{"id":1435,"date":"2026-10-13T00:20:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T00:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/?p=1435"},"modified":"2026-10-13T00:20:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T00:20:47","slug":"i-was-just-a-waitress-when-i-overheard-a-mafia-bosss-wife-plotting-his-murder-with-her-lover-theyd-sabotaged-his-brakes-i-rushed-to-save-him-but-i-was-seconds-too-late","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/?p=1435","title":{"rendered":"I Was Just a Waitress When I Overheard a Mafia Boss\u2019s Wife Plotting His Murder With Her Lover\u2014They\u2019d Sabotaged His Brakes. I Rushed to Save Him, But I Was Seconds Too Late\u2026 And What I Discovered When I Reached Him Changed Everything."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chapter 1 – THE NIGHT HIS CAR WENT OVER THE CLIFF<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was just a waitress when I overheard a mafia boss\u2019s wife whispering to her lover that they had sabotaged her husband\u2019s brakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ran to warn him, but I was seconds too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time I reached the mountain road, his car was already disappearing over the cliff, and I became the only person close enough to pull him back from death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My name is Cara Fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At twenty-seven, my world was tips, overdue rent, and twelve-hour shifts at Bellini’s, an expensive restaurant where powerful people rarely noticed the woman refilling their glasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was why Vanessa Moretti didn’t notice me that night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She sat in a private booth with a man who wasn’t her husband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was clearing the table behind the partition when I heard him whisper, \u201cIt’s done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vanessa lowered her voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe brakes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCut just enough. They’ll fail on the mountain road.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My hands stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then she laughed softly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy midnight, I’ll be a grieving widow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I knew exactly who her husband was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante Moretti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirty-eight. Wealthy. Untouchable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man newspapers called a businessman and everyone else called the most powerful mafia boss on the East Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I should have walked away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People like me survived by pretending not to hear things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Vanessa’s lover said, \u201cDante leaves in ten minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante’s black car was already pulling away when I burst through the restaurant doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr. Moretti!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He never heard me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grabbed my keys and followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rain hammered my windshield as his taillights climbed the mountain road ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I called 911.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I called the number printed on Moretti’s business card I’d once found beneath a dinner plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I flashed my headlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Screaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then his brake lights flickered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The car entered the next curve too fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It smashed through the guardrail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And vanished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I slammed my car to a stop and ran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wreck hadn’t reached the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was caught against a tree below the road, tilted over a ravine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante was half-conscious inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I climbed down through mud and broken branches until my hands were bleeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWake up!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His gray eyes opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe waitress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tree cracked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I reached through the shattered window and grabbed his arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was twice my weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I pulled anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The car shifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLeave me,\u201d he growled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another crack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I screamed and pulled with everything I had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante came free just as the car tore loose beneath us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It disappeared into the darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then headlights flooded the road above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black SUVs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dozens of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men poured out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One spotted me kneeling over Dante, my hands covered in his blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A gun came up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante suddenly grabbed my wrist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon’t shoot her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every man froze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He looked at me through the rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow tell me, waitress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His voice turned terrifyingly calm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow did you know my brakes were going to fail?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My teeth were chattering too hard for me to answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the men slid down the embankment toward us. He was broad-shouldered, maybe forty-five, with silver beginning at his temples and the expression of someone accustomed to deciding whether other people were allowed to keep breathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI said nobody touches her,\u201d Dante told him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man\u2019s eyes moved to my bloody palms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then to Dante.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then back to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI heard your wife,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rain seemed to grow louder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante did not blink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I swallowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe was at Bellini\u2019s. Private booth. There was a man with her. I couldn’t see his face from where I was standing. He told her it was done. She asked about the brakes. He said they’d fail on the mountain road.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The silver-haired man went completely still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante\u2019s hand remained around my wrist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not painful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just certain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat exactly did my wife say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wished I had forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hadn’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy midnight, I’ll be a grieving widow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time since I had pulled him from the wreck, something changed in Dante Moretti’s face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shock would have looked human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was colder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something inside him simply closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man beside us muttered a curse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante looked up toward the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMarco.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGet her car.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco stared at him. \u201cHospital first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine,\u201d I said automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both men looked at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suddenly became aware of my ripped blouse, my muddy knees, my bleeding hands, and the fact that I had just contradicted two armed mafia men while standing halfway down a mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante released my wrist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou climbed through broken glass to drag me out of a car hanging over a ravine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His voice was rougher now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou’re not fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sirens became audible in the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My relief lasted less than two seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante heard them too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho did you call?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c911.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco closed his eyes briefly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I braced myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead Dante let out something between a cough and a laugh, then winced and pressed a hand against his ribs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course you did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn’t exactly have the mafia emergency hotline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco looked like he might choke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante stared at me for three long seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, astonishingly, the corner of his mouth moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGet her somewhere safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSafe from who?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His expression changed again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From almost amused to lethal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom the woman who just tried to make herself my widow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He turned toward Marco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd whoever was sitting across from her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was when I understood the worst part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vanessa Moretti believed her husband was dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if she discovered the waitress from Bellini’s had followed him up the mountain\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She would know there was a witness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 2 – THE WITNESS VANESSA DIDN’T KNOW EXISTED<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I woke beneath white sheets in a bedroom larger than my entire apartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For several seconds, I thought the crash had been a nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I lifted my hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bandages covered both palms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reality came back all at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vanessa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The car falling into darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante Moretti bleeding beside me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three men with guns pointed at my chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I sat up too quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pain stabbed through my shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bedroom door opened immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A woman in navy scrubs entered carrying a medical bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEasy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere am I?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMoretti property.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That did not make me feel better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI need my phone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr. Moretti asked that you rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr. Moretti can ask.