Chapter 3

Silence on the other end. Then, a wild burst of laughter.

“Apologize? Are you insane? If you were going to cave, you should have done it from the start.”

I cut him off.

“But I have a condition. I need to diagnose her in front of your core family members.”

The laughter stopped.

“A public diagnosis?” His voice turned cold.

“Aurora, your name is mud. Are you trying to humiliate yourself in front of everyone?”

I looked out the window. A slow smile spread across my face.

“Bowing down to the Vitale family in front of all the Capos... Isn’t that what you want?”

“And it’s a chance for me to show the whole city my ‘sincerity.’ To give myself a way out.”

Nico was quiet.

A few seconds later, a low, pleased hum.

“Aurora, you really are a smart woman. You know when to fold.”

“Fine. You want to be humiliated in public, I’ll give you what you want. I’ll have every Capo in the family watch you bow.”

“But,” I added, changing my tone. “We have to keep this from Isabella. She’s the patient. If she knows all the family elders are watching, she might get emotional.”

“And if something happens because of that, I’m not responsible.”

Nico didn’t even think twice. He agreed immediately.

The next morning, I arrived at the location Nico had set: the Vitale family estate.

This was the place. Where they threw me out into the rain like a piece of trash.

Two familiar faces stood at the door.

A man and a woman, both in their fifties.

The man was tall, imposing. Vincent, the Don of the Vitale family.

The woman was elegant, dressed in Chanel. His wife, Carmela.

“You’re Aurora?” Carmela asked, her eyes sizing me up.

I nodded. “I am.”

She looked me up and down, then gave a slight nod.

“I am Isabella’s mother. I’ve heard about you.”

“Doctor, Isabella is the child we raised. We are here today in good faith.”

She took a check from her purse and held it out to me.

I didn’t take it. A cold, mocking laugh rose in my throat. In my past life, I bled on this very doorstep, begging for a shred of mercy from my own mother. She gave me nothing. Now, for her precious adopted daughter, she was offering me a fortune.

She wasn’t offended.

“Cure Isabella, and name, money... they won’t be an issue.”

“The business with your clinic being shut down? I’ll make it go away.”

“And I can guarantee you will have access to the Vitale family’s black-market medical supply lines across North America.”

“This is the Vitale family’s sincerity.”

I looked at her.

Too bad. I didn’t need a single thing she was offering.

“Ma’am, I’m here for a diagnosis. We’ll talk after I’ve seen the patient.”

Carmela’s eyes flickered, but she kept her composure.

Don Vincent, standing beside her, cleared his throat.

His eyes weren’t warm like Carmela’s. They had the hard pressure of a Mafia Don.

“What my wife said, that’s her offer.”

“My offer is this: Cure Isabella, and the Vitale family will not be stingy.”

He paused, his presence crushing.

“Your reputation is already shot. This diagnosis was your idea. It’s also your last chance.”

“You fail, and there will be no place for you in Chicago.”

I just stood there, meeting his gaze for three solid seconds.

“Sir, I’ll know if I can cure her after I see her.”

With that, I walked past him and pushed open the doors to the main hall of the estate.

His brow furrowed slightly, like he was trying to figure something out.

Then, Don Vincent let out a cold snort and turned, following Carmela up to the second-floor study.

That’s where the core members of the Vitale family were waiting. Waiting to watch me kneel and beg.

In a bedroom on the first floor, Nico sat on a sofa, polishing his gun.

He glanced at me. Then his eyes flicked to an air conditioning vent. Then to a decorative piece on the fireplace mantel.

He’d hidden the micro-cameras and listening devices there. Of course.

I bent down to put on my gloves, a cruel smile touching my lips.