Chapter 6 - The Woman at His Table
By morning, Emma had become a multimillionaire on paper and a target in reality.
She hated both developments.
Dante’s attorneys confirmed Isabella had quietly placed Romano Maritime shares into a protected trust years earlier. The trust became irrevocable at Emma’s twenty-sixth birthday.
Someone had been buying other shareholders ever since.
Adrian Vale.
“He needs my twelve percent.”
“Yes.”
“And if I die?”
“Control transfers according to Isabella’s trust.”
“To whom?”
Dante hesitated.
Emma groaned.
“You.”
“Apparently.”
She stared at him.
“That is unbelievably suspicious.”
“I agree.”
“So if I die, you benefit.”
“Financially.”
“And I’m supposed to remain in your house?”
“I’m beginning to understand why your mother warned you about me.”
Emma folded her arms.
Dante continued.
“If I wanted your shares, you would never have known they existed.”
Annoyingly, that made sense.
That evening, Dante hosted several Romano executives at the brownstone.
Emma objected.
“You’re having a business dinner while people are trying to murder us?”
“I’m finding the leak.”
“How?”
“By giving five people five different pieces of false information.”
Emma stared.
“That’s actually clever.”
Dante raised an eyebrow.
“Your surprise wounds me.”
She rolled her eyes.
For the first time since Daniel’s death, something inside her loosened.
At dinner, Emma sat beside Dante.
Across from them were lawyers, executives, and one beautiful woman in a white silk dress who introduced herself as Sofia DeLuca.
Sofia looked at Emma with immediate dislike.
“So you’re Isabella’s daughter.”
Emma smiled politely.
“So I’ve recently been informed.”
Sofia did not smile.
“I was told you worked in hospitality.”
“I do.”
“How charming.”
Dante’s fork paused.
Emma recognized the type.
She had spent years dealing with women who could insult someone while sounding as if they were complimenting a table arrangement.
Sofia continued.
“Dante usually surrounds himself with people who understand our world.”
Emma took a sip of water.
“I spent nine years arranging impossible reservations for billionaires. I understand entitlement extremely well.”
Marco coughed.
Dante hid a smile behind his wineglass.
Sofia’s eyes narrowed.
Later, Emma stepped onto the terrace.
Dante followed.
“You enjoyed that.”
“Immensely.”
“She hates me.”
“She hates everyone I don’t dislike.”
“That sounds healthy.”
Dante leaned against the railing.
Snow covered the garden.
For a moment, he looked almost peaceful.
Emma studied him.
“What was your father like?”
“Complicated.”
“That is what people say when the honest answer is dangerous.”
Dante looked at her.
“He loved intensely and trusted badly.”
“Did he love you?”
A long pause.
“Yes.”
“You had to think about it.”
“I had to think about whether love excuses the way someone expresses it.”
Emma understood more than she wanted to.
“Daniel loved me.”
“Yes.”
“And lied constantly.”
“Yes.”
“Can both things be true?”
Dante looked out at the snow.
“Usually the worst truths come in pairs.”
Emma turned toward him.
Their faces were closer than she expected.
The tension changed.
No threat.
No investigation.
Just awareness.
Dante’s eyes moved briefly to her lips.
Emma felt it.
Then Marco opened the terrace door.
“Boss.”
Dante stepped back.
“What?”
“We got the leak.”
Inside, the five executives waited.
Marco placed a phone on the table.
“The false location we gave Sofia showed up in a message to Vale’s office eleven minutes later.”
Everyone stared at Sofia.
Her face went white.
“That’s impossible.”
Dante’s expression emptied.
“Sofia.”
She stood.
“I didn’t betray you.”
“Your phone did.”
“My brother has access to it.”
“Your brother is in Milan.”
“No.”
Sofia shook her head.
“He came to New York.”
Dante went still.
“Why?”
Sofia started crying.
“He owes Matteo Romano money.”
The room erupted.
Dante remained calm.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
Marco received another message.
His face changed.
“Dante.”
He handed over the phone.
Video surveillance showed a man entering the Bellamy Grand.
Sofia’s brother.
Another camera showed him approaching Senator Vale’s suite.
Then a third figure stepped from the elevator.
Matteo Romano.
Dante stared at his uncle.
Alive.
Smiling.
Emma stood beside him.
“What now?”
Dante looked at her.
“Now we stop reacting.”
He turned to Marco.
“Tell Judge Kim we’re ready.”
Then he looked at Emma.
“And tomorrow night, you and I are going back to the Bellamy.”
“Why?”
“Because Vale thinks you’re terrified.”
“I am terrified.”
Dante’s eyes held hers.
“Good.”
Emma frowned.
“How is that good?”
“Because brave people are predictable.”
He stepped closer.
“Terrified people who decide to fight anyway?”
May you like
A faint smile appeared.
“They’re dangerous.”
