Chapter 6

The car door opened. Two agents were standing outside.

"Ma'am, please step out of the vehicle."

I was pushed out of the car. I looked back at Maximus.

He was still in his seat, with no intention of getting out.

"Maximus..." my voice trembled.

He rolled down the window and looked at me, his eyes as cold as ice.

"Angel, it's time to settle the score."

The window rolled up, and the SUV drove away.

I was escorted into the FBI building by the two agents.

In the interrogation room, the fluorescent lights were blinding.

The director of the Chicago office sat across from me, his hair silver, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"Mrs. Costa," he said, slamming a stack of bloody ledgers onto the table. The blood was from the wounded at the auction.

"Five hundred million dollars," he said, his voice hard. "Laundered through the underground auction you ran today. We have you dead to rights. What do you have to say for yourself?"

I took a deep breath. A sharp pain shot through my ribs.

"Director," I began, "the person who signed the ledgers today was not..."

Just then, the door opened.

Maximus walked in, followed by a man in an expensive suit.

The family's Consigliere.

"Sorry to interrupt," Maximus said, sitting down across from me and lighting a cigarette. "I'm here to cooperate with the investigation."

"Mr. Costa, do you have any idea what your wife has done?"

Maximus took a long drag from his cigarette, then looked at me.

His expression was calm, as if he were looking at a stranger.

"Of course I do," he said, flicking the ash from his cigarette. "My wife has been... unstable lately. Ever since I got a new girlfriend, she's become very jealous."

I stared at him, unable to believe what I was hearing.

"She deliberately forged the ledgers to frame my girlfriend, Camilla," Maximus continued. "But she forgot that as the legal representative of the gallery, all responsibility ultimately falls on her."

"What are you talking about?" my voice shook.

"Angel," he looked at me, his eyes devoid of any warmth. "Are you still going to pretend?"

The Consigliere opened his briefcase and took out a document.

"This is a plea agreement," he said, sliding it in front of me. "Mrs. Costa, I suggest you sign it."

I looked at the agreement, my hands trembling.

"You want me to confess to money laundering?"

"It's your best option," the Consigliere said. "If you plead guilty, you'll get three years, max. If you don't, with this amount, you could be looking at twenty."

Maximus stood up and walked over to my side.

He leaned down and whispered in my ear:

"Camilla's pregnant. She can't handle a federal prison. You're stronger than her."

I turned to look at him, at the face I had loved for ten years.

"Sign the deal. I've already paid off the judge," he said softly. "I'll have you out on bail in two days, and then we'll go on vacation to Europe. We'll pretend none of this ever happened."

I looked into his eyes.

For the first time in ten years, I saw him for who he really was.

Cold-blooded, selfish, willing to throw me to the wolves without a second thought to protect his new toy.

I should have been filled with despair, but instead, I laughed.

I grabbed the pen from the table and threw it at his face.

"Get out," I said, my voice low and dangerous.

Maximus wiped a drop of blood from his lip, his eyes turning hard.

"Angelina, are you sure you want to do this?"

"I'm sure," I said, looking him dead in the eye. "I will never sign your goddamn deal."

The Consigliere sighed. "Mrs. Costa, you're going to regret this."

"No, I won't."

Because I refused to confess, I was held in custody pending trial.

I sat on the hard bed in the cold cell.

Outside, the sky turned from black to a hazy grey.

The countdown was finally over.

My family would be here to get me tomorrow.

I touched the watch on my wrist. The emergency button had been pressed for 48 hours.

On the morning of the third day, my cell door opened.

"Mrs. Costa, time for your transfer."

I was put in handcuffs and shackles and loaded into an armored prison van.

The van left the city and headed for the suburbs.

Through the small, barred window, I watched the Chicago skyline get smaller and smaller.

Ten years. I was finally leaving this place.

The van drove onto a bridge over the shimmering waters of Lake Michigan.

I closed my eyes and thought of the first time I met Maximus.

We were so young then.

He had pulled me from the water and promised to protect me for the rest of my life...

Suddenly, the van jolted violently.

I opened my eyes and saw a flash of fire outside the window.

Then, a deafening explosion. The whole world was burning.

My body was thrown into the air by the massive force of the blast, then slammed down hard.

Before everything went black, I saw the water rushing up to meet me. Cold and dark.

I was sinking, but I was smiling.

Free at last.