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woman’s eyebrows lifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe nobody spoke about Dante that way beneath his own roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy phone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She handed it over from the nightstand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forty-two missed calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight from Bellini’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twelve from my landlord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest from numbers I did not recognize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I opened the news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My blood turned cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MORETTI BUSINESS TYCOON PRESUMED DEAD AFTER MOUNTAIN CRASH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article said Dante’s vehicle had been discovered destroyed at the bottom of a ravine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No body had been recovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities suspected severe weather and mechanical failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I read the sentence twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the door opened again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante walked in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a supposedly dead man, he looked disturbingly alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His left arm was secured against his chest. A cut crossed one eyebrow. Bruising darkened the side of his face. Beneath the open collar of his black shirt, medical tape showed against his ribs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He dismissed the nurse with a glance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I held up my phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou’re dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo I’m told.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou’re letting everyone think you’re dead?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoes your wife think you’re dead?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something dangerous entered his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I slowly lowered the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat seems important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He crossed the room and sat in the chair near the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movement cost him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He hid it almost perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTell me about the man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI already told you. I couldn’t see him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVoice?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLow. Educated. American.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante waited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I sighed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProbably forties. Maybe younger. He spoke like somebody used to giving instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I closed my eyes, returning mentally to Bellini’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The candlelight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vanessa’s perfume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sound of a glass touching the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA watch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante leaned forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen he reached for Vanessa, I saw his wrist through the gap in the partition. He wore a watch with a dark red face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante’s expression hardened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBrand?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI serve food for a living. I don’t catalog expensive watches.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His mouth almost moved again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you find me funny?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou keep looking like you’re about to smile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don’t smile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat’s reassuring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The silence that followed was strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not frightening either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante examined me as though I were a problem none of his instincts knew how to solve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy did you follow me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I frowned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause your brakes were cut.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou could have called police.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou didn’t know me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew somebody was trying to kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat isn’t an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I looked at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe in Dante Moretti’s world, nobody risked themselves without expecting payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe kindness always had an invoice attached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn’t want to watch a man die when I could try to stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His jaw tightened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd when the car went over?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI tried to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou climbed down a cliff in a storm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe car could have taken you with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI noticed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou refused to leave me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou told me to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His gray eyes held mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat usually works.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, you were concussed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He leaned back carefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou’re either very brave, Cara Fields, or catastrophically stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know my full name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know everything about you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every hair on my arms rose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy people ran your background.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat’s creepy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt kept you alive last night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had to establish whether you were part of the attempt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My anger arrived faster than fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo after I dragged you out of the car, you investigated whether I helped put you in it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There wasn’t even hesitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I threw the blanket aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pain shot through my side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante stood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSit down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCara.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have rent due, a job I may have lost, and apparently a mafia wife who might murder me, so forgive me if I don’t want to spend the morning being treated like a suspect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou haven’t lost your job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBellini’s owner has been informed you’re on medical leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy who?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou’re dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cApparently death hasn’t reduced my influence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That almost made me laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hated that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stepped closer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI investigated you because if there were any connection between you and Vanessa, I needed to know before bringing you into this house.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo connection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongratulations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have $387 in your checking account, three months remaining on a car loan, fourteen thousand in student debt, and a landlord named Halpern who has threatened eviction twice despite accepting late payment every time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My face burned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou had no right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The simple agreement disarmed me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante continued quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut I needed certainty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen now you have it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I moved toward the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iron gates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stone walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men positioned among bare trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fortress disguised as a mansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAm I a prisoner?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan I leave?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante did not answer immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can,\u201d he finally said. \u201cBut Vanessa believes I died without witnesses. The moment she learns otherwise, the first person she’ll look for is whoever served her table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remembered Vanessa’s laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By midnight, I’ll be a grieving widow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I folded my arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo I’m not a prisoner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’m just trapped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His face hardened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTemporarily.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I could answer, Marco entered without knocking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His eyes went directly to Dante.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe found something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe brake line was definitely cut.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco glanced at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat isn’t what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pulled a clear evidence bag from inside his coat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside was a tiny metal fragment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe mechanic who serviced your car yesterday uses a proprietary seal on every line he checks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante took it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco’s voice lowered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe seal was intact when the car left the garage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo someone cut the brakes afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere was the car?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco met his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the underground garage beneath Moretti Tower.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The room went silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That building belonged to Dante.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His security controlled every entrance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This had not been an outside attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone inside his organization had helped Vanessa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante’s expression became perfectly still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow many people had access?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBring me the list.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco hesitated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know who’s on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante looked at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something passed between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Marco said the name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJulian Cross.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not because I knew Julian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because I knew the watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had served him before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dark red face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black leather strap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Always on his left wrist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante saw recognition on my face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCara?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I whispered, \u201cI know who was sitting with your wife.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 1 – THE NIGHT HIS CAR WENT OVER THE CLIFF I was just a waitress when I overheard a mafia boss\u2019s wife whispering to […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-model","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1435"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1438,"href":"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435\/revisions\/1438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}