Shattered Loyalty, A New Beginning Blooms

d his burner phone. A text from 'Little Trouble' read: 'I miss your hands on

ed him and believed he was my hero. But seeing his mistress in our shee

this world. But I wasn't crying; I was cold, fueled b

ed a decade ago but never dared to call. When Lore

I want an alliance

pte

Fazio crime family when I unlocked his burner phone and

ight in the darkness of ou

fell in a rhythm that used to comfort me. Now

at the devic

s saved as 'Li

nds on me. She is just a statue, Dante.

d was a

d. They were the Egyptian cotton sheets from Dante's p

ot break. It s

I was Elena Vitiello. I was raised to be seen and not heard, to be t

ught he was the hero who pulled me from the burni

in a way that made women stupid. He had the j

ilk of my nightgown felt

e door. I did not cry. Tears were for wo

b and pulled my own encrypted phon

ey shook from the adrenaline of light

memorized a decade ago

ang

pe

gravel grinding against bone. It

dei Capi of the rival family. Th

g is off,"

ld hear the faint sound of a lighter flic

d like a prayer and a curse comi

voice was steady now. "He has a c

ntence. Dante hadn't just cheated. He had mocked me to a mistress.

aid. "I want an a

ow the price, Elena. If you come to me, there is no going back. I will burn the Fazi

the mirror. I looked pale. Fr

I said. "I

y. I will be in New York in thre

't," I

le

es

you, I will cut

ne wen

time in eight years, I didn't feel

. Dante shifted in his sleep,

back on the nightstand,

de him. I stare

up the custom engagement ring. It wa

just a piece of gla