The Billionaire Who Lost His Sun

ngagement party when the hospit

iness. But he answered my frantic call from a ski slope in Aspen,

the hospital, I learned it was Sofia's unvaccinated Doberman that had attacked my diabe

sterical. She feels terrible

er on a ski lift. The next call I got was from the

n a romantic vacation with the woman whose dog killed her.

house and made a call I hadn't made in fifteen years. To my estranged father,

g home," I

of erasure. I would dismantle my life here and disappe

pte

"Ria" Ro

arty; a dog bite, they said. An hour later, my fiancé's laughter echoed fr

imming the stems of a new bouquet, the crisp snap of green under the shears a satisfying, rhythmic sound in the quiet. Everything i

nfamiliar number flashing on the screen. I wip

el

ssi?" a crisp, prof

this i

l's. There's been an incide

my grasp, clattering l

like swallowing glass,

's happened?" I dema

ration to her leg. A dog bite. We need

g. A dog bite? My mother was terrified of dogs. She wouldn't

Salvatore. He was my rock, my protector, the man who would be the next *Capo di tut

ring, the sound of wind

rything o

ng out in a panicked rush. "She's at St.

ike shattered glass, echoed faintly down the

condescending calm he used when I was being 'emotion

s didn't use public hospitals. They had their own facilities, discreet and efficient, for handling t

he complained, a note of irritation in h

w. I'm going

someone else. "Sofia says we can't get a flight

n Chicago. A quick, two-day trip to secure a new distributio

t as a whisper.

ly. Sofia convinced me to take a break. We

ttled in my chest. He was skiing. With

ated the words, hoping they would so

me to do from here, Ria? I can't exactly stop a blizzard." Hi

thing. I

Call my driver. He'll take you. Keep me updated. Sofia is

ead, leaving only the sound

s there. Of c

streets. I found my mother in a sterile, privat

his eyes tired. "Your m

ned? What d

ding to the woman who was with her, your mother startle

ft my lungs in a single, sil

ued, his voice low. "We're concerned about inf

's diabetic." The words

hings significantly. We'll have to monitor

d at a caterer at one of Sofia's parties last year. Sofia had laughed it of

n mine. She was pale, her breathing shall

ed. "It was an accident.

protecting them. P

ith a text from S

ofia's dog. He wasn't vaccinated. Mom is

, disappeared, then rea

erical. She feels terrible. Calm her down for m

burning rage building in my che

n't r

Her fever spiked. The doctors started talking about septic shoc

might have to amputate.` I left

espo

ago. It was a selfie of her and Sal on a ski lift, their faces flushed, grinning at the came

turned into something cold and solid,

at 3:17 AM. Her heart had stop

was

the world who had ever loved

uture Don of the most powerful Family o

to rise, the gray morning light feeling like an insult. I didn't drive back to the apartme

ll wasn't to Salvatore. It was to a number I hadn't dialed in fifteen years. The number of my f

nd ring, his voice thic

he words breaking apart in m

line, then a deep, ragged breath. "

n solidifying into something unbreakab

k with an emotion I couldn't place.

ed th

Vendetta. Not of blood, but of erasure. I would dismantle my life here, piece by piece. I would disappear from Salvatore Moretti'