Chapter 5
Vincent broke in three.
Minutes.
Not bones.
My father didn't need that.
Massimo sat behind his desk.
Vincent stood across from him.
Silence did the rest.
“There were supposed to be four men.”
Massimo didn't blink.
“Through the tunnel?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Midnight.”
“Purpose?”
Vincent hesitated.
My father leaned back.
I stood beside the window with Josephine asleep against my shoulder.
Her little hand was still wrapped around my necklace.
“What purpose?”
“To enter unseen.”
“Then?”
“They take positions.”
“Where?”
“Main stairs.”
“East hall.”
“Outside your study.”
Massimo folded his hands.
“And then?”
Vincent looked at me.
Wrong move.
My father stood.
“Look at me.”
Vincent did.
“What happens after they take positions?”
“They separate you from your guards.”
“Why?”
Silence.
“Vincent.”
“To force a meeting.”
Massimo almost smiled.
“You need armed men under my house for a meeting?”
Vincent looked away.
“With whom?”
No answer.
My father repeated it.
“With whom?”
“Adrian Voss.”
The name changed the room.
I knew it.
Everyone in Massimo's world did.
Voss controlled crews west of the river.
He and my father weren't friends.
But they'd spent years avoiding war.
“What does Voss want?” I asked.
Vincent looked at me.
“The docks.”
Massimo shook his head.
“Voss doesn't need my daughter beaten to negotiate shipping.”
Vincent said nothing.
That sentence mattered.
My father continued.
“What does Grant get?”
Vincent swallowed.
“South businesses.”
Grant looked up sharply.
Robert too.
Massimo noticed.
“And Robert?”
“Influence over the families that resist.”
My stomach turned.
My husband had been dividing my father's world before my father was even dead.
“And you?”
Massimo asked.
Vincent hesitated.
“East crews.”
There it was.
Every betrayal had a price.
“What happens to me?” I asked.
Vincent didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“What happens to Isabella?”
Massimo repeated.
Vincent looked at Grant.
Grant stared at the floor.
That hurt more than an answer.
I thought about every bruise.
Every question.
Every threat.
Grant hadn't been trying to control only me.
He'd been preparing for what came after my father.
“You needed me alive until you found the tunnel.”
Grant looked up.
“Isabella—”
“After tonight?”
Silence.
My voice shook.
“What happened to me after tonight?”
Vincent whispered:
“Grant said you'd understand eventually.”
I laughed.
Because Grant had used those words before.
After the first time he grabbed me.
After the second.
After every apology.
You'll understand eventually.
The study door opened.
A bodyguard entered quickly.
“Two men in the tunnel.”
“Alive?”
“One.”
“And the other?”
“Ran south.”
Massimo turned toward Vincent.
“Four men.”
Vincent nodded.
“We found two.”
My father frowned.
“Where are the others?”
Before anyone answered, another voice came from the hallway.
Grant.
“Closer than you think.”
He had gotten out.
Robert stood beside him.
A pistol pressed against one bodyguard's side.
Grant looked at me.
Then Josephine.
“You're coming with us.”
Massimo slowly turned.
“Why?”
May you like
Grant smiled.
“For the first time tonight, because you're finally going to listen.”
