Chapter 4

Free from Carter's interference, the days flew by, swift and silent as a bullet from a silenced gun.

Ava brought me the latest underground news.

She sat on my suitcase, swinging her long legs. "I heard Carter publicly flipped a table at the Costello family dinner. Ignored the glares from both Godfathers and stormed out."

"The rumor is he got into a huge fight with Tessa, supposedly to defend your honor."

I tossed our last photograph together into the fireplace, watching the flames consume Carter's young, handsome face.

"He's not trying to win me back, Ava. He just can't stand that his little pet dared to chew through her leash."

The old me was like a lunatic with Stockholm syndrome.

I would have bribed his driver and bugged his phone, ready to pounce the second a crack appeared between him and Tessa, wagging my tail to prove that I was the only loyal one.

Now? I couldn't care less.

Even if he turned all of New York upside down for me, it would just be another move in their toxic little game.

Strangely, though, the calls to my burner phone from Carter became more frequent after that.

Too bad for him, I either hung up immediately or made up excuses to avoid seeing him.

Until the day before I was scheduled to leave.

Carter's voice sounded so humble, so unlike the ruthless Capo I knew.

"Maeve, please, wait for me at the lake house. Okay?"

"Today is our special day. Don't say no to me."

My fingers tightened around the phone. He had never begged me for anything like this before.

Usually, he would only have to take a single step in my direction, and I would sprint the other ninety-nine to meet him.

Only to find that, for Tessa, Carter would always take that one step back.

After all our breakups and makeups, I was the only one who bothered to remember every single detail related to him.

How ironic. Now that he finally remembered this day, I didn't care at all.

All I knew was that in less than twenty-four hours, I would be free for good.

But I still agreed.

The lake house was where we first met. It was also the perfect stage for my "death."

At ten o'clock at night, the wind off Lake George was bone-chilling.

I sat alone on the dock's long bench, surrounded by a dead silence.

The minutes ticked by. I waited and waited, but the promised headlights never appeared.

At eleven-thirty, my phone vibrated.

It was a voice message from Carter. The background was noisy, with the faint sound of Tessa's spoiled laughter and the crisp clatter of casino chips.

"I'm sorry, Maeve. I'm going to be late."

"There's an emergency with the Costello family. Someone's targeting Tessa, and I have to handle it personally."

"This is the last time, I swear. Believe me. As soon as I get Tessa on a plane tomorrow, I'll go anywhere you want. Okay?"

Another "last time." I'd heard that lie countless times in our marriage.

A moment later, an encrypted link arrived from Ava.

"Looks like the Costello's 'emergency' is a ribbon-cutting for the new casino in Atlantic City."

The link opened to a live stream replay of an incredibly lavish underground casino opening.

In the center of the frame, Carter's arm was wrapped around Tessa's waist as he stood behind a mountain of chips.

He casually tossed a hundred-thousand-dollar chip into the low-cut front of Tessa's gown, drawing a chorus of cheers from the crowd.

Tessa giggled, falling into his arms.

"Mr. Throne is so generous! Three million dollars just to make his lady smile!"

In that moment, the last ember of hope I held for him was finally extinguished.

Even for the seventh time, even at the very last moment.

Between me and Tessa, he still chose her.

How pathetic. A part of me, from the moment I agreed to his request to the entire drive here, had still held onto one last shred of hope for him.

I should have known better, shouldn't I?

No matter. The game was over.

I stood up and hurled the phone, the one with the number only he knew, into the black heart of the lake.

Plunk.

It sank to the bottom, taking the last scrap of my feelings for Carter Throne with it.

I turned and boarded the speedboat that was already waiting by the dock.

With a roar of the engine, the boat shot into the darkness like an arrow released from a bow.

The moment I was a safe distance away, the lake house behind me, a building that had held countless lies, erupted in a deafening explosion.

A pillar of fire shot into the sky, instantly illuminating the entire lake, turning night into day.

I looked back.

On the shore, a black armored car screeched to a halt, and Carter stumbled out, his face a mask of horror as he stared at the all-consuming inferno.

Even from this distance, I could almost imagine his raw, desperate scream:

"MAEVE!"