Chapter 4

Valeria

My ghost drifted after them to Dr. Rossi's underground clinic.

A few minutes later, Julian barged through the sterile doors. My newly made fiancé didn't even look around. He made a beeline straight for Camilla, grabbing her bandaged hand with wild panic in his eyes.

"What the hell happened? What did Rossi say?" Jules demanded.

"Jules, don't be mad," Camilla whispered, leaning into his chest. "I'm sure Val didn't mean to slice me that deep. She probably just wanted to scare me for taking her spotlight today..."

The more "forgiving" she acted, the darker Julian's face got.

He gently set her hand down. "Val? Where the fuck is she hiding?" His voice was pure ice. "Don't cry, Cami. I'm gonna handle her."

He had no idea I was dead. He didn't even feel a chill as he walked right through my fading soul.

Jules stepped into the hallway and dialed my number. When it went straight to voicemail, he gripped his phone and snarled a message.

"Val, how could you be this deranged? Rigging a razor blade for your own sister? I thought you were just jealous, but this is a whole new low."

He paced the corridor. "I was actually going to give you my grandmother's diamond pendant tonight to celebrate your Commission seat. But you don't deserve it. Consider it a penalty." He paused, letting out a heavy breath. "You better pray her hand heals perfectly. If it doesn't, this engagement is over."

Listening to his threats, I felt absolutely nothing. Just a hollow exhaustion.

I should have seen this coming. We used to fight about Camilla constantly. At the syndicate's firing range, he would spend hours standing right behind her, guiding her grip on a 9mm. When my gun jammed and pinched my hand, he just told me to stop being clumsy.

At dinner dates, he never remembered I was allergic to shellfish, but he would drive across three boroughs just to buy Camilla her favorite pistachio cannoli.

Whenever I called him out, he'd dismiss it. "You're paranoid, Val. She's just a kid sister." His coldness always made me feel like an insane, possessive bitch.

I loved him. I actually believed he was my loyal partner, my one ticket out of this miserable family hierarchy.

I was dead wrong. And now, I would never feel the sting of his betrayal again.

Past 3:00 AM, Victor, Silvia, and Dante trudged back into the grand parlor, looking exhausted.

I floated near the chandelier.

Silvia kicked off her heels with a heavy sigh. "Julian really stepped up at the clinic tonight. Such a shame about his arrangement with Val. He and Cami make way more sense together."

I didn't flinch. I just listened.

"Yeah," Victor grunted, pouring a scotch. "Kid's sharp. Cami clearly likes having him around. But it is what it is. We need him tied to our accountant."

"It isn't a problem," Silvia waved her hand casually. "Jules can marry Val to keep the books in the family, and still take care of Cami on the side. Men do it all the time. Everybody wins."

She looked so relaxed, casually handing my fiancé over to my sister.

Suddenly, the AC kicked on, pulling air up through the floor vents.

Victor stopped with his glass halfway to his mouth. "What is that smell?"

A thick, heavy metallic stench started creeping into the parlor.

Victor frowned in extreme annoyance. "Smells like a dead rat in the vents. Dante, go down to the vault and grab tomorrow's ledger. And check the AC filters while you're at it."

Dante grunted and headed for the basement staircase.

As he walked down the steps, the smell grew violently stronger. It wasn't a dead rat. Dante was a cartel war veteran; he knew the nauseatingly sweet reek of human blood.

His hand instantly dropped to his Glock. He punched my access code into the keypad.

The heavy steel door hissed open.

The stench of a slaughterhouse hit him like a physical blow. The fluorescent lights overhead flickered on.

There I was. Dumped on the cold concrete. Surrounded by a massive, blackened pool of coagulated blood. My eyes were half-open, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Dante froze dead in his tracks. All the color drained from his face.

"Val?" he choked out, his whole body trembling.