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Chapter 9 - A Reason To Stay

Author: Sharon Madu
last update Last Updated: 2025-02-12 22:30:30

Dante’s POV

“The Romano warehouse fire continues to make headlines, drawing comparisons to the tragic Romano estate fire years ago. In both cases, lives were lost, and in both cases, questions remain unanswered...”

My jaw clenched.

The media loved to stir up ghosts that should have stayed buried. They didn’t know what the hell they were talking about. The fire that took my family hadn’t been an accident or some careless mistake. It had been a goddamn execution, a message from men who thought they could erase the Romano name from history.

They had failed.

I drained my whiskey in one swallow, the burn doing nothing to calm the fire raging inside me. I poured another, barely paying attention to the news playing in the background. The comparisons to my past were nothing more than fuel to the fire… a reminder that some wounds never fucking heal.

I had intended to see Lucia, maybe even explain why I had missed the date I planned.

What was I even thinking? I brought her here to suffer for wh
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