Chapter 7

The diagnosis was ulnar nerve compression with potential severance.

Serious, but fixable-if you had the right surgeon.

I stood in the sterile corridor outside Dante's room.

Matteo, the Consigliere, blocked my path.

He looked like a funeral director, but possessed the soul of an accountant.

"We have a problem, Elena," Matteo stated flatly.

"Sofia needs surgery," I replied, crossing my arms to hide a tremor. "I saw the chart."

"She needs Dr. Rossi," Matteo corrected. "He is the only one who can restore full mobility. She is a pianist. She writes. Her hands are her life."

"Dr. Rossi is fully booked for the next six months," I argued. "He is in Switzerland."

"I know," Matteo said smoothly. "But there is one slot open next week. A cancellation."

My blood turned to ice.

I knew that slot.

It was *my* slot.

I have a genetic kidney condition-polycystic kidney disease. It was a slow killer, but it was actively destroying my right kidney. Dr. Rossi was scheduled to perform a partial nephrectomy to save the organ.

I had waited five years for this appointment.

"That is my slot, Matteo," I said, my voice tight.

"I know," he replied, his expression unchanging. "We need you to give it to Sofia."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"My kidney," I choked out. "Versus her pinky finger?"

"It is her hand, Elena. And it is about optics," Matteo insisted. "Sofia is a public figure. If she is crippled on a Cavallaro mission, the press will destroy us. We need her happy. We need her whole."

"And me?" I asked, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "Do you need me whole?"

"You can wait," Matteo said dismissively. "Your condition is... manageable. Dialysis is an option."

Dialysis.

He was suggesting I tether myself to a machine for the rest of my life just so Sofia could play the piano.

"No," I stated firmly.

Matteo sighed.

He opened the file he was holding, anticipating the resistance.

He pulled out a photograph.

It was a picture of a cemetery-a small, overgrown plot on the edge of the city.

Luca's grave.

"The city is rezoning this area," Matteo explained calmly. "They want to build a highway. We have been holding off the permits with bribes."

He met my gaze.

"If the Family stops paying the bribes... the bulldozers come next week. They will dig him up. They will pave over him."

I felt the blood drain from my face.

"You wouldn't."

"Dante agrees it is necessary leverage," Matteo said.

The door to the hospital room opened.

Dante appeared in a wheelchair, pushed by a nurse.

He looked pale, but his eyes were hard as flint.

"Do it, Elena," he commanded.

He had heard.

He knew they were threatening to bulldoze my brother's grave.

"You are blackmailing me," I whispered, horror coating my tongue. "With my dead brother."

"It is for the greater good," Dante said, his voice void of emotion. "Sofia was injured under my protection. I owe her this."

"You owe me a husband!" I screamed.

The nurse flinched.

Dante didn't even blink.

"Make the call, Elena," he said softly. "Transfer the appointment. Or Luca gets paved over."

I looked at him.

I looked at the man I had shared a bed with.

He wasn't a man anymore. He was a monster in a three-piece suit.

"Fine," I whispered, defeated.

I took out my phone.

I dialed Dr. Rossi's office.

My hand shook so violently I almost dropped the device.

"Cancel my surgery," I told the receptionist, my voice hollow. "Give the slot to Sofia Ricci."

I hung up.

Dante let out a long breath.

"Thank you," he said. "You are doing the right thing."

I looked at him, hatred burning in my chest.

"I hope she plays a requiem for you," I said.