Chapter 4

"I thought you'd at least have some sympathy for Nina. You both had heart problems. You of all people should understand."

"But instead of cutting her any slack, you go after her just because she has feelings for me?"

I touched my cheek, already swelling. I looked at him.

"When exactly did I go after her?"

There was almost a laugh in my voice. "I came to finish my discharge paperwork. She grabbed me, told me I was a mistress, had a crowd cursing me out, and somehow this is my fault?"

Nina sat in her wheelchair, wiping her eyes. "I never called you a mistress. I would never say something like that."

It was the first time in my life I laughed out of pure bitterness.

Damian's hand had moved before he'd even thought about it. When he actually looked at my face, the swelling already blooming red, something stalled in him.

He hadn't meant to hit me.

But then Nina's crying pulled him back. "Damian — do you really think I'm that kind of person?"

"I know exactly what kind of person you are." Damian smoothed her hair, then turned back to me with a frown. "Quinn. You've really let me down."

I almost laughed again.

I see.

"You know exactly what kind of person she is."

"You've known me for thirty years. And you still don't know what kind of person I am."

I smiled at the irony of it, turned around, and finished my discharge paperwork without another word.

As I walked away, something twisted in Damian's chest that he couldn't explain.

"Excuse me."

A girl who'd been in line behind me spoke up, looking uncomfortable. "I was standing with her the whole time. I don't know what you want to believe, but she didn't do anything. The cameras are right there if you want to check. I'm only saying this because it wasn't right."

She left before anyone could respond.

Damian stood there.

"What's her problem?" Nina muttered, then realized Damian was watching her.

"Brother, you believe me, don't you? Don't listen to strangers—" She pressed a hand to her chest. "My heart again..."

Damian didn't say anything. But something had shifted in him that he couldn't name, something quiet and sour.

He wheeled Nina back to her room, stood to leave, and she grabbed his arm.

"Don't go. Stay with me."

The conflict in his face was visible. In the end he sat back down and touched her hair.

"Get some sleep."

By then I was already out on the street, and I suddenly realized I had nowhere to go.

After the wedding, my old apartment had been reclaimed by the family. We'd been living in a villa in Damian's name, a wedding gift from the Don, title deeds in his name.

Everything I owned?

Nothing.

A mob wife's entire estate was her husband's protection, and that protection had slowly become a blade.

I laughed at myself, quietly.

The sky was getting dark. The rain came back.

There was a bus stop across the street. The light turned green and I ran for it, hand over my head. Then a set of headlights cut through the dark and a horn blared: a black SUV, no plates, windows blacked out.

I turned my head toward it.

Then I was in the air.

Everything went red. The pain from my body was one thing, but the pain in my stomach was something else entirely, something that made me want to scream.

In that one instant I felt like I'd lost something. Something that had just barely been there.

I didn't even get to cry.

The world went dark.

One tear tracked slowly into my hair.