Silence.
Lorenzo uncrosses his arms.
He walks to the window.
Stares out at the city.
"I know why you were there," he says finally. "I've known since the first time I saw you look at her."
Of course he has.
"Then you know I didn't have a choice."
"There's always a choice." He turns to face me. "You chose her. Over protocol. Over safety. Over your own life."
"Yes."
No point denying it.
"And now she's in the middle of a cartel war because of that choice."
"Tell me what happened," I say. "Tell me how bad it is."
Lorenzo's jaw tightens.
He walks to the bar cart in the corner of the room. Pours two glasses of whiskey. Brings one to me.
I take it.
Don't drink.
Lorenzo sits in the chair across from me.
Takes a long sip of his own glass.
Sets it down.
"Things are bad," he says.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Dante
Lorenzo sets his glass down.
The crystal clicks against the table.
"Bruno has ordered me not to tell you anything."
The words hang in the air.
I stare at him.
Bruno.
The Don.
My Don.
