Tears slid down Ines’ porcelain skin.

“I did what I thought was the best,” Dante said as if Ines hadn’t just slapped him.

“For whom?” Ines whispered harshly, nodding toward Anna. “For your daughter?”

Dante simply looked at her.

“What about the twins?” I asked.

“She took them with her,” Samuel muttered.

“Wasn’t it her choice then?”

Dante gave a small shake of his head, wanting to keep me out of the conflict but I wouldn’t let him brave their anger alone.

Ines gave me a sad smile. “Of course, you stand by him even when he sacrifices my family.”

“Leave Val out of this,” Dante clipped.

Ines began shaking. “Out of my house. All of you.”

I blinked.

“Mom,” Sofia began but Ines stormed toward Dante and pushed against his chest. “Out. Of. My. Home!”

“Ines—” Dante tried again but she shook her head and stormed off.

“Leave,” Pietro said.

Dante straightened his shoulders and gave a nod. I wasn’t sure what was happening, completely stunned and overwhelmed.

“Grab your things,” I told Leonas and Anna. They hesitated but I nudged them upstairs and finally they moved.

I followed quickly and put on jeans and a pullover over my nightgown, then slid into sneakers barefoot. Grabbing my overnight bag, I hurried back out.

“Leonas, Anna!”

They joined me a moment later, looking completely terrified. “What’s going on?” Anna asked.

I shook my head. I wasn’t sure.

When we arrived in the lobby, Pietro held the front door open as if he couldn’t wait to have us out of their house as quickly as possible. Santino waited on the front steps while Taft and Enzo sat in two cars.

Samuel and Ines were gone.

Sofia was pressed to Pietro’s side and it broke my heart when she and Anna hugged tightly as if this was a final goodbye. It wasn’t. It couldn’t be.

I took Dante’s hand, needing to show him my support. He squeezed lightly. “I hope you’ll understand my decision soon.”

Pietro held Sofia even tighter against his side. “I understand, Dante. You protected your own children and gave up one of ours in turn. It’s not the first time.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant.

We stepped out and Pietro closed the door.

I took Anna with my free hand and Dante gripped Leonas’ hand, and together we headed toward our car.

I didn’t look back, not willing to make this feel like a true goodbye.

We drove a while before Leonas spoke up from the backseat, sounding confused. “Why did you allow Uncle Pietro to throw you out? This is your city too.”

Dante nodded, not taking his eyes off the street. He looked exhausted. How long had he been awake? “It is, but it’s Pietro’s home, it’s his family, and even as Capo I have to respect that, and especially as part of their family. They need time to mourn.”

“But Fina isn’t dead,” Anna whispered.

“No, she isn’t,” Dante said. “But she’s lost to us.”

Anna bit her lip, glancing out of the window. “Sofia said Fina is in love with Remo, and that she wants to raise the twins with him.”

“It’s not love,” Dante said.

Wasn’t it? Maybe twisted love, but love often came with pain and sacrifice. I didn’t know what Fina felt, much less what went on in Remo Falcone, but I didn’t share Dante’s certainty either way.

“How do you know?”

“Because Serafina isn’t herself, not right now. If she were, she wouldn’t have betrayed her family, her upbringing, simply everything for a man like Remo Falcone.”

I touched his thigh. Anna’s eyes were wide and uncomprehending. This was difficult as it was. I didn’t want to unsettle her more.

Dante cleared his throat and his expression smoothed.

“Will I see Sofia again?” Anna asked softly.

I turned in my seat with a smile. “Of course.”

Dante didn’t say anything.

We remained in a state of shock after Serafina left with Remo. A stronger, more lingering paralysis than after her kidnapping, because this felt more permanent. When Remo had kidnapped Serafina we’d been certain to get her back, that we’d do everything in our power to bring her back home. This time a sense of final loss lingered in our minds and hearts. One that even the most daring hope couldn’t dispel.

Our family was broken. For the first time, I worried we wouldn’t be able to fix it.

Ines and Pietro had thrown us out of their house. Ines and Samuel hadn’t even said goodbye. I could feel Ines’ pain almost like my own. She’d lost her daughter, not to death but the end result might be the same. Just thinking of losing Anna turned my heart to ice. Dante had increased safety measures. We wouldn’t allow a repeat performance. Anna would be safe even if the golden cage had become even smaller, even more oppressing. Her safety was Dante’s top priority. Santino was her constant shadow now.

We’d arrived in Chicago early in the morning and Dante had disappeared in his office right away, without any sleep after hours of driving, and hadn’t emerged since. I knocked, waiting for his reply. Gabby had brought him a few cups of coffee but he hadn’t eaten anything.

“Come in.”

He sounded tired and as I stepped in, I found that he looked it too.

He bowed over his desk, his hair in disarray, a rare sight and sign for his inner turmoil. I closed the door after me and regarded my husband for a long time, worrying deeply about him. He finally looked up, a look of stark concern in his eyes. I showed him the tray with bread and cheese. “You need to eat.”

His eyes followed me as I moved toward him, trying to hide my own anxiety. Dante had asked me not to hide my feelings from him, but right now he needed me strong. The weight resting on his shoulders was already too heavy for him. I’d called Bibi in the afternoon to get a feel for the current mood in the Outfit. Dario was well connected as the Outfit’s lawyer. To say that everyone was in a state of turmoil would have been an understatement.

“You are not alone. I’m here. Talk to me. Don’t draw back from me again.”

Dante leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “I’m not drawing back from you, Val. You are my lifeline. You and our children.”

I touched his shoulder and he surprised me by pulling me onto his lap. The last year had been hard, almost unbearably so. We needed to find our way out of the darkness clouding our life right now. “We’ll get through this together.”

Dante nodded slowly. “I hope Ines, Pietro and Samuel forgive me eventually.”

“You did what was right.”

“Did I?” His eyes flickered with doubt and worse with guilt. “I ripped Serafina away from her family. I allowed her to leave for an uncertain future. The Falcones are unpredictable at best. They are madmen. I only met their father Benedetto once and trust me, any child of his must be deranged.”

“She chose him, Dante. She isn’t a child.”

“I know, but it’s difficult to admit that eventually children outgrow the rules we set for them.”