Chapter 2 - THE WEIGHT OF GOLD
I stared at the ruby-red smear staining the delicate platinum band, the metallic tang of blood cutting through the familiar scent of polishing wax in my shop.
“Where is Camila?” I demanded again, my voice sharper this time, carrying the authority I used to wield at the head of the family table.
Leah stepped forward, her medical instincts taking over. “She’s alive, Adriana. But barely. She’s in my underground clinic right now. Three broken ribs, a fractured cheekbone, and a missing ring finger.”
The breath rushed from my lungs in a violent exhale. I looked back at the ring. It hadn’t just been removed; it had been forcefully taken.
“Why?” I looked at Maso, who was pacing the length of my father’s cramped workshop, checking the blinds. “Alessandro paraded her in front of Chicago’s worst monsters. He claimed her. Who would dare touch a woman under the Boss’s protection?”
“They didn’t touch her despite his protection,” Maso said, his voice gravelly, eyes scanning the street below. “They touched her to send him a message. Camila isn’t his mistress, Adriana. She’s Victor Marino’s youngest daughter. Alessandro didn’t bring her to your dinner to humiliate you. He brought her into a public space packed with our captains to establish a visible hostage situation without declaring open war.”
My mind spun. The trembling hands. The fading bruise on Camila's wrist. She wasn’t a conquering homewrecker; she was a political prisoner terrified for her life. And my husband, in his infinite, arrogant wisdom, had used my heartbreak as a smokescreen to hide his tactical maneuver.
“The Marinos ambushed the convoy moving Camila to the safehouse after you left,” Leah added softly. “They took her back, brutalized her for letting Alessandro parade her, chopped off the finger wearing your ring, and sent it to his office.”
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I picked up the ring with a pair of silver tweezers. “Then why bring it to me?”
Maso stopped pacing. “Because Alessandro didn’t look at the ring, Signora. He went completely feral. He’s currently tearing through the Marino’s front businesses looking for her. But before the convoy was hit, Camila told me she hid something inside this band while she was at the party. Something that can dismantle the Marino operation for good. We need you to open it.”
