Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
When we return with the tea, three gift bags are waiting next to the cake.
Noah runs to me. “Open them, Mommy! I made you a drawing.”
Jazz takes the tray from me to free my hands.
“Thanks, sweetheart.” I hug him. “I can’t wait to see it.”
Noah climbs onto a chair, grabs a gift parcel with a big, blue ribbon, and hands it to me. “This is from Jazz.”
I open my gifts surrounded by the people I care most about in the world. There are bath products from Jazz, scented candles from Emily, and a picture of Flash from Noah.
While Jazz pours the tea and Noah smells the bath salts and candles, Dante slips an arm around my waist. “We’ll have a proper party tomorrow.”
The strain in his voice gives me pause.
“Today is only for family.” A smile curves his lips. “Tomorrow is for everyone.”
I tense. Everyone means the people connected to his business. That’s what’s expected when you’re high-ranking like Dante. Birthdays aren’t only for making toasts with champagne. They’re valuable opportunities for mingling and closing business deals. That’s why he’s doing this today, trying to keep the celebration small and intimate. Those big parties are stressful. You always have to be alert, watching your back while everyone criticizes the dress you’re wearing.
Emily lights the candle on the cake.
“Mommy, come!”
I’m flanked by my husband and son as I take a place at the table.
Noah tugs on my hand and looks up at me with his innocent face and those big amber eyes he inherited from his father. “Remember to make a wish.”
I look at the people around me, the people I love. There’s so much that doesn’t make sense. Not remembering my own birthday is perhaps the biggest red flag of all. A part of me still doesn’t want to know. But I can’t move on until I’ve dealt with the experiences I’m suppressing. I can’t remove the barrier that remains between Dante and me if I don’t know what it is. I can’t fix what’s broken if I’m too scared to face it. I have to be brave—for me, for Noah, and also if I want my marriage to work.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath before blowing it out.
As the sharp smell of burnt wicker and candle wax tickles my nose, I make a wish.
I wish to remember.
Chapter
Thirty-Six
Dante
* * *
The preparations for the party are giving Penelope a stomach ulcer. She reminds me so for the tenth time that week when I swing by the office to meet with Lexi.
On the way home, I make a stop. A few men accompany me. Teszner’s rented house isn’t in a better state than during my first visit. I suppose he never had to pick up after himself or learn cleaning skills. Or maybe he got so used to the stench of rot and shit that he doesn’t register the filth he’s living in any longer.
Teszner isn’t in a better condition either. I find him in the lounge, lying on the sofa with bruises on his face. The angle of his nose tells me it’s been broken. Dried blood is caked on his upper lip and in his hair.
His body goes rigid when I walk inside and let the door slam shut.
Cradling the arm with the bandaged hand against his chest, he sits up with difficulty.
“What happened?” A cruel laugh escapes my lips. “Loan sharks got to you?”
He sneers, his nostrils flaring. Grabbing a notepad and a pen that lies next to him, he scribbles words in a messy handwriting askew over the page.
Come to gloat?
I step over empty takeout containers and go closer. “What do you think?”
He writes again.
Just kill me. Get it over with.
I bend down until I’m in his face. “Oh, that’ll be way too easy, Teszner.”
He jerks and leans away.
At this point, he doesn’t even own a gun he could’ve used to end his miserable life. Bennet’s men took everything of value, including his weapons, before Teszner’s macabre financial situation forced him to move into this shithole.
His lip curls as he flips the page and writes on the back.
What do you want?
“I have news.”
The pen flies over the page.
Not interested.
“I think you’ll be interested in this tidbit I came to share with you.” I straighten. “As of today, Teszner Agglomerate belongs to your sister.” I still can’t bring myself to say her name in his insulting presence.
He freezes. If he weren’t wearing a dirty bandage over his eyes, he probably would’ve glared at me.
“All the profits are hers.”
More scribbling.
Fuck you.
I grin. “Our son will inherit the business. Unfortunately, you won’t live long enough to see the day. He won’t even know about you. The day you’re gone, you’ll be forgotten, your memory wiped away forever. You’ll leave nothing behind, not an heir or a legacy. It will be as if you never existed.”