Chapter 7-2
My mother’s eyes flashed, but she held her composure.
“That girl has done nothing but love you for five years,” she said. “She waited up for you night after night, through every raid, every council meeting, every deal that kept you out until dawn. And you couldn’t even bother to come home on your anniversary.”
“Aurora is dramatic.” I clasped my hands behind my back. “She’ll get over it.”
“Get over it?” My mother laughed bitterly. “She’s filing for divorce, Enzo.”
I almost smiled. “She won’t go through with it.”
“The papers are already filed,” she pressed.
“Then she filed them to get my attention.” I shrugged. “It’s what she does. She throws tantrums, makes threats, and then she apologizes when she realizes she’s overreacted. I’ve seen this pattern a hundred times.”
My mother stared at me like she was seeing a stnger2:27
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“You really believe that,” she said quietly. “You really think she’ll just… come crawling back.”
“She always does.” I met her gaze steadily. “Aurora loves me. She’s built her entire life around me. She’s not going to throw that away over a misunderstanding.”
The disappointment in my mother’s eyes was almost amusing.
She’d always had a soft spot for Aurora. But she didn’t understand our dynamic. Aurora needed me. She’d proven that a thousand times over.
“Get out,” my mother said. “I can’t look at you right now.”
I left without argument. There was no point in continuing
this conversation.
The driver glanced at me in the rearview mirror as I settled into the backseat.
“Where to, Don?”
I considered the question.
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My original plan had been to let Aurora sulk for a few days and wait for her to come to her senses. It worked every time.
It was predictable.
But my mother’s words nagged at me. Not because I believed Aurora would actually leave, that was absurd, but because I didn’t want to deal with weeks of drama. The Family had enough moving pieces right now. The council was breathing down my neck.
The sooner I smoothed things over, the sooner life could return to normal.
Besides, I’d been a little too harsh at the mall. The comment about regretting our marriage… perhaps that had been excessive. Aurora was sensitive. She probably needed reassurance.
Fine. I’d make an exception this once.
“The main residence,” I told the driver. “But stop at the jeweler first.”
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< Chapter 7-2
I selected a diamond necklace. It was the kind of gift that had ended every argument we’d ever had. Aurora loved beautiful things.
She’d pout for a day, maybe two, and then she’d put on the necklace and pretend nothing had happened.
That was how it always went.
The house was dark when we pulled into the driveway.
I frowned. Aurora always left the porch light on.
The front door was unlocked.
“Aurora?”
Silence.
I flicked on the lights and froze.
The living room looked bare. It took me a moment to register what was missing. The curtains. The throw pillows. A pale rectangle marking where our wedding photo used to hang. Among other things.
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< Chapter 7-2
Irritation flickered through me.
What kind of game was she playing now?
I walked through the house, my footsteps echoing against the hardwood. The kitchen was stripped of the little touches she’d added.
I climbed the stairs two at a time and threw open the bedroom door. It was empty. She wasn’t there, nor was she in the bathroom.
I froze.
What if?
I walked to the closet.
I gasped for breath.
It was empty.
Her side was completely bare. Just empty hangers swaying in the draft.
Estood there, the velvet jewelry box still in my hand,
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staring at nothing.
She left.
That’s impossible.
Aurora didn’t leave. She wouldn’t.
Aurora waited and hoped and tried, no matter how many times I disappointed her. That was who she was.
But the empty closet didn’t lie.
I decided to check around. The backyard carried the smell of burnt paper. The fire pit was warm, ashes stirring in the evening breeze. I crouched down and sifted through the remains.
Charred fragments of a photograph. The remains of what might have been a bracelet.
She’d burned everything.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Mark, my Underboss.
“Den?” 679
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“Aurora left.” Rage pulsed through me. “Find her. Put every man we have on the streets. Now!”
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Chapter 8
Enzo’s POV
I called her again.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The call cut to voicemail before the fourth ring could even finish, her voice sliding through the speaker.
“Hey, you’ve reached Aurora. Leave a message.”
I ended the call without speaking.
Four unanswered calls. I placed my phone face down on the kitchen counter and stared at it, waiting for it to buzz out of guilt alone.
Nothing.
She was being ridiculous.
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< Chapter 8
Running off in the dead of night. Burning her clothes in the fire pit like some dramatic farewell ritual. Refusing to answer my calls like I’d committed some unforgivable
crime.
Aurora had always been emotional, quick to react, prone to theatrics when she felt hurt. But this was too much.
I’d given her space to calm down, to realize she’d jumped to conclusions, to come back ready to put the past behind
her.
Except she hadn’t folded as usual.
She hadn’t come back.
And she wasn’t answering her phone.
