Chapter twenty eight

**Alicia POV**

I’ve been patient long enough.

Three months of watching that girl grow rounder. Three months of watching Dante look at her like she’s something precious instead of what she really is a womb he bought.

Three months of being sidelined in my own life.

No more.

I sit across from Viktor Volkov in a café I would never normally be caught dead in. Cheap coffee. Plastic chairs. The kind of place where people don’t ask questions.

Perfect.

Viktor smiles at me like a shark that smelled blood. “Miss Chen. I wasn’t sure you’d actually come.”

“I’m here.” I keep my voice steady. Professional. “Do we have a deal or not?”

He leans back, studying me. “You understand what you’re asking me to do.”

“I understand perfectly.” I meet his eyes. “I will give you the security codes. The rotation schedule. Dante’s medical appointments for the next two weeks.” I pause. “You give me what I want.”

“The girl.”

“Gone,” I correct. “I don’t care how. I don’t care where. Just gone.”

Viktor’s smile widens. “And the baby?”

Something twists in my chest, but I bury it. “Not my concern.”

“Cold,” he says admiringly. “I like it.”

“Do we have a deal?”

He slides a phone across the table. Burner. Untraceable. “Send the codes to this number. When I confirm they’re real, we move.”

I take the phone. It’s heavier than it should be.

“One more thing,” Viktor adds, voice dropping. “If this goes wrong if Dante finds out you’re involved”

“He won’t.”

“If he does,” Viktor continues calmly, “I’ll kill you myself before he gets the chance. Understood?”

I nod once.

He stands, drops cash on the table, and walks out without looking back.

I sit there for a moment, staring at the phone in my hands.

This is it.

The point of no return.

I think about Dante. About the years I’ve spent building a life around him. The promises. The plans. The future I was supposed to have.

Then I think about Elara.

Her soft voice. Her gentle smiles. The way Dante’s entire face changes when she walks into a room.

The way he never looked at me.

My hands don’t shake as I pull out the security files I copied from Dante’s office.

Twenty minutes later, the codes are sent.

I’m back at the mansion by noon.

Everything looks normal. The guards at the gate. The staff moving through their routines. Elara is probably resting upstairs like she does every afternoon now.

Pregnant women tire so easily.

I find Luca in the hallway outside Dante’s office.

“Alicia.” He nods but doesn’t smile. He never does with me anymore.

“Is Dante available?” I ask.

“He’s on a call. He’ll be there another hour at least.”

Perfect.

“I’ll wait in the garden then.”

Luca’s eyes narrow slightly. “You seem… cheerful.”

“I’m always cheerful,” I lie smoothly.

He doesn’t believe me. I can see it in his face.

But he doesn’t stop me either.

I walk through the mansion slowly, deliberately. Memorizing it. This might be the last time I see it as someone who belongs here.

After today, everything changes.

Either I win and Elara disappears, and Dante comes back to me because he has no other choice.

Or I lose.

And losing means death.

I’ve made my peace with that.

The garden is empty. I sit on the stone bench near the roses Dante had planted last spring. Before her.

My phone buzzes.

Unknown number.

I answer. “Yes?”

“Codes confirmed.” Viktor’s voice. “We move tonight. Two AM. Be somewhere public. Somewhere with cameras.”

“I will be.”

“And Alicia?” He pauses. “After tonight, we’re even. You will never contact me again.”

“Agreed.”

The line goes dead.

I close my eyes, breathing slowly.

Tonight.

Dinner is almost surreal in its normalcy.

Dante sits at the head of the table. Elara to his right, glowing in a soft blue dress that makes her look like some kind of innocent Madonna.

I sit across from her, smiling.

“You look well, Elara,” I say pleasantly.

She blinks, surprised. I haven’t been kind to her in weeks. “Thank you.”

“The pregnancy suits you.”

Dante’s eyes cut to me, suspicious.

“I mean it,” I continue, voice warm. “I know we’ve had our… differences. But I want you to know I’ve accepted this arrangement. For Dante’s sake.”

Elara’s expression softens. She actually believes me.

God, she’s stupid.

“That’s… that’s really kind of you to say,” she murmurs.

Dante says nothing, but his jaw is tight.

He knows something is wrong.

He just doesn’t know what.

Not yet.

“I actually have a charity gala tonight,” I announce, dabbing my mouth with a napkin. “I’ll be leaving around nine. I might stay at my apartment downtown afterward. The event tends to run late.”

“Fine,” Dante says shortly.

I smile. “I just wanted to let you know. In case you needed me.”

His eyes hold mine for a long moment.

Then he looks away.

I excuse myself before dessert, claiming a headache.

No one stops me.

***********

**11:47 PM**

I’m at the gala. Cameras everywhere. Witnesses everywhere.

My alibi is airtight.

I smile for photos. Make small talk. Sip champagne I can’t taste.

My phone is silent, but I feel it buzzing in my clutch.

I slip into the bathroom to check.

One message: *In position.*

My heart pounds.

Two hours.

In two hours, Elara will be gone.

And Dante will have no choice but to turn back to me.

I stare at my reflection in the mirror.

Perfectly made up. Perfectly composed.

Perfectly alone.

“Worth it,” I whisper to myself.

But my reflection doesn’t look convincing.

**1:53 AM**

I’m still at the gala when my phone rings.

Unknown number.

I step outside, into the cold night air.

“Yes?”

“We have a problem.” Viktor’s voice is sharp. Angry.

My blood freezes. “What kind of problem?”

“Your codes were wrong.”

“That’s impossible”

“They triggered an alarm. Security responded in under two minutes. We lost three men.”

No.

No no no.

“Did you get her?” I demand.

“We didn’t get anywhere near her,” Viktor snarls. “And now Caruso knows someone tried to breach his mansion. He’s going to lock that place down like a fortress.”

My legs feel weak. “You said”

“I said we had a deal if your information was good. It wasn’t.” His voice drops to something lethal. “You set us up.”

“I didn’t! I swear”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re burned now. If Caruso traces this back to you and he will, you're dead.” He laughs, cold and sharp. “Good luck, Miss Chen.”

The line goes dead.

I stand there, frozen, phone still pressed to my ear.

He’s going to find out.

Dante is going to find out.

And when he does

My phone buzzes again.

This time, it’s a text from Luca: *Come home. Now. Dante wants to see you.*

My hands start shaking.

He already knows.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​