a P

e suggested we vis

atch of empty earth, to perform our annual ritual of mourning for the woman he was s

smooth as glass. "It's the leas

ng-anger, pain, knowledge. I gave him nothing. I played the par

He thought he was still in control, that I was still his cage

ther that no one entered without his permission. Not even me. I slippe

e was careless. He believed s

t was a recent photo. Dante and Isabella, smiling at a beachside cafe. Little Leo sat on Dante's lap, holding an ice cr

two most powerful families, and I was the collateral damage. My own mother and fa

called the boy. Leo. I thought of the taunt she'd whispered to me years ago, abou

s the one piece of information I shouldn't ha

ent file at the clinic when the nurse l

six digits. 081

puter u

's first steps. Christmas mornings with my parents opening gifts beside them. Vacations I was

ncrypted messaging app. A new m

I opened it. It

a placeholder, don't you think? Come see my latest collection. My jewelry studio is h

a sprawling estate in the most exclusive part of the city. A

tti. I needed a way in, a way to see the

me, not to my father's title. I promised him enough money to retire to a place where the sun always

a scarf and my face partially obscured by a mask, I walked th

flowed. And in the main living room, hanging above a massive marb

nting. A masterpi

of them sat Leo, a perfect little prince. And standing behind them, with hands resting on Dante and Isabe

portrait. And

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