Chapter 14 - TABLE NINE AGAIN
Dante arrived at seven exactly.
No security detail.
No driver waiting outside.
No black suit.
He wore a dark sweater and a jacket.
He looked almost normal.
That was deeply suspicious.
Sophia crossed her arms.
“Where’s Enzo?”
“Across the street.”
“I knew it.”
“He insisted.”
“Of course.”
Dante looked around the restaurant.
“It’s beautiful.”
“You hate the chairs.”
“I would never criticize your chairs.”
“Elena called them criminal.”
“My mother has stronger opinions.”
Sophia handed him a menu.
Dante didn’t open it.
“I’ll have the pastina.”
She smiled despite herself.
“Of course you will.”
They talked.
Really talked.
No debt.
No contracts.
No emergency.
Dante told her he had sold his interests in three companies connected to Genovese money.
He had replaced two executives.
Opened his books to federal investigators.
Sophia raised an eyebrow.
“Completely?”
“Let’s not ruin dinner.”
She laughed.
He smiled.
God, she had missed that smile.
She hated knowing that.
Dante looked at her.
“I thought about calling you every day.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“You asked for space.”
“That has never stopped you before.”
“I’m trying new things.”
“Respecting boundaries?”
“It’s terrible.”
Sophia laughed again.
Then his expression softened.
“I missed you.”
She looked down at the table.
“I missed you too.”
The front window exploded.
Dante moved before Sophia understood the sound.
He pulled her to the floor.
People screamed.
A car outside accelerated away.
Enzo burst through the front door.
“Back room! Now!”
Sophia’s heart hammered.
“Who was that?”
Enzo looked at Dante.
“Genovese.”
Dante’s expression turned cold.
“I thought the father was in custody.”
“He is.”
“Then who?”
A phone rang on the floor.
Dante picked it up.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Vanessa’s voice came through.
Sophia went still.
“How are you calling?”
Vanessa laughed.
“You really think prison makes everyone honest?”
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“What do you want?”
“To finish what you started.”
“You already lost.”
“No.”
Her voice hardened.
“You took my family. My name. My future.”
“You did that yourself.”
Vanessa screamed something and hung up.
Enzo checked outside.
“Vehicle abandoned two blocks away.”
Sophia stood.
“No.”
Dante looked at her.
“No what?”
“I am done hiding.”
“Sophia—”
“I spent half my life afraid of my father’s creditors. Then I was afraid of Vanessa. Then I was afraid of loving you.”
Dante went still.
Sophia continued.
“I’m tired.”
She took the restaurant security tablet from Enzo.
“Show me outside cameras.”
Enzo hesitated.
“Sophia.”
“Show me.”
They checked the footage.
A woman in a baseball cap had stepped from the vehicle before it drove away.
Sophia zoomed in.
Not Vanessa.
Carlo.
The former Moretti guard.
The man who had helped switch Elena’s medication.
Dante’s face hardened.
“He made bail two days ago.”
Sophia watched the video again.
Carlo wasn’t running away from the restaurant.
He was walking toward the alley behind it.
Sophia looked up.
“He’s still here.”
At that exact moment, the kitchen door opened.
May you like
Carlo stepped inside.
And pointed a gun at Dante.
