CHAPTER 3: The Name They Should Never Have Spoken
CHAPTER 3: The Name They Should Never Have Spoken
The name Moretti finally returned.
Not as rumor.
As proof.
A burned envelope was found near the hotel loading dock.
Inside was a single line:
“DeLuca will bleed through what he protects most.”
Dominic read it once.
Then again.
And something inside him changed.
Not fear.
Focus.
He turned to Grace.
“You are no longer incidental,” he said.
She laughed weakly. “I was never anything but incidental.”
“No,” he corrected. “You are leverage now.”
The word hit harder than anything before it.
Margaret looked at her son.
And for the first time in years, she didn’t see the mob boss.
She saw the boy who had learned too early that love always becomes a target.
“Dominic,” she said quietly, “if you turn her into a reason for violence, you will lose yourself in it.”
He didn’t respond.
Because part of him already knew that was happening.
Two days later, Grace made a decision.
She didn’t run.
She didn’t hide.
She walked back into Dominic’s office.
“I’m not your leverage,” she said.
He looked up.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
May you like
Then:
“No,” he admitted. “You’re the reason I can’t afford to lose.”
