The Mafia King's Pretend Wife

la was

vant brushing past him held a memory of Elena. Her laughter echoing off the marble. Her bare feet on the cold tile f

d

lls like a ghost who ha

was

s fury, his grief-was at war with t

ed the surveillance room, his voice low. "Just like you o

s. Her image flickered into view-Elena standing by the window of

who helped fake her death. Who financed

n't a pawn in som

pawn," Dante said darkly. "And

ou don't think she

love stopped mattering the day she left a bu

ouldn't

ged wood, fine leather, and that faint tra

that she

edge of the dresser they once used to fight on. That her skin

she didn't ha

d with the wind. But what chilled her

qu

fami

d the door. It creaked as she opened i

gu

urpr

em... She nar

atch every fifteen seconds. Not once did he glan

enough to know a bad

ne's n

she pulled a thin nail file. She twisted the handle, popping it apart t

she'd learned in t

llahan guard. Ne

clutching the blade

mares returne

from the walls like old ghosts. Fire. Screams. Blood on his hands. His father's

enched in sweat, fists c

mare neve

wn, the woman bleeding out

as E

ext m

any dining table, her fork untouched, eyes fi

inking black coffee l

oke for a

e broke th

ome ba

ce flat. "I didn't come

you'd be in a cage. You're n

s not m

wa

as a

So you faked your dea

in our bed. And when I looked for help, the only th

he mug. "You think

If you didn't, why

ried

dn't

n't say a word fo

n't know who I

meone. Someone helped you vanish. Someone helped you change your identity,

d. "I did what I ha

his like you'r

n before the wedding. Even when you promised m

show it. Not with his face.

like this. Because this isn't a conversation between a husband and a wife. T

r th

d Dante with a

got a

the balcony, inter

ars ago. He's the one who built the identity package for El

is he

lias of Simon Varri

eyes n

the

. "You want to

want the truth? Let's w

12 Hour

s. Modern sculptures. Abstract pieces. A

ions like she didn't recognize any

been her

s her

as E

named Mar

ind, his presence like a

gallery, a man step

ard. Tailored suit. Eye

curling. "Or should I say... Mr

o, Vi

ard. "You're the o

Gave me three weeks and a burner phone. And she was very specific: "If

left Vincent's. "Wh

d. "That's the real

breath

u k

e shooter was sent by someone inside her own bloodline. Someone with access.

council voted on t

looked t

was there that

yes b

moth

villa, 48

hing c

he surveillance camera in their old villa. A woman in black leaving th

s face was

nmist

s protecting me,

oldly. "To whoever would ben

the memory cam

that night. The way she hugged E

loved me," El

ves pow

eside her. "S

kno

e her dow

voice cracked. "No. W

wher

he back of a cathedral, sp

the voice whispered.

r, a candle

pped from

the mo