Chapter 3

Grace POV

The night air was bitter, slicing through the thin fabric of my dress to bite at my bare arms, but I didn't feel it.

I was burning from the inside out.

I strode toward the estate gardens, my heels sinking into the soft, damp grass with every furious step.

"Grace!"

Footsteps pounded behind me. Heavy. Urgent.

I didn't stop.

A hand clamped onto my elbow, spinning me around.

Josiah.

His face was pale, his eyes wide with a mixture of horror and shock.

"You spoke," he breathed, his chest heaving. "Grace, you... you spoke."

I yanked my arm out of his grip with a sharp, violent motion.

I looked at him with the cold indifference of a stranger.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded, his voice rising in panic. "Dr. Evans said it could be years. You said that in front of everyone. In front of the Capos."

I stared at him, studying the fear in his eyes.

He wasn't happy I had my voice back.

He wasn't looking at a miracle; he was looking at a liability.

He was worried about the protocol. He was worried I had embarrassed him.

"Say it again," he ordered, desperation leaking into his tone. "Talk to me."

I stayed silent.

My silence was no longer a disability.

It was a weapon.

He ran a hand through his hair, pacing in a tight circle like a caged animal.

"You don't understand the pressure I'm under," he said, turning back to me. "Davies controls the unions. Lexi's father controls the imports. I had to let her win. It's politics, Grace. It's for the Family."

*For the Family.*

The excuse for every sin.

"I did it for us," he said, stepping closer, his voice softening. "To secure my position so I can keep you safe."

I looked down at his wrist.

He was reaching for my hand.

The sleeve of his tuxedo jacket rode up.

He was wearing a Rolex.

Gold. Flashy. Brand new.

Last week, he had been wearing the braided leather bracelet I made him.

The one I had spent three days weaving until my fingers bled.

The one he swore he would never take off because it was his "armor."

It was gone.

Replaced by gold.

Replaced by Lexi.

I looked back up at his eyes.

He saw where I was looking.

He flinched, jerking his sleeve down quickly to hide the evidence.

"She gave it to me tonight," he muttered, unable to hold my gaze. "I couldn't refuse it. It would be an insult."

I took a slow step back.

The protector I loved didn't exist.

He was just a boy playing dress-up in a gangster's suit, terrified of losing his crown.

"We leave for the Summit on Friday," he said, his voice hardening, trying to regain the control he knew he was losing. "The hunting lodge. You're coming."

I shook my head.

"It's not a request," he snapped. "You are my ward. You go where I go. Especially now. I need to know what else you're hiding."

He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him.

His fingers were rough.

"You belong to me, Grace. Don't forget that."

I didn't blink.

I let him see the void in my eyes.

I would go to the Summit.

Not because he ordered me.

But because the hunting lodge was ten miles from the interstate.

It was the perfect place to vanish.

I pulled away from his touch and walked back toward the house.

I didn't look back.

I shed one single tear in the darkness.

It was the last thing he would ever get from me.