Chapter 4

The door slid open.

Emily climbed out, sweating, carrying two silver combination-lock cases.

Four elite private security guards in black suits and sunglasses followed her.

Emily burst into the shop, clutching the cases. "I've got the full ten million euros, just as you asked!"

Marco rubbed his hands together and stepped closer.

"Now you're talking.

"Leave the money, and we'll pretend today never happened."

Emily pulled the cases close to her and glared at Marco.

"What do you think you're doing? This money is for Elena's order!"

Leo lifted the cleaver and pointed the blade at Emily's face.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Nobody asked for your opinion!

"Drop the money, get lost, and take your people with you!"

I grabbed Emily's arm and pulled her behind me.

Elena was slumped on the floor. The blood from her forehead had run down to the corner of her eye, and she didn't wipe it away.

Her eyes held fear and despair, along with a spark that life had nearly extinguished.

I thought about who I used to be.

I had once been on my knees just like her, scraping out a living while people trampled my dignity.

Back then, nobody gave me a hand. I clawed my way up all by myself, one inch at a time.

But now, I could give her a hand.

I crouched to look her in the eye and spoke softly but firmly.

"Elena, the money's right here.

"Are you willing to take the deal?"

Elena glanced at the two heavy cases, then at Marco and Leo, both looking ready to tear her apart.

She bit her lip until it bled.

Then she unstrapped her son from her back, put him in the back room, and pulled the door shut.

"I'll do it! Even if it's the last thing I do, I'll get you that leather!"

Elena ran toward the cases, and Marco dropped all pretense.

He grabbed Elena by the hair and slammed her to the floor.

"Bitch! Don't you dare!"

Elena cried out as her forehead struck the sharp corner of a brass rack, sending blood streaming down her face.

"Mama!" Matteo came stumbling out of the back room, crying.

He ran toward his mother, who was sprawled on the floor.

But he never made it to her side.

With a vicious grin, Leo lifted his foot and kicked him hard in his thin little back.

"Shut up, you little brat!"

Thud!

The kick sent him flying several feet. He rolled twice across the floor before striking his forehead against the corner of the counter. Blood trickled down his cheek.

He didn't cry right away. He just lay there, mouth open, struggling to catch his breath after the kick.

A few seconds later, he finally let out a piercing wail. "Waaah!"

Elena threw herself at him like a madwoman. "My baby! My baby!"

My ears started ringing.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion: Leo's twisted grin, Elena collapsed on the floor, and the horrifying pool of blood spreading across the tiles.

Ten years.

I'd held it in for ten years.

People had made my life hard, schemed against me, mocked me to my face.

I'd put up with every last insult, telling myself I had bigger things to worry about. I refused to stoop to their level.

But not this time.

But after what happened today, there was no way I was letting this slide.

The last thread of my patience, stretched thin over ten long years, finally snapped.

I grabbed the heavy solid-brass press bar used for leather and swung it with all my strength.

It came down right on Leo's disgusting face.

There was a dull clang.

Leo staggered backward, clutching his face and screaming in pain. Sweat broke out across his forehead.

When Marco saw his son get hit, he roared and lunged at me.

Two of the bodyguards stepped in at once and pinned Marco against the wall.

Marco's face was pressed so hard against the wall that his features distorted, but he kept shouting.

"You attacked my son! How dare you!

"Whitmore! You're finished!

"You think ten million makes you important?"

Marco struggled against the guards, somehow managing to pull his phone from his pocket.

"Elena isn't getting any stock!

"My brother-in-law controls every logistics route and supply line in Milan!

"One word from me, and nobody in all of Italy will sell you a single hide!"

He punched in Luca's number.

Then he put the call on speaker.

"Luca! Spread the word to everyone in the trade association. Anyone who does business with Elena is making an enemy of me!"

A gruff, arrogant voice answered. "You got it, Marco. Consider it done. Anyone who supplies that woman with so much as a scrap of leather will have me to answer to. I'll break their legs myself!"

Marco hung up and laughed triumphantly.

"Hear that?

"All that money of yours is worthless!

"That money is mine, and you're going to get on your knees and beg my son to forgive you!"

Elena slumped on the floor in despair.

She held her bleeding forehead and sobbed.

"Please, ma'am... just forget it. We can't win against people like them.

"They have people in high places. Luca has ties to the mafia..."

Elena sat huddled on the floor, her shoulders trembling as the last of her strength drained away.

She held her bleeding son tightly against her chest, the two of them curled up together.

I looked at them.

Watching them, I felt my chest tighten painfully.

I watched the blood from Elena's forehead drip onto her son's pale face.

The little boy clung to his mother's shirt, too terrified to cry properly. All he could manage were faint, broken whimpers.

It hurt.

And then came a rage that swallowed everything.

I crouched down and gently wiped the blood off his face.

He flinched, then looked up at me timidly. There was no anger in his eyes, only fear and confusion.

I spoke softly to Elena, but my tone left no room for argument.

"Elena, listen to me.

"I don't care if they're connected to the mafia or the most powerful people in Italy. I'm not backing down.

"I promise you, Leo won't get away with what he did to your son."

Leo stormed toward us, clutching his injured nose, his face contorted with rage.

"You're dead!

"I'm calling Elysium Group right now!

"You work for that pathetic little purchasing office, don't you?"

"That's right!" Marco cut in. "I'm calling Mr. Vance right now!

"I'll destroy your career and make sure you end up behind bars!"

With shaking hands, Marco scrolled through his contacts.

He found Richard's number and put it on speaker again.

The call connected.

Richard's impatient voice came through. "Marco? What is it? I'm in the middle of an inspection with the head of the company from our New York headquarters!"

As if someone had thrown him a lifeline, Marco shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Mr. Vance! It's Marco!

"That buyer of yours, Dana Whitmore, has completely lost her mind!

"She attacked my son! And now she's conspiring with some crooked leather shop to rip off your company!

"She's brought a gang of thugs with her! They're tearing the place apart!

"You need to fire her immediately and have her arrested!"

The line went dead silent for two full seconds.

Marco and Leo glared at me, their faces twisted with vindictive satisfaction.

Richard's voice suddenly boomed through the speaker, filling the entire shop. "Marco, have you lost your goddamn mind?"

His voice trembled so badly he sounded almost on the verge of tears.

"Did you just say her name was Dana Whitmore?

"Do you have any idea who she is?"