Chapter 8 - THE LAST SHIFT AT CASTELLANO’SAmelia refused to hide.
Everyone told her that was foolish.
Rebecca.
Ethan.
Lucia.
Mrs. Alvarez.
Dante most of all.
“You have nothing to prove,” he said.
They stood inside Castellano’s empty dining room at six the following evening.
The restaurant had remained closed since the attack.
Workers had replaced the broken glasses.
Cleaned the marble.
Reset the tables.
But Amelia could still identify the exact spot where she had fallen.
She could almost hear her skull striking the floor.
“I’m not proving anything.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because Raymond expects me to run.”
“So?”
“So he knows my apartment is compromised. He knows your penthouse is protected. He knows Ben is under guard.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
“He knows this restaurant matters to you.”
“Yes.”
“And you think he’ll come here.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
She folded her arms.
“Rebecca agrees.”
“I don’t care.”
“She has agents outside.”
“I still don’t care.”
“It’s the best chance to catch him before Voss leaves.”
“Find another chance.”
“Dante.”
“No.”
His voice echoed through the dining room.
Amelia stared at him.
“So this is what happens?”
“What?”
“You discover you’re Ben’s father and suddenly you make decisions for me?”
The accusation landed.
Dante stepped back.
“That isn’t fair.”
“No, it isn’t. But it’s what you’re doing.”
“I watched you unconscious on that floor.”
“And I woke up.”
“He could kill you.”
“He could have killed me three years ago.”
“That doesn’t mean you offer him another opportunity.”
Amelia softened.
“Dante.”
He looked away.
She understood.
The fear in his face was not control.
It was terror.
Not Raymond-style terror that turned into ownership.
The helpless kind.
The kind that came when someone mattered.
She took his hand.
“I need this finished.”
He looked down at their hands.
“Then I stay.”
“No.”
His gaze snapped up.
“You absolutely do not get to say no after the speech you just gave me.”
Despite herself, Amelia smiled.
“Fine.”
The operation began at nine.
Federal agents posed as kitchen staff.
Two occupied nearby tables.
One bartender was an undercover officer.
Dante sat at his usual table in the corner.
Amelia wore her waitress uniform.
For the first hour, nothing happened.
At 10:12, a couple entered.
At 10:31, two businessmen.
At 10:47, a delivery driver.
Each time the bell rang, Amelia’s pulse jumped.
Dante watched her.
At 11:08, the bell rang again.
A man entered wearing a baseball cap.
Not Raymond.
Amelia exhaled.
Then the kitchen lights went out.
Complete darkness.
Somebody shouted.
The emergency lights flickered red.
“Amelia!” Dante yelled.
A hand covered her mouth.
She reacted immediately.
Elbow backward.
Heel onto an instep.
The grip loosened.
She screamed.
“DANTE!”
Raymond dragged her toward the service corridor.
He had entered through the basement.
Dante launched himself from the table.
Federal agents moved.
Raymond pressed a knife against Amelia’s throat.
“Back!”
Everyone froze.
Amelia could feel him shaking.
That surprised her.
Raymond had once seemed enormous.
Unstoppable.
Now he smelled like sweat and cheap motel soap.
His eyes were red.
His face unshaven.
He looked hunted.
“You ruined everything,” he whispered.
Amelia stared at Dante.
He stood ten feet away.
Hands visible.
“Let her go.”
Raymond laughed.
“Look at you.”
Dante said nothing.
“The great Dante Castellano.”
Raymond tightened his arm around Amelia.
“You think she loves you?”
“This isn’t about me.”
“It’s always about men like you.”
“No.”
Dante’s gaze remained on Amelia.
“It’s about her.”
Raymond’s expression twisted.
“She belongs to me.”
Amelia stopped being afraid.
Not entirely.
Fear remained in her body.
But beneath it was anger.
Three years.
Three years of avoiding windows.
Three years of explaining bruises.
Three years of lowering her voice.
Three years of imagining Raymond behind every unfamiliar car.
She looked at the man holding the knife.
He was not larger than her fear anymore.
“You’re wrong.”
Raymond whispered, “Shut up.”
“I never belonged to you.”
The knife pressed harder.
Dante’s eyes warned her.
Amelia continued.
“You needed me scared because without fear, there’s nothing impressive about you.”
Raymond jerked her backward.
“Shut up!”
“You hit women.”
“Amelia,” Dante said softly.
“You threaten children.”
Raymond’s breathing became ragged.
“You hide behind Voss.”
“SHUT UP!”
He raised the knife.
Amelia dropped her full weight.
The movement surprised him.
She twisted exactly as the self-defense instructor Dante had arranged taught her.
His wrist bent.
The knife fell.
Federal agents surged.
Raymond punched one.
Dante reached him first.
He hit Raymond once.
Hard enough to drop him.
Then Dante grabbed his jacket.
Raymond smiled through blood.
“Do it.”
Dante froze.
“Kill me.”
Every person in the room watched.
Raymond laughed.
“That’s what your family does, isn’t it?”
Dante’s fist tightened.
Amelia saw the decision happening.
Voss had murdered Dante’s father.
Raymond had assaulted Amelia.
Threatened Ben.
Kidnapped Lucia.
Everything inside Dante wanted vengeance.
“Dante.”
He looked at Amelia.
She shook her head.
Not because Raymond deserved mercy.
Because Dante deserved freedom from becoming him.
Dante released Raymond.
Federal agents slammed him against the floor.
Handcuffs clicked around his wrists.
Raymond screamed.
“You coward!”
Dante straightened his jacket.
“No.”
He looked down.
“You wanted me to become you.”
Raymond spat blood onto the marble.
Dante walked away.
Police read Raymond his rights.
Amelia’s legs began shaking after the danger had passed.
Dante reached her but stopped inches away.
“Can I?”
She nodded.
He hugged her.
For the first time since they met again, Amelia allowed herself to rest completely against him.
The bell above the front door rang.
Rebecca entered.
“We got Voss.”
Dante pulled back.
“What?”
“Federal agents stopped his aircraft during taxi.”
Ethan rushed in behind her.
“He had copies of everything.”
“Everything?”
“Enough.”
Rebecca looked almost cheerful.
“Voss is under arrest on conspiracy, obstruction, bribery, and several charges that will make his attorneys regret law school.”
Lucia entered next with Ben.
Amelia crouched.
Her son ran into her arms.
“Mommy!”
“I’m okay.”
Ben looked at Raymond being taken outside.
“That’s the bad man?”
Amelia glanced at Dante.
Then back at her son.
“He’s a man who made bad choices.”
“Is he going away?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
Dante answered quietly.
“A long time.”
Ben seemed satisfied.
He wrapped one arm around Amelia and reached the other toward Dante.
“Come here.”
Dante stared.
“What?”
“Group hug.”
Lucia laughed.
“Bossy. Definitely a Castellano.”
Dante crouched awkwardly.
Ben threw his little arm around his neck.
For several seconds, Dante didn’t move.
Then he slowly held them both.
Amelia closed her eyes.
The restaurant where she had almost died now contained something she hadn’t dared imagine.
Safety.
Not perfect.
Not guaranteed.
But real.
Then Ethan cleared his throat.
“I hate to interrupt the emotional breakthrough.”
Everyone looked at him.
“But there’s another problem.”
Amelia groaned.
“What now?”
Ethan held up his laptop.
“Voss scheduled a data wipe.”
“When?”
“Midnight.”
Dante checked the clock.
11:43.
Ethan’s face became grim.
May you like
“If it executes, half the evidence against everyone in the network disappears.”
They had seventeen minutes.
