Page 104 of Of Lies and Shadows

He’s running. I think he’s gone. I hope he’s gone. I hope someone finds Alessio. I hope… he’s okay.

I try to say it. I try to tell him I’ve got him, that it’s okay. But blood bubbles up in my throat, and all I can do is choke.

The cold seeps in.

Dante…

I see his face. I see the way he kissed me this morning like I was his. Like he believed in something.

I hope he knows. Tell him I tried. Tell him I protected what was his.

“Mama!” Alessio cries again.

And then everything goes dark.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Dante

I’ve just taken my seat across from one of our biggest investors when my phone lights up on the table.Wife, it reads.

My heart jumps.

I don’t hesitate. “Apologies. Just a second.” I reach for the phone and lift it to my ear, already smiling like a lovesick fool.

And that’s when it hits me how different things are now. There was a time I wouldn’t have looked twice at my phoneduring a 450-million-dollar negotiation. But now? Now I don’t care. If she calls, I answer.

“Francesca,” I say, my words warm and teasing. “What can I do for you?”

Things have been better. Tentatively, quietly better. She still won’t say it, but I see it in the way she looks at me, the way she touches me. The wariness is fading from her eyes. Her body softens when I touch her. She snuggles close at night, even if she pretends not to remember in the morning.

I want to believe we’re finding our way back to something real.

But my smile dies as soon as I hear her voice, not speaking to me. It’s muffled, tense. Alarm bells go off immediately. “Why are you taking Cherry Lane?” she says in the background.

Cherry Lane? That’s not the way to Alessio’s fencing academy.

“Why are you taking Cherry Lane?”

I shove my chair back, ignoring the startled look from the investor as Bruno rises behind me like a shadow. The phone stays glued to my ear, but I’m not listening for a response. I’m listening for her.

For anything, and then I hear him. “Shut the fuck up!” Fulvio’s voice is full of hate.

Rage slices through me as I push through the restaurant doors, barely registering Bruno hot on my heels.

“She’s in the car,” I growl. “With Alessio. Fulvio’s driving. Cherry Lane now.”

Bruno doesn’t ask questions. He jumps into the driver’s seat as I throw myself into the passenger side. The tiresscream as he pulls out, and I hold the phone tighter, my heart pounding.

More muffled sounds. Her voice. Alessio’s.

A scream. A crash. And then, worst of all… silence.

“Francesca?” My voice cracks. “Baby, please answer me.” I shake the phone like that will bring her back, like I can will her voice to return. “Francesca!”

The call drops. No static. No scream. Just empty, dead air.

“Faster!” I roar, but Bruno’s already flying down the road, weaving through traffic like a demon. The streets blur past in a smear of gray and asphalt and fear.

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