Her Dark Reign — Episode 2

He'd booked the entire private floor, ordered over a dozen tables worth of extravagant food and wine, and told me he'd invited friends to celebrate. He kissed my forehead. I'm going out to take a call. I'll be right back. But I waited for three hours.

I asked the waiter to call him 17 times, but he declined every call and never came back. I had no choice but to pull out my own card and settle the bill. But when the manager returned, the smile had already slipped from his face. Mrs. Russo, this card has been frozen.

The blood in my veins went cold. Frozen? Before we left the house. Cesare had taken all my other cards and phone.

He'd said it was my birthday, I shouldn't have to spend a cent. But now he had vanished, and the only card I had was frozen. Madam, do you have another card? I should remind you.

The family restaurant doesn't allow tibs. Not for anyone. And you should remember what happened last The manager's voice was no longer polite. He meant the Giada incident. An icy premonition crawled up my spine. Could all of this have been engineered by Cesare to get back at me for Giada? No, that wasn't possible. But just then I heard footsteps, threaded with low laughter and a woman's shrill

Cesare walked in with his arm around Giada's waist, chin tilted high, her eyes brimming with malicious excitement. Behind them were all familiar faces. Russo, family allies, arms dealers, money laundering They looked at me the way people look at a show about to begin. Cesare released Giada and strolled toward me.

Sarah. His tone breezy. You like leaving people without a way to pay. Humiliating them in front of everyone, don't you?

It's your turn to see how it feels. The restaurant erupted.