him without a word, his mind perfectly split: half of it calculating how to disma

light of the single bulb reflecting off his