Page 49 of Made for Sinners

I was still in the kitchen, nursing the last of my whiskey, when my phone vibrated against the counter. I glanced at the screen, my jaw tightening at the name flashing across it.

Rafe.

I answered immediately. “What?”

“We have a problem at the ports,” he said, his voice clipped. “The Kavanaugh shipment came in light. They’re claiming it’s a mistake.”

I exhaled sharply, rubbing a hand over my jaw. “And you believe them?”

“No,” Rafe said flatly. “Neither does Matteo. But they’re stalling, and I don’t like it.”

Neither did I.

The Irish had been getting too comfortable lately, testing boundaries they had no business testing. A missing shipment wasn’t just a mistake—it was a message.

And I didn’t take kindly to messages.

“I’ll be there in twenty,” I said, already moving.

I ended the call and pulled out my phone again, this time texting Emilia.

Me:Something came up. I’ll be out for a few hours. Luca’s staying with you.

I hesitated for a second, then added another line.

Me:Stay inside.

I didn’t wait for a response. She’d be pissed, but she’d listen. Or, at the very least, Luca would make sure she did.

I grabbed my jacket, shrugging it on as I stepped into the hallway. The guard stationed outside straightened at my approach.

“Nobody comes in or out unless it’s me or Luca,” I said, my voice low. “Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

I nodded once and stepped into the elevator, my mind already shifting to the problem waiting for me at the docks.

The Irish thought they could play games.

They were about to learn how wrong they were.

15

EMILIA

Dante didn’t come home.

I told myself I didn’t care.

I told myself it didn’t matter where he was, who he was with, or what he was doing.

But as the hours stretched on and the penthouse remained silent, that lie became harder and harder to swallow.

I knew there was trouble but he said he would only be a few hours.

I woke that morning and there was no familiar sound of him in the kitchen, no familiar tension of us living under the same roof. Now after noon and he still hadn't returned a single text.

Me:Where are you?

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