de

ling of expensive perfume, old money, and the metalli

cked on the woman in red. Isabelle. My wife. The woman who had vanished from my home, leaving behind

n Wa

s of Isabelle's lips curl upward. It wasn't the polite, terrified sm

a knife twist

had pictured her scared and alone. But she wasn't suffering. She was thriving. She had traded the safety of

she?" Carla's voice was a silk ribbon wrappin

rage was a physical thing now,

They're whispering. Laughing. The Underboss of the Cameron family is standing right he

sed logic and went straight to the primitive par

e," I said, my voice

th calculated malice. "Don't make a scene like a jealous husband. That's beneath you. Show

and again, a silen

lid lower on her back, his fingers splaying over t

not

a's hand. "

hrough the room like a shockwave. I didn't look at them. I pulled Carla flush against me, my grip bordering on painful,

ter of Ceremonies announced the mixer-a game where

an elderly associate, then to a young Capo from the Chicago outfit. She moved with a fl

t her. Passed from hand to hand. She looks like she belongs to everyone toni

dn't push her away. Her poison was mixi

ilability. She was spitting on my name, on the ring she h

lay games, Is

died down as the overhead spotlights began their frantic s

he back of Isabelle's neck. I willed her to turn arou

cut out

lammed down from the ceiling, fr

s back in Devon Walter's arms, her che

spotligh

aving a vacuum filled only with tension and the promise of violence. Across th

ace, leaving her as pale as

o

nd took the first step toward the center of the floor