Marco sits beside me, his presence comforting after weeks of his absence. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. We’ll figure this out.”
“Where have you been, Marco? I was worried sick. You just disappeared without a word.”
“Business. Remember the kind of world we live in, Kasmira. It’s unpredictable.”
His explanation makes sense, but something about his tone feels rehearsed. Too polished.
“I missed having someone to talk to,” I say. “Someone who understands how crazy this family can be.”
“I’m here now. That’s what matters.”
A strange feeling settles in my chest at his response. There’s a cold certainty that something is about to go very wrong. That maybe, just maybe, the person you trust the most is the one most likely to betray you.
I shake off the feeling. This is Marco. Family. The one person in this house who’s never tried to control or manipulate me.
Right?
46
KASI
The next morningfinds us in Alaric’s study, the tension from yesterday still crackling in the air. Dante sits across from Alaric’s desk like he belongs there, a thick leather portfolio open in front of him.
Documents are spread across the mahogany surface like evidence of my own destruction. Twenty-three shell companies bearing my signature, each one a nail in the coffin of my freedom.
“Vale Holdings LLC,” I read aloud, my voice hollow as the reality sinks in. “Kasimira Enterprises. Princess Investment Group.”
“Our business empire,” Dante says with satisfaction. “Built together over our wonderful years of romantic dinners and makeup sessions.”
My hands shake as I examine the signatures. All mine, all legitimate, all creating a financial web that’s held me prisoner for years without my knowledge.
“The Hamptons house,” I whisper, recognizing one property deed.
“Not just a romantic getaway. A front for moving eight million in Russian drug money through real estate transactions.”
“The yacht shares in Miami.”
“Princess Maritime LLC. Specializing in transporting cargo. Some more legitimate than others.”
I thought we had been building a life together, while Dante was systematically making me the legal face of a criminal empire.
“The trafficking operations you’ve been fighting,” I realize with growing horror, turning to Alaric. “How many of them were connected to companies bearing my name?”
“At least six that we know of,” Alaric says grimly. “The Chicago ring moved girls through Princess Logistics. The Miami network used Vale Holdings properties as safe houses.”
“I helped traffic children.” The words come out broken. “My signature, my legal identity?—”
“You didn’t know,” Alaric says firmly, but Dante’s laughter cuts through his reassurance.
“Of course she didn’t know. That was the beauty of it. Kasimira provided the perfect legal face for operations she couldn’t comprehend.”
“You bastard!” I launch myself at him, nails aimed at his scarred face, but Alaric catches me around the waist. “You ruined my life! You made me complicit in trafficking children!”
“I made you useful,” Dante corrects calmly. “For two years, you served a purpose greater than your small ambitions.”
“You sick, twisted monster!” I struggle against Alaric’s hold, wanting nothing more than to claw Dante’s eyes out. “I want to kill you!”
“Kasimira, think about the baby,” Alaric says, his own voice shaking with rage.
