Page 10 of The Hitman's Secret Baby
Unsure of what to expect, and fully committed to giving him a piece of my mind for leaving without saying so much as a "you were great", I pick up the call.
"This can't be a one-time thing."
My breath catches.
"I told myself it would be," he continues, and it's probably the closest thing to an apology I'll ever hear from him. "But I can't stop thinking about you. I won't."
My mouth is dry.
My pulse roars in my ears.
I say nothing.
"You don't have to speak. I just need you to understand what this is now."
The line goes quiet for a beat and then he hangs up.
I stay in bed, still naked beneath the sheets, heart pounding against the silence he leaves behind.
1
ARIA
Acold gust of wind hits my face as I stand before the floor-to-ceiling windows of my room, overlooking the endless expanse of the dark blue ocean.
In the distance, boats dot the horizon, their lights flickering like lost souls drifting between this world and the next.
The water is so black it swallows the stars whole, refusing to reflect even the crescent moon hanging lazily in the sky overhead.
A long sigh leaves my lips.
From here, the city looks almost dreamy, curling around the ocean like vines of light.
But I know better.
Nuova Speranza wasn't built on dreams, but on blood.
It rose from the backs of the desperate and the ambitious, men who saw opportunity in the cracks of civilization and pried them open with bare hands and bloodied knuckles.
It grew from smuggled cargo off the hulls of illegal freighters, from backroom deals sealed with scotch and gunpowder, from whispered names that would be dead by morning.
It was carved from handshakes that meant war, from alliances made over candlelit dinners where enemies smiled over their wine and decided which family would fall next.
And when the dust settled, when the streets were slick with the blood of men who reached too far, only one truth remained:
Power belongs to those willing to take it.
Beyond the bay, the city stretches wide in a dense grid of buildings and streets lit by steady rows of streetlights.
Boats move along the waterfront with their shapes outlined against the dark water.
Cranes tower over the docks, shifting containers under bright floodlights.
Restaurants along the shoreline glow with soft interior light, casting long reflections onto the wet pavement.
Traffic pushes along the main roads with headlights cutting through the night.
Signs glow in red and blue above storefronts with their colors spreading across the sidewalks.
