Chapter 7 - ASK CORRECTLY
Dante entered a formal cooperation proffer through a criminal-defense attorney the next morning. The agreement promised him nothing. It allowed federal prosecutors to hear what he knew without immediately using the statements against him, but any final deal would require verifiable evidence, forfeiture of criminal proceeds, and a guilty plea.
For the first time since inheriting the Costa organization, Dante surrendered control without knowing what he would receive in return.
The task force obtained judicial authorization to record the St. Joseph’s meeting. The original invoice and cash envelope would serve as bait. Victor believed the financial discrepancy had disappeared with Paolo. Seeing the documents in Dante’s possession might push him into revealing knowledge only the organizer could possess.
Camila was assigned no operational role. She insisted on being present at Lombra as the event’s contracted physician because Victor expected her there after Dante’s public demand for exclusive medical service. Lim objected until Camila pointed out that her sudden absence might warn him.
“You stay in the secured treatment room,” Lim said. “You don’t confront Victor. If shots are fired, you wait until agents clear the corridor.”
Camila agreed because the rules were sensible, not because she enjoyed following them.
That evening, Dante arrived at the clinic before leaving for Lombra. His tailored black suit concealed the recording equipment fitted beneath his shirt. He carried no weapon.
Camila cleaned the final sutures on his shoulder. “Your blood pressure is elevated.”
“I’m attending dinner with the man who arranged my murder.”
“Still high.”
Dante reached into his pocket and placed her St. Agatha medal on the examination table. The chain had snapped during the clinic shooting, and she had not realized he recovered it from beneath the broken glass. A jeweler had repaired the links.
“My grandfather wore this through two wars,” she said.
“Did it protect him?”
“He survived both and complained through ninety-one years of life.”
Dante held out the chain. “May I?”
The question carried more weight than the simple act required.
Camila turned, lifted her hair, and allowed him to fasten the medal around her neck. His hands never touched her skin without necessity.
“I owe you an apology,” he said. “For your wrist. For the contract. For telling you that you belonged to me.”
“You do.”
“I spent my life believing protection and possession were the same thing.”
“They aren’t.”
“I know that now.”
Voices moved in the hallway as Leo and the federal technicians completed their checks. Dante remained behind her.
“Stay tonight,” he said.
Camila turned. “Ask correctly.”
Fear passed across his face so quickly another person might have missed it. Dante Costa could order armed men into danger, but asking a woman to choose him required a courage power had never taught him.
“Will you stay?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He leaned closer, then stopped. “May I kiss you?”
Camila studied the man who had once assumed her desperation made her purchasable. Now his empire was falling apart, and he was offering her the one thing he had never willingly surrendered: the right to refuse him.
“Yes.”
The kiss was quiet and brief. It promised nothing beyond the fact that both of them had chosen it.
When they separated, Camila touched the medal. “Come back alive.”
“I intend to.”
“That isn’t a medical plan.”
His familiar dangerous grin returned, but the arrogance had left it. “Still a cursed bastard?”
“Undiagnosed. I need more evidence.”
At Lombra, Victor waited inside the same oak office where Dante had offered to purchase Camila’s loyalty. Orsini sat in the leather chair beside him. Matteo guarded the steel door.
On the desk, Victor had placed three empty glasses.
May you like
He expected only three men to leave the room.
Dante entered carrying the unpaid invoice.
