"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't play stupid with me. It never suited you." His words slice clean and sharp. "You have the audacity to have your criminal friends threaten me? To tell me to leave the city and stay away from my own daughter? To make me sign the divorce papers?"
What?
"Jack, I didn't?—"
"Save it." His voice turns venomous. "I got the message loud and clear. Big scary men showing up at my apartment. Telling me what happens to people who don't cooperate with the Sartori family."
The room tilts. I grip the edge of the dresser to steady myself.
Nico. Nico did this.
"I'm leaving for New York," Jack continues. "Tonight. You'll never see me again. Neither will Lily."
The words should feel like victory. Like the ending I've prayed for since I first packed our bags and ran. But all I hear is the venom underneath. The way he's building to something worse.
"You think you're safe with them?" Jack's laugh sounds almost pitying now. "These people kill others, Kristen. They make people disappear. And you've got our daughter sleeping under their roof."
"You don't know anything about?—"
"I know enough." His voice drops lower. Colder. "I thought I wanted to be close to Lily. I really did. But honestly? Having a family with a loser like you was the biggest mistake of my life."
The words hit like a fist to the chest. Not because they hurt—they don't, not anymore—but because I recognize them. The same script he's been reading from for five years. The same manipulation dressed up as honesty.
"Go to hell, Jack."
"Already there, sweetheart. Thanks to you."
I hang up before he can say another word. My hands shake so badly I nearly drop the phone twice before managing to set it down.
Breathe. Just breathe.
But I can't. Because Jack's voice keeps echoing in my skull.
Nico threatened Jack. Nico made him leave.
Without telling me. Without asking me. Just like Jack used to make decisions about my life without consulting me.
He went behind my back and made choices about my custody battle, my divorce, my life without saying a single word.
I need to find him. Now.
I find Nico in his room, standing by the window with his phone pressed to his ear. The second I push through the door, he turns. Whatever he sees on my face makes him end the call mid-sentence.
"What's wrong?" He's already moving toward me, shoulders squared, jaw tight. Ready for war.
It's sweet, really. This instinct to protect. To shield me from whatever threat just walked into my life.
Except this time, he's the threat.
"Jack called."
Nico's expression doesn't change. Not even a flicker. "And?"
"And he told me some interesting things." I cross my arms over my chest, trying to hold myself together. "About divorce papers he suddenly signed. About leaving Chicago permanently. About criminal friends making threats."
Still nothing. Just that steady, dark gaze watching me like I'm a puzzle he's trying to solve.
