Page 77 of A Murder of Crows

It’s a dress that draws the eye.

But I turn away from my own reflection.

My hands struggle to pull the laces at the back tightly enough for the front to stay in place, and I mentally resign myself to asking Vincent for help. I pull open the door without thinking, reliant on my Crows outside, and my eyes fall on a pair of black shoes.

Dante pushes inside, closing the door behind us. “Cat.”

My throat feels dry, and I cross to the sink. “They shouldn’t have let you up.”

Dante’s hands land on my shoulders. “Nobody keeps me from you. Tell me the damned truth, Cat. I know you. I know you better than you know yourself, and I know for a fucking fact that you wouldn’t hurt Rosa Fusco. So where is she?”

For a moment, I can’t breathe. He has so much faith in me.

So much more faith than I have in myself.

Instead of answering, I turn, my voice harsh. “Since you’re here, you can do me up.”

He yanks on the laces to the point of pain, tying them deftly before he turns me. “For the love of God, Caterina.Listen to me, damn you. This is serious. They will kill you for this. Whatever plan you have, it doesn’t matter.”

“They’ve been trying for a while now. This is nothing new.”

“Gio has nothing left tolose. He’s a shattered man.”

“That was the point.” I can’t quite hold onto my tone, the volume dropping. “I will meet whatever comes. You see what you want to see, Dante. You always have.”

“I don’t believe you,” he breathes. “You won’t even speak to Dom. Why?”

I breathe. Breathe in, breathe out. “Because he will not agree with what I have done.”

Truth.

The seeds of doubt begin to show on his face. “You’re lying.”

Shaking my head, I move to the door. “I’m sorry that I am not who you want me to be, Dante. I did what needed to be done. It was either me, or it would have been Matteo. I spared her that, at least. It’s the only thing I was able to give.”

A dignified death. Not a terror-soaked, drawn-out dismemberment. Fear and pain and violation.

All any of us can ask for in the end. I wonder if I will receive the same.

I hide my shaking hands in my gown. “I need to leave now.”

“Don’t go.” Dante pauses, and I hate him for trying, one more time. Almost as much as I love him for it. “Don’t go, Cat. Leave now, while you can. Get back to your father’s estate where you’ll be safe. Please.”

If there is one thing I have learned, it is that running to my father is not the safest option.

Smiling a little, I reach up and brush a little mark away from his tuxedo. He looks flawless, sharp and dangerous in black. “Goodbye, Dante.”

And then I sweep out, leaving him framed in my doorway.

I’m not worried about the locks. I doubt I’ll be coming back.

Chapter forty Caterina

Ihaven’t set foot in the main hall for months. Certainly not since I came back.

The pulsing bass of music greets us as I walk up the steps, Vincent and Danny on either side of me. They don’t speak to me, as they haven’t since I walked out of my apartment and left Dante V’Arezzo behind.

I can feel their judgment. Feel it from the others, too. The censure. Paul Maranzano looked as though he might spit on me as I passed him.