He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 07
Dominic opened the side door of the old house and shoved me outside.
My suitcase and handbag were left inside.
It had been snowing for hours. The steps were buried under a thick layer of white.
I was wearing only a thin dress and a pair of indoor slippers.
“Give me back my phone.”
“Come back for it when you learn how to speak to me properly.”
Dominic stood in the warm foyer. Behind him, Sloane watched, still wearing the pearl necklace.
For the first time, I saw hesitation on her face.
“Dominic, it’s too cold out there.”
“She won’t even make it to the front gate before she comes back.”
He looked at me.
“Evelyn, apologize now. I can pretend tonight never happened.”
I didn’t apologize.
“Keep my documents somewhere safe. A Costa family adviser will come for them.”
The door shut in my face.
I walked down the steps.
The Lake Geneva house sat four miles from the nearest road, surrounded by woods and the frozen lake. Most of the neighboring houses were empty for the Christmas holiday.
I had planned to wait at the door until Dominic cooled down.
But five minutes later, the lights in the house began going out, one by one.
The side door was bolted from the inside.
I circled to the front, but the guards wouldn’t open the gate.
Dominic had already used the intercom to order that since I was no longer wearing the signet ring, I had no authority to use Moretti family vehicles. No one was to help me leave, and no one was to let me back in.
“Evelyn, the boss said once you calm down, you’ll apologize on your own,” the guard said through the glass.
“At least let me make one phone call.”
He avoided my eyes.
“I can’t disobey a direct order.”
In this world, a boss didn’t need paperwork to strip someone of protection.
One order was enough.
That was when I finally understood: Dominic didn’t just want me standing outside for a few minutes.
He had cut off my every option to force me to beg him, in my own words, to let me come back.
Snow seeped into my slippers, quickly turning to ice.
I started down the driveway.
There were no lights on either side. Wind cut across the lake, and my skin quickly lost all feeling.
I had gone less than a mile before I began to shake, my feet slowly going numb.
I tried to stop a car leaving the estate.
It was a driver taking guests back to Chicago.
The headlights fell on me. He visibly slowed, but then he took a call. A few seconds later, the car sped past me.
I learned later that Dominic had ordered all the drivers not to pick me up.
He had also frozen the card tied to our household account and notified two nearby hotels under Moretti protection not to check in a woman who might “cause trouble.”
He knew this place well, and he knew exactly how to leave me with nowhere to go.
If I wanted to get into a warm room, I had to go back to him and admit I was wrong.
The wind grew stronger. My slippers were soaked through. By the time I reached the lakeside, broken ice had sliced the bottoms of my feet, and the blood quickly froze.
I fell several times, scraping my palms raw on the frozen ground.
Every time I got back up, I looked back at the old house.
No one came after me.
Dominic probably still thought I was waiting in some corner for him to soften.
But someone on the verge of losing consciousness doesn’t have the strength to beg.
In the distance stood a boathouse used in the summer.
The lock was rusted over. I smashed the side window with a rock and managed to climb inside.
There was no heat, only a few tarps and life jackets.
I pulled them over myself and curled up in the corner.
Through the broken window, I could still see the bright lights of the old house.
Dominic and Sloane were probably settling into our room.
And for the first time, I didn’t wonder how he would make it up to me tomorrow.
I only prayed I would stay alive until Miles found me.