I leaned against the marble counter and drummed my fingers against the cold surface, irritation crawling under my skin.
Twenty years of life experience had honed my instinct for danger until it was as natural as breathing.
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< Chapter 8
Ever since I’d opened my bedroom closet and found it half empty, I’d maintained the kind of vigilance I usually reserved for an ambush.
“She’s fine,” I muttered under my breath, more to drown out the feeling than anything else. “She’s just throwing a tantrum.”
The front door opened.
I straightened, already preparing myself to demand an update from Mark. Instead, three people walked into my kitchen.
Mark, Jenna. And my mother.
My jaw tightened.
“What is this?” I asked, my gaze snapping to Mark. “I asked you to find my wife. Not arrange a family intervention.”
Mark grimaced. “I thought they might’ve heard from her.”
And have they?”
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Silence.
The answer was written all over their faces.
“Then why are they here?”
Jenna folded her arms across her chest.
My mother didn’t wait for an invitation. She walked past Jenna and sat at the kitchen table.
“We’ve been looking for her,” my mother said. “All morning. She’s not at any of her usual places. She’s not with friends. She’s not answering anyone.”
“I know.”
She tilted her head, studying me. “Do you? Because you don’t look particularly worried about your wife disappearing.”
“I’m handling it.”
She repeated the words slowly. “Handling it.”
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< Chapter 8
There was disapproval in her voice. “Your wife is gone, Enzo. The Donna of the Crimson Family vanished without a word, and you’re standing here looking irritated instead of afraid. Do you understand what happens if a rival family finds her before we do?”
“What would you have me do?” I snapped. “Lock down the city? Call an emergency session of the council? She left on her own. She packed. She burned her things. She’s not missing. She’s hiding.”
“From you,” Jenna cut in sharply. “And I don’t blame her.”
I didn’t look at my sister. Engaging her when she was like this only made things worse.
“Aurora is emotional,” I said evenly. “She saw something out of context, made assumptions, and now she’s punishing me. This is how she reacts. She’ll cool off. She always does.”
My mother stared at me for a long moment.
Then she shook her head.
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“I don’t know how I raised someone so empty.”
I rolled my eyes and turned away from her and her theatrics. When things weren’t going her way, she resorted to theatrics, trying to make you feel a guilt you didn’t owe.
“Oh please.”
She stood. “That girl loved you without reservation. She gave you her loyalty, her body, everything. She learned to live with the guards, the secrets, the blood on your hands. She made herself small to fit into your life. And you couldn’t even give her respect.”
“I gave her everything.”
“You gave her things,” she snapped. “Houses. Jewelry. Titles. You made her Donna and never gave her yourself.”
I had no answer that wouldn’t make this uglier.
Jenna stepped forward, her eyes bright and furious. “I hope she leaves you. I hope she finds someone who actually sees her and never looks back.”
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She turned and walked out without another word.
My mother followed, pausing at the door.
“Fix this,” she said quietly. “Before you lose her for good.”
Then they were gone.
Mark lingered near the counter, hands clasped behind his back.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have brought them here.”
I exhaled slowly, rubbing my temples. “No. You shouldn’t have.”
He hesitated. “What’s the plan?”
I’d been asking myself the same question for three days.
Aurora was stubborn, but she wasn’t reckless. She wouldn’t disappear forever. Her entire life was here. Her parents, her friends, her role as Donna.
Her mother.
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“Her mother’s still in the hospital,” I said slowly.
Mark nodded. “St. Michael’s. She’s being discharged soon.”
“Aurora won’t abandon her,” I said. “No matter how angry she is at me.”
He nodded repeatedly in understanding.
“Go to the hospital,” I continued. “Post two men in the
lobby, keep it quiet. The moment she shows up, you tell
me.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“She will.”
A few days passed with no news from her or from Mark, but that did not matter. She would show up. She could stay away for a while, but not for long.
Then Sophie called.
“Enzo?” Her voice was strained. “I’m sorry to call. I know
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things are… complicated.”
I stepped away from my desk. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Ethan. His fever came back. They want to run more tests. I’m at St. Michael’s.”
“I’ll be there,” I said.
After I hung up, I called Mark.
“Yes,” he said immediately. “She arrived an hour ago. She’s with her mother.”
I knew it. This was just a front. She was never actually going to run away. She could never leave her parents alone, knowing her mother was still in the hospital.
Sophie was waiting in the pediatric wing when I arrived, exhaustion etched into her face.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“How’s the boy?”
“They’re being careful.” She walked beside me toward the
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elevators. “Is Aurora okay? I heard she wasn’t feeling
well.”
“She’s fine,” I said.
The elevator chimed.
The doors opened.
And Aurora was standing right there.
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