THE MAFIA BOSS IGNORED HIS WIFE FOR THREE YEARS—UNTIL HE FOUND HER PACKING ONE SUITCASE IN TOTAL SILENCE

"I must admit, Dominic, I expected you to put up more of a fight back at the estate," Silas said, his voice dripping with condescension as he slowly advanced down the center aisle of the warehouse. Water dripped from his black raincoat, pooling around his boots. "Three years of playing the untouchable king, and it all comes down to a rusted shed in Montauk."

Dominic didn't flinch. His hand hovered millimeters from his holster, calculating distances, angles, and the exact second Silas’s arrogance would make him lower his guard by a fraction of an inch. "You were my shadow, Silas. I trusted you with my blood, my books, and my life."

"Trust is for fools, Dominic," Silas laughed, a harsh, grating sound that bounced off the metal walls. "You spent three years sitting in your ivory tower, ignoring the woman who actually held the keys to your survival, while I did the dirty work in the streets. You thought you were the mastermind. You were just a figurehead."

Silas shifted his gaze, his eyes sliding over to Naomi, who stood by the metal workbench near the edge of the pier, looking entirely unbothered by the armed men surrounding them.

"And you, Naomi," Silas purred, taking a step toward her. "I always knew Rossi had a backup plan hidden in his bloodline. Hand me the encryption keys to the offshore accounts on that desk, and maybe—just maybe—I’ll let you watch your husband bleed out before I put you on a flight to Caracas."

Naomi looked at Silas not with fear, but with a profound, chilling pity. It was the exact look Dominic had given his enemies before executing them.

"Silas," Naomi said softly, her voice cutting through the hum of the overhead fluorescent lights. "Did you ever wonder why my father gave me this warehouse instead of handing it directly to Dominic?"

Silas paused, his brow furrowing slightly as a flicker of unease crossed his face. "Because Rossi was a paranoid old fool."

"No," Naomi said, her lips curving into a razor-sharp smile. "Because my father knew that men like you and Dominic are so blinded by your own arrogance that you never look down until you're already falling."