Page 119 of Anti-Heroes in Love Duet

I couldn’t believe this.

It was beyond comprehension.

This was the kind of thing that happened in Italy, not in America. Wasn’t it?

From the look on Yara’s face, it wasn’t.

There was corruption everywhere, and it seemed I’d just been too willful and naïve to see it.

“If that’s all?” Judge Hartford asked. “I’ll see you all in court on April 17th.”

I stood there mutely for a moment before Yara took my elbow and led me from the room. It was only when we were in the car on the way back to the office that I finally found my voice.

“You knew this would happen.”

Her sigh was long, an unraveling of weariness. “You’re still young, Elena. When you play with the big dogs, you learn they have very different rules.”

“As innone,” I intoned. “Dennis O’Malley met with a known associate of Thomas Kelly, a mobster with ties to the di Carlo family, and nothing happens? The trial just goes on as planned.”

“Why do you think I feel so justified using our own unscrupulous means?” Yara demanded. “This is how it’s done, Elena.”

“Yeah, well, it’s fucked,” I proclaimed.

“You’re worried about him.”

I didn’t bother denying it, but I didn’t respond either, crossing my legs as I stared out the window at the snow.

“I wouldn’t worry too much. You’re just entering this world, but Dante has been king of his corner of it for years. He knows what he’s doing.”

I didn’t respond because the truth was, I was reeling.

I was desolate because I felt I had let Dante down. I’d been so sure Seamus would lead me to something that could help him, but if anything, it had only made the entire situation worse.

I was scared that Dennis would do anything to get Dante convicted.

I was petrified he would win and Dante would spend the rest of his life in a federal penitentiary.

I was horrified that a man I was coming to care for more than I was ready to admit was going to leave me.

And I’d be alone again, somehow even more so than I was before.

Later that evening, I was just packing up to leave work early because I hadn’t been able to focus since our return from the courthouse when my phone rang.

I didn’t recognize the number, and wondering if it was Gideone di Carlo again, I almost didn’t answer it.

At the last minute, I swiped to accept the call and put the phone between my shoulder and ear as I continued to pack up.

“Hello?”

There was a pause that sent chills down my spine.

“Hello?” I repeated, my eyes scanning the bullpen for signs of anyone that shouldn’t be there.

“I’m disappointed in you,cara,” Seamus finally said in a soft voice.

My heart stopped. “How did you get my number?”

“I have more than that,” he assured me. “I know where Mama is right now in Soho at her little restaurant. I know the address of Giselle’s apartment in Brooklyn…I’m looking at her right now, in fact. What a beautiful little girl Genevieve is.”