Mag-log inBy the end of the week the loading dock at Rosewood Gardens looked like a small harbor, with pallets of plates, glasses, pots, towels, soap and laundry powder arriving every morning.Giada drove each stack to the warehouse in the afternoon, locked the big door behind her, and let it all vanish into her space until the concrete floor lay bare again."Ms. Vitale, this is the fourth kitchen you've called this week." The catering manager on her phone sounded flattered and suspicious at the same time. "Can I ask why you don't just order everything from one place?""Because I'm a loyal woman, and I like to spread my love around." Giada's laugh came low and warm as she stacked a crate of silverware on the marble counter. "Four hundred boxes, roast beef and potatoes, ready by five, and your driver gets a tip as big as his smile.""For that, I'll cook the beef myself." He chuckled, and the line clicked off.She smiled at the empty penthouse and crossed another line in her notebook. No kitchen
Giada woke with every muscle in her body protesting, and she lay in the soft penthouse bed for a full minute before she dared to sit up."Ow." She groaned at the ceiling and swung her legs over the edge, moving like a woman of ninety. "Brooke Sullivan, I will remember this."She limped to the kitchen, made a cup of black coffee, and opened the trading app on her phone with a thumb that hardly worked. The screen lit up in bright green, and a slow, wicked smile crept over her face as she read the number at the top.Her phone rang before she could finish her second sip, and the name on it was Neil Foster, the broker who handled the handful of stocks she remembered from her old life."Good morning, Ms. Vitale." His voice was breathless and bright, the voice of a man who had been up since dawn. "Have you seen your account?""I'm looking at it right now, and I'm trying not to purr." She leaned on the counter, grinning into her cup. "How much did I make while I slept?""One point five millio
The old Vitale house had no room left for a failure, and by six that evening Enzo and Matteo were standing on the front path with a small bag between them."Don't come back until she opens that door." Teresa tossed the car keys at Enzo's chest and slammed the screen behind her. "And keep the boy's face wet.""Mama!" Matteo pressed his nose to the glass, his gray coat buttoned to his chin. "I'm hungry, and I don't want to cry anymore.""Then think of something sad." Sal's voice drifted from the sofa, bored and cruel. "Think of your daddy's money going down the drain."The door locked with a click, and the porch light went dark. Enzo stood there with his jaw working, and the boy slipped a cold hand into his."Are we going to see Mama Giada?" Matteo peered up at him, hopeful."We're going to see the villa." Enzo yanked the car door open, his voice rough. "Get in, and don't ask me anything else."Maplewood Estates lay at the edge of the city behind a tall iron fence, and the villa at the
Enzo woke on the porch boards with his cheek stuck to a puddle of spilled wine, and the first thing he heard was laughter."Twenty million dollars!" A man on the sidewalk howled and slapped his knee. "I should have asked for a loan before he tripped over his own mouth.""Walt, hush." Mrs. Palmer tugged her husband's sleeve, but her shoulders were shaking, and the plate of cookies she had brought was already tucked back under her arm. "I left the stove on, and we should go.""You didn't leave anything on, Barbara." Walt wiped his eyes with a handkerchief. "You just want to tell Linda before she hears it from somebody else."One by one the neighbors drifted off the lawn, whispering behind their hands, and the crowd that had lifted Teresa like a queen an hour earlier now stepped around her as if she were a puddle. Two teenagers across the street held up their phones, and a boy of about fifteen shouted a joke that made the whole sidewalk burst out laughing."Palace for the Vitales!" He cup
"Which house?" Enzo laughed into the phone, leaning against the hallway wall with his eyes closed. "Nadia, we could buy the whole street.""No, we won't buy it here." Her whisper turned sharp and bright, the voice of a woman who had already packed. "Everyone in this city has read that article, Enzo. I can't walk into a grocery store without somebody pointing.""Then where do you want to go?" He opened his eyes, and a slow grin spread across his face. "Name it.""Somewhere with a coastline and no newspapers, Spain, Portugal, maybe the south of France." She sighed dreamily, and he could hear her kicking off her shoes. "Twenty million dollars buys a lot of quiet, and nobody over there knows our names.""And Dario?" He tried to sound casual, though his heart thumped. "He's still your husband.""Dario can keep the cat and the mortgage." Her laugh slid down the line like a drop of oil. "I'll send the papers once the money clears. Now go tell your mother, and make her cry.""With pleasure, my
Enzo came back to the world with a wet paper towel on his forehead and a stranger's voice shouting in his ear."Sir, can you tell me your name? Sir, stay with me." The dispatcher's voice crackled from the phone in Martin's hand. "Is he breathing?""He's breathing, and he's drooling on my carpet." Martin pressed the phone to his chest and peered down at him with a mix of fear and disgust. "Enzo, do you know where you are?""In your office." Enzo pushed himself up on one elbow, his head spinning like a washing machine. "How long was I out?""About forty seconds." Martin lifted the phone again, his voice flat and tired. "False alarm, ma'am, he only fainted. Please cancel the ambulance.""Forty seconds?" Enzo accepted a cup of water from the receptionist and gulped it down, his hand shaking. "I had a dream that she had thirty nine million dollars.""That wasn't a dream, and she doesn't have thirty nine." Martin helped him into a chair and sat on the edge of the desk. "She has more, and tha







