Page 199 of Ricardo

“Substitution for Jerry Bradshaw.”

“Who approved it?”

“That is what I need you to find out.”

“Owen looks ill,” he observes.

“Yes.”

“Does he know who Rusk is?”

“We do not know.”

“Does Julia?”

My jaw tightens.

He hears the silence and looks back at me.

His face hardens.

“She is the one who recognized him.”

“Of course.”

“Dante.”

“No.” His voice stays low, but there is heat beneath it. “No lecture. No fatherly wisdom. No warning about tone. You need something done. I will do it.”

He turns to leave.

“Dante.”

He stops.

I should choose the business. The room. The man by the sponsor wall.

Instead, for one reckless second, I choose my son.

“I know this is difficult.”

His shoulders go rigid.

He turns back just enough for me to see his profile.

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

His jaw works.

For a moment, I think he might say something right here, in the middle of the ballroom.

Then he looks toward Julia again.

She stands with Victoria near the edge of the room, green dress catching the chandelier light, spine straight, face pale with worry.

Dante looks away first.