onths

differently than th

didn't hide behind glass skys

nverted loft perched hig

e scattered across the drafting tables

zzed agains

was

ent: 3

ened

rom the New York Times Soc

JAX VETTI AND CHLOE DA

was a pho

is hand resting posses

ctor's glow, her baby bump now vi

power and passion. Vetti cal

e n

humorless sound that sc

ow, I was just ballast he h

ge was a fina

ng her loyalty with diamonds because he knows the alliance is shaky. He's

kery s

her's

and mortar of my father's hard

the full-l

ck was no longer

a work

issue like a river of molten metal. I had treated it with K

ok like an i

d like l

mirror and picked up my

n't c

ied since t

e who had hope. I didn't have

AV

he name of

fas

th a s

y coat, every sui

lored specifically

lessly integrated

clasps for eme

for women who lived

cilian wom

e daughters of the old families

d on my neck, an

ictim. I was

nori

al girl named Giuli

He wishes to see t

o Ro

the Sicilian

n the way the ocean is dangerous-calm on th

n, his suit

had healed, though they left m

ed at m

t jacket lined with slash-proof mesh. "New York is talking about t

id, pinning a hem wit

envoy," Mateo

and

nd

vy," Mateo smiled, a slight curl of his lip.

le. Not touching me, but cl

vvy. He doesn't get to

money," I said, my voice

earn. And right now, Jax Vetti is losing respect. A man

on my desk, displaying t

appy," Mate

n standing on a tra

photo of Jax I had kept in my drawer.

ed the

ght the edge

x's face cur

smiling, naive

months," I said, dropping the

event of the dec

d, watching th

back to

to make sure he can