Chapter 5

Evelyn's POV:

Dante. Of course.

He knew I wouldn't give up on the transfer, so he'd cut me off from every cent I could touch.

He never let anyone defy him.

Even if the person I was trying to save was his own daughter.

My father could find a plane and doctors fast, but my family's cash flow had always been tight.

I had no choice but to ask Dante again. I'd swallow my pride if it meant getting our daughter to Zurich.

The Vassallo estate was unusually quiet.

I'd just started up the stairs when I heard Isabella's voice coming from the guest room.

Her door was ajar.

"Darling, do you regret it? I mean, giving Leo the helicopter that night."

It was Isabella.

After a short silence, Dante spoke. "At the time, I thought both kids would make it. Sophia is my daughter, after all.

"But."

Even this came with a "but."

"Leo is my son too. I won't let anything happen to him."

When I heard that, my mind went blank. I braced myself against the wall to keep my legs from giving out.

Isabella suddenly laughed, but there was resentment in her voice. "Five years, and you're finally saying it out loud."

Five years.

That number was all I could think about, and my whole body went cold.

Leo was only seven months younger than Sophia.

Which meant that while I was pregnant with Sophia, they'd already been sleeping together.

My head was spinning, but I couldn't stop myself from thinking back to that time.

While I was pregnant, Dante really had left Manhattan every week.

He always said the capos under him were getting out of line and he had to deal with them himself.

He also said he was worried about my safety while I was pregnant, so he sent me to stay with my parents.

Back then, I'd been touched, thinking he was protecting me.

It turned out I'd just been getting in the way of his busy sex life.

The rustle of fabric came from the room, and without thinking, I looked in through the gap in the door.

Isabella tilted her head back and kissed him.

Dante's long fingers, which I'd always found so sexy, slid under her dress and moved quickly between her legs. Isabella's breath came fast and ragged.

Then the two of them fell onto the bed together.

I couldn't watch anymore. I slipped off my heels so they wouldn't hear me and carried my shoes downstairs, one numb step at a time.

Why didn't I storm in like a betrayed wife, screaming for answers?

Or grab Isabella by the hair and slap her?

Because my husband wasn't an ordinary man.

He killed without blinking and never tolerated a challenge to his authority.

If Dante found out I knew who Leo really was, the first thing he'd do wouldn't be to explain himself.

It would be to lock down the hospital and the airports and use Sophia to control me.

I had to get Sophia out right away.

How absurd. Now I had to pray that my husband and his mistress would keep at it long enough to buy my daughter and me more time.

On the drive back to the hospital, my passport in hand, I logged into a corporate account on my phone. A few taps later, a hundred million dollars was sitting in it.

A few months ago, Dante had set up a company in my name to buy a logistics firm with no Mafia ties.

It was a completely legitimate deal, and there were even plans to take the company public.

I was the one authorized to sign the final purchase documents.

Using that account, I canceled the closing and pulled back the purchase money.

Dante had frozen my personal accounts, but he'd forgotten that the company legally belonged to me.

I immediately paid for the medical jet and moved the rest of the money into the offshore trust my father had set up for Sophia and me.

The screen flashed a message.

"PAYMENT APPROVED."

I stared at the words for two seconds, then finally exhaled.

The wedding ring on my finger caught the dim light in the car. Its cold glint felt like a cruel joke.

I took it off, and as the car crossed the George Washington Bridge, I tossed it into the Hudson River.

Two hours later, Sophia was wheeled onto the medical jet.

Before I boarded, I took one last look at New York.

This city held my husband, my marriage, and everything I'd once believed in.

But if New York couldn't keep my daughter alive, then it meant nothing to me.

The cabin door slowly closed.

The engines began to roar.

I unlocked my phone and texted Florian.

"See you in ten hours."