Chapter 7
Less than thirty minutes after he left, Maddie sent me a screenshot.
It was Sofia’s Instagram post.
[Morning Delights: Say you’re hungry after a wild night and boom–breakfast appears like magic! Think I just landed my dream alliance for real~]
The picture showed the exact same cinnamon rolls in identical packaging that Ethan had brought to my table.
I didn’t respond to Maddie.
I just silently wiped my tears and knelt down to clean the orange juice Ethan had spilled.
After struggling for ages, I realized with dismay that the stain had soaked deep into the Persian rug–one that Don Moretti had specifically imported for my suite as a symbol of my “adoption” into the family.
In a burst of anger, I slashed the entire rug to pieces with my hidden blade..
It was the one Ethan and Don Moretti had hand–selected from their shipment from the Middle East, after spending an entire day choosing just the right one to make my room feel more “like a true Moretti home.”
While I was at it, I gathered everything Ethan had ever left in my suite, along with all the gifts the Moretti family had given me over the years.
I even collected every single photograph of me with any Moretti.
It took all day to pack everything up and burn it all in the incinerator. They wouldn’t want these reminders of their charity case anyway. After that day, I didn’t hear from Ethan for several days.
Things with the “Rossi princess” must be going smoothly.
Or maybe he was waiting for me to cave first, as I always had.
During every previous conflict between us, I’d always been the first to apologize. Without exception.
But this time, I didn’t reach out.
There was no point anymore.
I blocked him on every platform, changed all my security codes, and deleted all my
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social media accounts.
With all that done, I made a secure call to my Vasquez contact.
I told them I needed to leave immediately–I was ready to defect that very night. My Vasquez handler arranged for me to visit my fictional “aunt in Australia” as a
cover story.
My plan was to stay in Miami with the Vasquez family, never returning to Moretti territory.
Aside from Maddie, no one knew I’d signed a loyalty contract with the Vasquez family.
This plan should perfectly avoid any chance of running into Ethan or facing Moretti retaliation.
I told Don Moretti’s wife that I needed some time away before my territory assignment.
She smiled kindly and teased me: “Ooh, so you and Ethan are going on vacation together before you start your work in New York?”
I made up an excuse, not wanting to explain everything.
I just told her I wanted some time alone to prepare mentally for my new responsibilities.
I asked my Vasquez contact to book me on the earliest flight possible–I was ready to disappear that very night.
As I was leaving, I unfortunately ran into Don Moretti at the entrance of the family compound.
He warmly greeted me:
“Emma, why are you alone? Isn’t Ethan escorting you?
“Didn’t he say he was taking you skiing in Switzerland before your assignment? Have a wonderful time, my daughter!”
I was puzzled.
During our senior year training, I had mentioned to Ethan that I wanted to go
skiing in Switzerland, to experience the pristine Alpine slopes I’d always dreamed about.
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But given our current situation, a vacation together seemed absurd.
Time was running short, so I just gave Don Moretti a quick, vague response and left.
What I never expected was running into Ethan at the airport.
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Add to Library – Read Anytime
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Fri 18 Apr
Chapter 8
