“Listen, Mr. Russo, Salvatori isn’t a center for missing persons. We don’t care where your damn wife is, so try looking somewhere else,” I snapped, the words coming out like I was reading from a script.
“Damn you! I’ve put up with your crap for years, but this is the last straw! The world doesn’t revolve around you, Adriana!”
Dominic’s voice was full of rage, pressing hard on one of my peeves. I should be feeling hurt and mad from here and acting like an ass, but I felt nothing. My head was clear.
I was never the angel he wanted, and that was exactly why Talia had him under her thumb. She knew how high my pride was and played her cards well to get what she wanted.
But something was not clicking. I was too hot-headed to notice it before and missed such an important clue. Dominic was talking like I’d been meddling in their lives all this time when I hadn’t.
“Are you that bitter because I dumped you?” Dominic kept going.
I scoffed. “Get over yourself, Dominic. You’re not the only man in the world. Why would I waste my time on you?”
“Talia is pregnant, Adriana. You’d better bring my wife and child back safe, or I’ll burn everything you’ve built to the ground,” Dominic warned. “You’ve got less than twenty-four hours.”
And just like that, he hung up.
For whatever reason, my clock started ticking again. I don’t know who or what I owe this second chance to, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to waste it.
I hated that Dominic knew me so well because he was right—I was arrogant. He gave me that same warning once before, and I shrugged it off. I took pride in Salvatori’s security and power. The Russos could never breach our defenses. But he did, and he destroyed everything, just like he said he would. The only way that was possible was if he had help from the inside.
I got out of bed, scrolled through my contacts, and made a call.
“Hey, it’s me,” I said as soon as it connected. “I need your help with something.”
I swear to God, Dominic and I would be doing this dance again, and I’m going to do it better.
Racing against time, I headed into my office at dawn. Since midnight, I’d been relaying diversion orders to set up a trap and gain the upper hand. At this point, I couldn’t trust anyone inside the fold, so I had to bring in an ace from the outside.
Not long after I sat down at my computer, an encrypted video call came through. I quickly logged in the password and answered.