BLOOD AND WHITE ROSES

"Get down!" Ivy screamed, throwing herself over Lily.

BOOM.

Because the grenade was smothered under the Kevlar vest, the concussive force was muffled, but the explosion of smoke and blinding magnesium was enough. The blast knocked Vincent off his feet, sending him crashing into the harbor waters. His enforcers stumbled back, blinded and coughing wildly in the thick cloud of white smoke.

Through the chaos, Dante found a reserve of strength born purely of adrenaline. He pushed himself off the ground, his Glock in hand, and fired two rapid shots, dropping the enforcers before their vision cleared.

The dock was eerily quiet again, save for the splashing of Vincent struggling in the dark, freezing water below.

Dante dropped his gun, his knees buckling. He hit the concrete hard, a sickening cough wracking his frame. The temporary adrenaline was fading fast.

"Dante!" Ivy ran to him, grabbing his shoulders to keep him from rolling completely over. "Stay awake! Please, stay awake!"

Dante looked at her, his vision swimming. "You... you pulled a grenade."

"I improvised," Ivy cried, pressing her hands back onto his wound.

"Remind me... never to piss off a florist," he muttered, a bloody smile touching his lips.

Suddenly, sirens wailed in the distance. Real sirens. Red and blue lights reflected off the water. The explosion had drawn the city police, and this time, it was too public for bought cops to cover up.

"You have to go," Dante whispered, pushing her hands away. "The police... they find you here with me, they’ll lock you up. They’ll take Lily to child services."

"I am not leaving you to die!"

"I won't die," Dante lied smoothly. He reached into his pocket—his actual pocket—and pulled out a heavy, ornate gold ring. The Russo family signet.

He pressed it into Ivy’s bloody palm and closed her fingers over it.

"Take this. Go to the address engraved on the inside of the band. It’s my lawyer. He’s clean. He’ll hide you." Dante took a ragged breath. "Keep the SD card. Use the money. Save your shop. Take care of the kid."

"Dante, please—"

"Go, Ivy! Now!" he roared, a final surge of commanding authority in his voice.

Ivy looked at his pale, beautiful face, knowing it might be the last time she ever saw him. She leaned down and pressed a desperate, bloody kiss to his lips. It was chaotic, tasting of iron and tears, but it was real.

"If you die, Dante Russo," she whispered fiercely against his mouth, "I will resurrect you just to kill you myself."

She grabbed Lily’s hand, clutching the signet ring in her other, and sprinted away into the shadows of the shipping yard just as the first squad cars breached the gates.

From her hiding spot on a rooftop a block away, Ivy watched the scene unfold. She saw the paramedics rush Dante onto a stretcher. She saw them doing chest compressions.

And then, she saw the paramedic shake his head, stopping the compressions. They pulled a white sheet over Dante’s face.