Chapter 1

Five years ago, my husband personally put me behind bars. When I got out,his ride request hit my app— and found him tangled up with my best friend who put me there.

I'm doing unlicensed rides now.It's the only work I can get since they stripped me of everything.

So when the pickup request comes in from outside Club Nero — one of Dominic's places — I don't think twice.

I just pull up and kill the engine.

Then the door opens.

Dominic stares at me like he's seen a ghost. Maybe he has.

"Elena." His voice drops. "You're out. Why didn't you come to me?"

Before I can answer, the woman hanging off his arm tips up on her heels and kisses him. Drunk. Sloppy.

He fumbles to steady her, and that's when I see her face.

Sienna.

My best friend. The woman who drugged me, set me up, and smiled through the glass while I was processed into a cell.

I pull my cap lower and hold out my hand for the keys.

"Sir, you ready to go? Five stars if the ride's smooth."

"Elena." Dominic knocks the keys out of my hand. He grabs my shoulders, eyes glassy.

"Come home. My God.Do you know how much I've missed you? How much your family has missed you?"

I peel his hands off me and turn to get my folding bike from the rack. My prosthetic clips the bumper.

The sound is small but it cuts through everything.

Dominic goes still.

He stares at my leg. Then his eyes go red.

I don't understand what he's crying about.

He's the one who handcuffed me himself.His own attorney's badge, his own evidence, his own signature on the filing that put me away.

He believed I'd slept with his brother Marco.

He didn't ask a single question. He just buried me.

"Elena — your leg. What happened to you in there?"

Sienna stirs at the sound of his voice. She blinks at me and her mouth curls.

"Well, well. Little Elena." She slurs it like a taunt. "When'd you get out? You should've called, girl. I'd have rolled out the welcome mat."

She leans into Dominic, wrapping both arms around him, pressing herself against his chest.

Dominic frowns at her. "Sienna. You're drunk. Stop."

"I'm not wrong though," she says, pouting.

"She did wrong, she did her time, whatever I always prayed she'd come out a better person."

Then she kicks my folding bike off the curb.

Dominic lunges to catch her as she stumbles.

"Watch it."

His voice is soft. Careful. Like he used to be with me.

Once she's settled, he looks back at my prosthetic.

"Tell me what happened. The whole five years,what did they do to you?"

His eyes are wet. I don't answer. I just right the bike.

"Excuse me. You're in the way."

My pants catch the wind and the metal brace shows — cheap chrome, bulk-ordered. Dominic's jaw tightens.

"Elena, please. Come with me. Let's talk. Let's fix this."

He reaches for me.

I step aside.

"Sir, you canceling the ride or not? Because I can close it out from my end."

I hold up my phone. Professional. Blank.

Sienna laughs.

"Dominic, why are you even talking to this whore? She went after Marco. Didn't even flinch." She breathes liquor and venom in equal measure. "Losing that leg was the least she deserved."

Five years ago, she was the one who poured my drink. She's the one who got me into that hotel room. When I woke up, Marco was half-dressed beside me,and Dominic was kicking the door in with two of his soldiers behind him.

He didn't let me speak. He slapped me in front of all of them.

And then, because Dominic is one of the sharpest legal minds in the New York underworld, he personally represented Marco's accusation and buried every defense I had.

I come back to the present.

Sienna has her arm hooked through Dominic's, his brow creased— but he's not pushing her away.

Sienna opens her mouth to say something.

"Sienna, enough."

He looks at me.

"Let's keep the ride going, Elena. You need the money."

He's not wrong. I get in the car.

The drive takes thirty minutes.

Sienna whines for him to rub her temples. He does it. I watch the road and keep my foot steady on the gas.

We pull up to a gated property in Westchester.

Marble columns, iron fence, private security. It used to be our home.

"One-eighty," I say, and hold out my hand.

Sienna pulls a thick fold of hundreds from her clutch and throws it at my face.

"Keep the change. Buy yourself a decent leg. Stop embarrassing yourself out here."

She walks away on Dominic's arm without looking back.

Dominic stops by the door, staring at the bills scattered across the seat.

"She didn't mean it. She was drunk." He pulls out his own roll. "Take all of it. And tomorrow come to the firm. I'll find you something. A real position."

I pick up exactly what the meter said. One hundred eighty dollars. I leave the rest.

"I don't take dirty money, Mr. Ferrano."

"Don't forget to rate the ride."

Sienna spins around, furious, and lunges . Dominic catches her.

I clip my helmet on, unfold the bike, and ride into the dark.