Chapter 6 - THE FIRST BLOW
At 8:50 AM, the phone on Dante’s desk at Caruso Atlantic headquarters started ringing.
And it didn't stop.
By 9:15 AM, the Hudson Yards acquisition had officially collapsed.
The escrow account was locked tight under my signature.
Investors panicked.
Partners pulled out.
By 10:00 AM, Nico Valenti’s associates were spotted entering the Caruso office building downtown.
News outlets picked up the story within the hour.
“CRACKS IN THE CARUSO EMPIRE: MARITAL DISPUTE HALTS MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR DEAL.”
I sat in a quiet corner booth at a café across the street from Dante’s office tower.
I wore oversized sunglasses and a simple black trench coat.
Before me lay a fresh black coffee and the morning financial gazette.
My burner phone buzzed on the table.
Caller ID: Dante.
I let it ring out to voicemail.
It buzzed again immediately.
Then a text message arrived.
“Elena. Answer the phone. We need to talk.”
I typed my reply with steady fingers.
“There is nothing to discuss until you publicly apologize for your comments at the Halcyon Grand.”
The reply came back in three seconds.
“Apologize? Are you insane? You’ve crippled our business over a joke!”
“It wasn’t a joke, Dante. It was a confession.”
“And now you get to live with the consequences.”
I locked the screen and set the phone face down.
Through the café window, I watched the revolving glass doors of the Caruso building.
A sleek black town car pulled up to the curb.
Dante stepped out.
He looked fierce, elegant, and entirely cornered.
As he crossed the sidewalk, his eyes swept the street.
For a fleeting second, his gaze locked onto the café window where I sat.
He couldn’t see me behind the dark glass.
May you like
But I saw the exact moment he realized his wife wasn’t hiding in fear.
She was hunting him.
