1
Arianna
I could hear them murmuring behind the thick mahogany doors. My father with his frantic and broken voice. The other voice was low, calm, and cold as winter steel.
Dante Moretti.
I stood in the hallway of the penthouse suite, arms crossed, heart punching my ribs like it was trying to escape. The air smelled like expensive cigars, old leather, and my dread.
My father emerged first. He wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“You did it, didn’t you?” I asked.
He flinched. “Ari… it’s not what you think.”
“Then what is it?” I stepped closer. “You told me we were meeting someone about restructuring the debt. Not selling me like livestock.”
A third voice interrupted. “Your father made a deal, Miss Vale. One I intend to enforce.”
Dante stood in the doorway like a shadow. Tall, broad, and impos
