Chapter 6 - The Woman They Underestimated
Emergency lights turned red.
Marco grabbed my arm.
“We’re leaving.”
“What happened?”
“Security breach.”
“But Dante—”
“Can handle himself.”
We reached the corridor.
Then someone stepped from the darkness.
Julian.
He had escaped the room during the blackout.
“Cara.”
Marco moved in front of me.
Julian smiled.
“You caused a remarkable amount of trouble for a waitress.”
I stared at him.
“That seems to be everyone’s favorite insult.”
“It’s not an insult.”
“No?”
“It means you should have known your place.”
I stepped around Marco.
“My place?”
Julian’s smile faded.
“My place was beside a table carrying dirty dishes when I heard you planning murder.”
I moved closer.
“My place was behind Dante’s car when his brakes failed.”
Another step.
“My place was in the mud pulling him out before that car fell into a ravine.”
Julian stared at me.
“So maybe you’re right.”
I smiled.
“I knew exactly where my place was.”
Footsteps sounded behind him.
Dante emerged from the darkness.
“And now yours is somewhere else.”
Julian turned.
Dante’s men surrounded him.
It was over.
Hours later, police vehicles filled the estate.
Dante had done something nobody expected.
He turned over everything.
Recordings.
Financial records.
Evidence connecting Vanessa, Julian, and Victor to the attempted murder.
Vanessa was led outside first.
She stopped beside me.
“You think he cares about you?”
I said nothing.
“He destroys everyone eventually.”
Dante appeared behind me.
Vanessa looked at him.
“You’ll destroy her too.”
Dante’s voice remained calm.
“No.”
“Why?”
He looked at me.
“Because she reminds me there are still people in this world who save strangers without asking what they’ll get in return.”
Vanessa was taken away.
I turned toward him.
“So what happens now?”
“You go home.”
I blinked.
“That’s it?”
“You wanted your life back.”
“I did.”
Dante handed me something.
My mother’s photograph.
New glass.
New frame.
Perfectly restored.
My throat tightened.
“You fixed it.”
“You said it mattered.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
Then walked away.
“Dante.”
He stopped.
“You’re really just letting me leave?”
He turned.
“What would you prefer?”
I suddenly had no answer.
A faint smile touched his face.
“Goodbye, Cara.”
He disappeared inside.
May you like
And for reasons I didn’t understand yet, walking away from Dante Moretti hurt much more than walking toward him ever had.
---
