"Yes."
"Why?"
"You know why."
"I want to hear you say it." I look up at him. "Remember our bet? You said if I won, you'd answer one question honestly. No deflection, no clever avoidance."
His eyes narrow. "That's what you're using it for?"
"Yes." I close my hand around the ring. "Tell me how you really feel about me. The truth, Dante. Not strategy, not convenience. The truth."
For a long moment, he just looks at me. Then something in his expression cracks open.
"I'm in love with you." The words come out rough. Raw. "I didn't want to be. Didn't even fucking plan on it. But somewhere between your first day in my house and now, you became the only thing that matters to me."
My breath catches.
"You make me want things I thought I'd buried with my mother. Family. Home. Someone who sees the worst parts of me and stays anyway." His hand tightens on my hip. "So yes, I'm willing to lose everything for you. Because losing you would be worse."
I can't breathe. Can't think. Can't do anything but stare at this dangerous man who just gave me his heart.
"Say something," he whispers.
I kiss him instead.
Because some things don't need words.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Dante
The first thing I do Monday morning is reassign Adrian's former associates.
Dave and Vince—two men who worked under Adrian when he managed accounts for us. They knew about his gambling and they said nothing. Naturally I ignored them and focused on punishing the actual bastard hoping the fear would get into his associates but right now? I can’t think of how Adrian could use his old buddies.
So, I pick them out.
I don't fire them. That would be merciful.
Instead, I move them to sanitation routes in Staten Island. The worst routes that involve actual trash, not just laundering money through waste management contracts.
"Consider it a lesson in loyalty," I tell Dave when he shows up in my office, his face pale. "You work for me now. Not Adrian. And when someone in this family is betraying us, you report it. Understand?"
"Y-Yes, sir."
"Good. You start tomorrow, 6:00 am."
He leaves without another word.
The second thing I do is call Judge Brennan.
He answers on the third ring, his voice careful. "Dante. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I'm calling in a marker."
Silence. Then: "What do you need?"
"Background on Caterina Bellandi. Court records, sealed documents, anything that might exist. I need to know if she has vulnerabilities."
