A Mafia Boss Found His First Love Selling Her Family’s Last Jewel — Then Discovered His Own Company Was The Reason She Lost Everything.

PART 4

Two nights later, he took her to dinner beside Lake Michigan, quiet and hidden from the city’s usual crowds.

“To Sugar and Salt,” he said, raising his glass. “Officially profitable.”

“Six weeks ago I was selling my grandmother’s ring. Today I turned down three catering requests because we were fully booked.”

“You should hire another baker.”

“I plan to. Unless my silent investor objects.”

“Your silent investor objects only to being called silent while seated directly in front of you.”

“You are mysterious enough to deserve it.”

Candlelight softened her face. She wore a dark blue dress that embraced her curves instead of hiding them, and Julian found it harder and harder to remember why staying away had ever felt like protection.

“You look beautiful,” he said.

Her smile faltered with surprise. “So do you.”

“I look beautiful?”

“You know what I mean.”

“I prefer your original statement.”

She laughed — the sound he’d missed for twelve years.

They talked about old neighbors, teachers, the summer she’d nearly burned down her parents’ kitchen attempting a six-tier wedding cake.

“You told the bride the smoke was a traditional European baking method,” Julian remembered.

“I panicked.”

“You’d never been to Europe.”

“Neither had she.”

Their laughter faded into a warm silence. Corinne traced the stem of her glass.

“I married Warren because he felt safe.”

Julian kept his face still.

“Regular job, sensible car, a five-year plan for everything. After you vanished, safety seemed more important than excitement.”

“Did you love him?”

“In the beginning.”

“And later?”

She looked at the black water beyond the windows. “Later I spent most of my time trying to rescue him from decisions he refused to admit he’d made. He borrowed money without telling me. Opened credit cards in both our names. Every time I found a new problem, he swore it was the last one.”

Julian’s guilt sharpened. She didn’t know about the embezzlement. Didn’t know the biggest debt belonged to his own company.

“He wasn’t cruel,” she went on. “That almost made it worse. If he’d been cruel, leaving would’ve been simple. He was frightened, ashamed, always sure one more lie would fix the last one.”

“You deserved better.”

“So did he, probably. He needed help he was too proud to ask for.” She looked at Julian. “When he died, I was grieving and furious at the same time. People don’t know what to do with a widow who’s angry at the man she buried.”

“You’re allowed to feel both.”

“Easy to say when the dead man didn’t leave you a mountain of debt.”

Julian lowered his eyes.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“That expression means something.”

“I’m sorry you carried it alone.”

Her gaze softened. “I’m not carrying it anymore.”

He’d erased the Reyes debt. His investment had stabilized the rest. She believed the nightmare was simply ending, like a storm moving off. Julian knew it had ended because he’d secretly moved half a million dollars to protect her from the truth.

His phone buzzed in his jacket. One message from Damon.

*Voss knows about the write-off.*

Julian went still.

“Something wrong?” Corinne asked.