THE DON WHO COULDN'T LOVE
I studied his profile in the dim light, the sharp line of his jaw, the careful stillness he'd perfected over years of needing to appear unshaken even when everything beneath the surface was anything but.
"Whatever happens in there," I said quietly, "I need you to know I'm not going anywhere. Not tonight, not after, regardless of what we find."
Dante turned to look at me then, something raw and unguarded briefly surfacing in his expression before the careful control reasserted itself. "You say that as though there's a version of tonight that could change how I feel about you."
"There might be," I said honestly. "If we find him and he's simply a broken man, grieving a mother he watched die of