A figure rushed forward from the corner of my vision—broad shoulders, expensive cologne, the familiar silhouette that had once meant safety and love.
Colino.
He caught her in his arms, pulling her against his chest like she was something precious. Something worth protecting.
Then he turned, and his shoulder slammed into me with the force of a man who'd learned violence at his father's knee.
I wasn't prepared.
My head whipped back, cracking against the elevator's brass railing with a sickening thud that echoed through my skull.
The world tilted on its axis.
Warm blood—my blood—trickled down the back of my neck, soaking into the collar of my dress.
Colino turned on me, his eyes bloodshot with rage. The same eyes that had once looked at me with tenderness. The same hands that had once cradled my face now curled into fists at his sides.
"Anneliese Giordano," he spat my name like a curse, "how dare you? Apologize to Piper. Now."
It was like she was his wife. His Donna. The woman who would stand beside him when he inherited his father's empire.
And me? Just some lunatic. Some hysterical servant's daughter who needed to be dealt with before she embarrassed the Family further.
Piper sobbed against his chest, her fingers clutching the lapels of his suit, her body trembling with manufactured terror.
"I know she's just hurt," she whimpered, pressing her tear-streaked face into the hollow of his throat. "I already said I'd pay for it. I'd take on every job I could—even the ones no one else wants. The dirty work. But she..." Her voice cracked beautifully. "She still hit me. And she cursed me—said I should drop dead."
Colino's arms tightened around her. His jaw clenched. His eyes—dark as the river where the Family dumped their problems—fixed on me with undisguised fury.
"Have I not compensated you enough?" he snapped, his voice carrying the weight of a man accustomed to being obeyed. "Look at yourself, Anneliese. You're just like your mother. Petty. Greedy. Always playing the victim, always looking for a handout."
He took a step toward me, and I could smell Piper's perfume clinging to his skin.
"You two deserved the punishment."
My breath caught in my throat like a blade had been pressed to my windpipe. The corridor spun around me, but I stood rooted to the blood-slicked marble, too stunned to move.