A Jilted Heart, A Mafia Don's Love

er'

, but the memory of Chace's blood on my

the ballroom, superimposing itself over the laughing f

he diner where I worked double shif

ng a black coffee he never drank, watching m

SUV but walked me home every night, leaving it p

around-the-edges boy from the wr

me the

e-by meant for him o

idn't flinch. He thr

concrete. I remember the red stain spreading across his white t-shirt, the way he g

he had rasped in the back alley clinic while the mo

a girl with a gambling addict father and a dead mother wh

re just prisons

e, Em

me back to the present wit

as looped her arm through mine, her grip

nd," she says, emphasizing the w

ash bl

around Karyn's waist and pulls he

is a claiming. A performa

ame mouth that told me h

e rise in

ing back. "I need..

m, my heels clicking a fra

m. Chace catches me in the nar

g me around. His grip is f

doing?" he hisses. "Y

ound. "You just proposed to another woman in fron

He looks annoyed, like I'm a child throwi

works. The Warren territory borders our

I try to yank my arm fr

the Warren alliance, I secure the Boss seat. I'll have enough money to set you

partment," I whisp

He smells like expensive scotch and betrayal. "Karyn is just a title.

acket pocket and pull

ssing it into my han

ond earrings. H

h m

can buy my si

. "Be smart, Ember. You have nowhere else to go. Your father is

r he was, fiv

texted Ke

cufflinks. "The car is waiting. K

a funeral process

stretch limo. Karyn is sipping champa

he rim of her glass. "Here are the rul

ds up a

ll him after 10 PM

ppearances unless

et pregnant. If you

tches the city roll by, his ha

hank me. Most wives would have you skinn

dow at the blurred

ce is m

y phone in

eady