Chapter 5

He shot me a cold glance, then carried Bianca straight into the bedroom of the safe house.

Moments later, I could hear her shrill, drunken giggles coming from behind the door.

Annoyed, Dominic told her to stop making noise and came out to ask me for hangover medicine.

Back when the Family kept him at sit-downs and tribute banquets every other night, I always kept a supply of hangover pills ready in the cabinet, the way a soldier's wife learns to keep bandages within reach.

But not anymore. I threw them all away, along with the rest of my patience.

Thinking of this, I responded flatly, "We're out."

"Fine. Just send me the brand name. I'll have someone fetch it."

When I didn't reply, he grabbed my phone from the table, visibly irritated, and tried to unlock it himself.

But after several failed attempts, his face darkened with frustration.

"Adriana, when did you change your password?"

I calmly took my phone back, turning the bare spot on my left ring finger with my thumb, slow, where the betrothal token used to sit.

"I changed it when I felt like it. Do I need a reason?"

His anger erupted.

"How long are you going to keep acting like this?!"

He turned on his heel and stormed into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him. In this world, a made man who raises his voice has already lost, and we both knew it.

All night, the walls echoed with Bianca's coy whining, her voice laced with laughter, asking Dominic to kiss her, hold her, pamper her.

The next morning, a mild tremor rolled through the city, rattling the glasses in the cabinet.

Startled awake, Dominic's first instinct was to grab the panicking Bianca and rush her down to the street.

Only after the shaking stopped and the danger had passed did he remember. He had left me behind.

By then, I was already at the airport, the overseas passage the Vitale Family had arranged folded in my coat.

My suitcase beside me, I watched as his name flashed again and again on my phone screen.

I didn't answer.

Just before boarding, I sent him one final message.

[Let's sever the alliance.]

Then I removed the SIM card, snapped it in two, and dropped it into the airport trash bin. Eight years, ended as quietly as a debt marked paid.

At the exact moment he received my message, Dominic was holding his phone, expression frozen, his eyes turning icy.

Beside him, Bianca's expression flickered with barely disguised joy. Then she touched the base of her throat and let out a soft, trembling breath, and only after that did she force the tears to come.

"Dominic… Adriana must be upset because of me. It's my fault… If she comes back, I'll move out. I promise I won't bother you anymore."

Dominic rubbed his temples, his tone irritable.

"Don't worry. I won't let her put you out."

He pulled out his phone, about to type a message telling me to come back, but then his gaze landed on the table, and he froze.

His breath caught in his throat.

At that moment, his phone rang again. It was a call from one of the Family.

"Dominic! Check the group thread. Did you see what Adriana sent? What in God's name is going on?"