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Well, almost.

Hate isn’t exactly what I feel for him. If what Alto said is true and Roman was faced with losing everything he’d been working toward fordecades, while also unclear on the threat toward my life, why didn’t he just tell me?

Did he not trust me? Was his goal really to make me angry and untrusting of everyone? Because it definitely worked.

Then again, I didn’t trust him either.

My hand moves protectively over my abdomen, and I try not to think about Alto’s blow to my gut. I need to get to a doctor, but after. Roman first. I can’t stand by and let someone else I love be taken from me.

We arrive at the Gatti estate to find the entire place in darkness. An absence of guards at the front gate makes entry easy, and my car screeches to a stop in front of the door.

“Ma’am, you should stay here.” My captain blocks my exit from the vehicle. “For your own safety.”

“Please stop calling me ma’am, it makes me feel so old. And I’m not staying here. Surely you’ve learned by now that sitting back and letting everyone else do shit for me isn’t my style?”

He fights a smile but remains in the doorway preventing me from leaving the car. “This situation is infinitely more dangerous than the one we were just in. There’s no telling what is inside that house.” Behind him, several heavily armed members of his team breach the front door and pour into the darkness.

I wait with bated breath, expecting an explosion or terrible gunfire to greet them, but there’s nothing but silence. “See?”

“Silence isn’t always a good thing.”

“If I fire you, will you move?”

“You can’t fire me, I work for Theresa, and she protects her investments.”

“What if I kick you in the balls?”

The captain seems to debate quickly with himself, then he steps back and grips his rifle. “Stay close to me, okay?”

“I’m a leader, not a follower.” Hopping down from the car with my gun in hand, I run into the dark estate with my pulse racing. There’s no telling what we could find in here, if anything at all, and it’s difficult to keep my thoughts from spiraling. Just thinking about Roman brings up a whole host of horrible scenarios that I could find him in, and none of them are ideal.

At this point, I just want him alive so I can yell at him and kiss him if he’ll have me, then yell at him some more.

But he isn’t here. My team scours the estate from top to bottom, finding only a handful of staff and minimal guards. Those who don’t put up a fight are saved from a bullet and herded into the kitchen while the captain and I take the narrow, stone steps down to the cellar.

The stink of sweat, iron, and copper is strong as soon as we throw open the wooden door. Where I’d expect to find collections of wine and booze, there’s only a row of jail cells, each more filthy than the last. How fitting that someone like Santino turns his basement into a fucking prison.

But there’s no Roman.

Alto said he would be here.

Did he lie?

My jaw tightens as I envision returning to his body, bringing him back from the dead and killing him all over again.

But it won’t change anything.

“Fuck!” I slam my hand against one of the iron bars.

“This blood is fresh.” The captain kneels inside one of the cells and drags his gloved fingers through a pool of drying blood on the cold stone floor.

“That could be anybody’s,” I reply, defeated. “He’s not here. Santino isn’t here. He could be anywhere, and I have no way of tracking him down or finding him.”

“Maybe.” The captain stands and wipes the blood on his black pants. “But you’re a leader, remember? So don’t give up.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m tired. This whole situation is…” Defeat sits heavily in my chest like trapped gas refusing to shift. “My dad is dead. I’ve basically lost my mom. Now Roman could be dead or worse, kept as Santino’s fucking toy for God knows how long. The only reason I’m standing here is because of Theresa. What the hell do I have to offer?”

“The self-pity will feel good for a while,” he replies. “But Theresa doesn’t help lost causes. She helps potential. She isn’t pitying you. She sees something in you that she wants. Maybe it’s power, maybe it’s notoriety. Either way, having something of worth that people want is the first step. Don’t you see that if you hadnothing, your family name would have been dust the moment your father died? But it’s not. You’re here. You’re working. You’re carrying that name with pride and people are noticing. So embrace it. Use it.”