Billing My Ex: The Queen's Glorious Return

a

departures. The rain came down in sheets against the plate-glass windows, dissolving the runway lights into a s

hum against the ar

screen for three full heartbeats

he asked, his tone clippe

," I

e, Eva. Serena is the daughter of my most powerful Capo. I need her father's arms

red at the top of my

of the digital file-a serpent coiled around a broken crown. I had seen that symbol once before, years ago, in a Famiglia intelligence file marked "Terminated." I didn't know who had sent it

ened

Dante's lap in the same plush red booth I had stood before an hour a

was from ten

Chicago caretaker three years ago. Thank you for keepin

er me, a lurch so violent it brought

ign of deceit. For three years, while I bled and bargained and buried t

ve to see it. Every kiss on my forehead before he flew to New York. Every late-night call he cut short, blaming bad signal. Every anniversary h

rms shipments three yea

lence fell on the o

ation of command in his voice crackin

the plastic casing biting into the bone o

r place, I opened the

maker's precision, a cold, me

f-the-books surgeon when his mothe

recinct captain to misplac

hermal-imaging system at

nt testament to a debt he n

o keep his family insulated fro

creen, I scrolled through my contac

answered on t

stocratic angles, honed by a lifetime of unchallenged privilege. "The

New York airs

th Dante? I have told you not to do that." She paused, her tone hardening int

th Serena Bia

ve appetites, Eva." Her indifference was a physical force, pressing the air from my lungs. "My husband kept wome

e phone tight

t am I?"

age the household. You see to our care." She released another breath, this one laden with impatienc

see a futu

warden. A disposable shield to place between

ard the invo

talking about?

s." My voice was unnervingly placid. "Every dollar I paid from

hat tone with me! You owe

Family nothi

sed en

the final number

seven thousand, four hun

waiting area. "The aircr

ing from the hard plastic cha

air inside was stagnant with the scent of old cigar smoke and unaired grievan

the cold hearth. Dante's mother stood near the long stretch of the mah

ng any greeting. "My consultation

my pocket, the brass of the keys catching on the wool lining of my c

h a heavy, disc

underground mob doctors, the corrupt police captains, and the p

asked. He leaned forward, his bushy eyebrows

d on Dante's mother. "I will no longer manage your s

ied, her composure fracturing. "You are betrot

r woman," I said. I could feel a tremor begin deep in my diaphrag

, pointing a trembling, manicured finger at t

nger my concer

headed cane. "Eva. You are reacting emotionally. Dante is under immense p

wn foundation," I replied. "I sugge

r scoffed. "They bill by the hour! We

g like a stone dropped into still water. "I am y

landline on the

e!" she cried into it. "You must speak sense to this girl!

t to me as if it were

ached past her and pressed the s

aw by sleeplessness. "Do not punish my parents for my errors. Put the k

feminine voice drifted through

ting in the boardroom. The port

as S

n her eyes lifted slowly to meet mine, the blood d

g light of the speaker. "Tell Sere

t-" Dante

room was the ticking of the grandfather clock in

bandoning this Family," Dante's mother threatened, he

have nothin

hicago wind. I did not look back when I heard

r question was already forming in my mind: if Dante had lied about Serena for three years, what else had he lied about?