Page 96 of Riot

I took the number with trembling fingers, my stomach flipping. My mother. Just knowing she would be back soon made me feel ten years old again.

“But how’d you get out? I know that Boaz runs a pretty tight ship.” Carmelo asked after a beat. “You don’t have to tell me everything, but… I need to know. Who helped you? Did you escape? Are you safe?”

I hesitated.

I wanted to tell him everything. Wanted to dump the whole damn story in his lap and let him carry it with me. But I thought of Boaz. Of Avi. Of the reach their family still had. If Carmelo got too close, —if he asked too many questions, it could paint a target on his back. And Diori’s words rang in my ears.I thought about how she said that he wasn’t built for this life. How he was running my father’s business into the ground. I couldn’t trust Carmelo yet. I needed Boaz to be dead before we got close again.

“For your safety,” I said, choosing my words carefully, “I can’t say much. Just… know that I’m okay. But Boaz might get out soon. If he thinks someone helped me, he’ll come looking. I don’t want that to be you.”

Carmelo’s nostrils flared. “Then I’ll kill him.”

The words came out of him so fast, so sharp, I almost believed them.

Almost.

But inside, I knew better.

He didn’t have the resources. The firepower. The backing. Our father’s empire was crumbling under his feet. Diori had said it herself—he wasn’t built for this life, not in the way our father had been. And definitely not in the way Boaz needed to be dealt with.

Still, I didn’t say that.

Instead, I reached across the table and took his hand. “Just take care of yourself. Please.”

He squeezed my fingers, then pulled back. “I’ll be in touch.”

We stood and hugged again, this time a little longer, a little tighter. I pressed my cheek to his shoulder and let myself feel what it was like to be his little sister again. To not be alone.

“I’ll call you,” I said.

“You better.”

We parted ways on the sidewalk, the sound of the city rushing between us as he turned the corner. I stood there for a minute, watching the traffic, trying to breathe through the ache in my chest. My heart was full and hollow at the same time. Reunions had a way of doing that, reminding you of everything you had, and everything you’d lost.

When I pulled out my phone, my hands were still shaking.

I tapped the number he’d given me and lifted it to my ear.

The phone rang once. Twice.

Then: “Hello?”

I froze.

Her voice. Older, softer, but still hers.

“…Ma?”

There was a pause. A sharp inhale.

“Allure?”

Tears blurred my vision as I whispered, “It’s me.”

And on the other end, my mother began to cry.

Chapter 31

RIOT

---