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PROLOGUE
AURORA
I left Jimmy Caruso in my living room, where he held Gina hostage. I rushed upstairs to Anna and Michael. I had to get them both out of the house before Jimmy found out they’d been there the whole time. It was stupid of me to have Anna bring Michael to the mansion in Maryland. I needed to shield them both from this part of my corrupt and immoral world I worked in.
“Take Michael to the townhome in Georgetown,” I said to Anna in a hushed voice as she held my son.
“Mommy, I wanna stay wiff you!” Michael cried, his little hands reaching out for me. I took him from Anna and held him to me tightly. He wrapped his arms around my neck. “It’s okay, Michael. Anna is going to take you for a car ride to the other house for a few days. I need to take care of something, and then I’ll be there in a few hours.”
My throat ached as much as my heart. I could hardly bear to look at the fear in his eyes. I handed him back to Anna, then pulled them both to me. “Stay there until I call. And do not answer the door for anyone.”
Anna released me, “Yes, Rory.”
Anna left with Michael, descending the stairs, and quietly sneaked her way into the kitchen, leaving out the back entrance from the house.”
I wiped the tears from my face and took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled. I paced back-and-forth upstairs, wringing my hands, needing a cigarette really bad. When I descended the stairs and walked across the marble-tiled floor in the foyer, my front door suddenly flew open. It was Jimmy’s father, Nick Caruso, barging through.
Beads of sweat ran down Nick’s temples, his face flushed red. He reached out, grabbing my arm. “Stay here, whore. Rocky’s out front, and he’ll put a bullet in that pretty head of yours if you step outside.”
He shoved me, then stormed into the living room. My heart thumped hard in my chest. Nick didn’t see Anna drive away. I followed after Nick, and as I entered the living room, Jimmy aimed a gun right at him. “All you’ve done my whole life is belittle me, shut me down, and tear me apart. The Caruso empire belongs to me now. Goodbye Father. See you in Hell.”
It happened within a matter of seconds as Jimmy’s silencer on the gun muffled the three bullets he fired, striking Nick Caruso once in the throat and twice in the chest. I screamed, and so did Gina. Nick stumbled back, clawing at his throat and chest. Then he fell to the floor, his eyes wide open, his mouth agape. I just stood there staring down at Nick’s dead body when Jimmy came up and backhanded me across the temple, knocking me out cold.
My eyes fluttered open. Jimmy and Gina were gone, while Nick’s bloody body laid dead on my white carpeted floor.
I pulled myself up off the carpet and staggered. My head throbbed. I went into the kitchen and grabbed my phone. I called Anna. “It’s me, Rory. Are you at the house now?”
“Mommy?” I heard Michael’s voice over the phone.
“Yes, we’re here now, so are Lyla and Desiree,” Anna replied. “Rory, are you okay? What happened?”
I choked back a sob, hearing Michael’s voice in the background. “Good. Something terrible just happened, Anna. There’s a dead man in my living room. Jimmy Caruso just started a war with Nolan Reynolds and Dane Neri. Promise me now that you will take care of Michael if something happens to me.”
“But–– “
“Promise me now, Anna!”
“Yes, Rory. I promise.”
“Thank you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I hung up with Anna and ran some cold water from the faucet on a cloth, placing it on my swollen temple. I rummaged through the kitchen drawers, searching for just one cigarette. I’d quit smoking a year ago and hoped I’d left a pack somewhere.
“Yes.” I smiled, pulling out an old pack of stale cigarettes and a pack of matches. I lit one and inhaled. The first inhale tasted bad but felt good.
I poured a glass of wine and sat at the kitchen bar enjoying the stale cigarette while Nick Caruso’s dead body laid on my living floor, and his blood seeped into the carpet.
