Chapter 1 - The Silver Lighter
Vincent stared back at my daughter.
And then he quietly opened his mouth to speak.
"You have a lot of nerve, little girl," he said in a voice as smooth as dark glass.
Mia did not blink or back down.
"My name is Mia," she replied with complete confidence.
Renzo let out a shaky breath that sounded incredibly loud in the silent room.
Vincent slowly reached into the inner pocket of his tailored charcoal jacket.
My maternal instincts screamed at me to grab my child and run for the door.
Instead, the most dangerous man in New York pulled out a gold-wrapped chocolate truffle.
He held it out to her in his massive, scarred hand.
Mia took it immediately with a triumphant, beaming smile.
"Thank you, Mr. Grumpy," she said while peeling the foil.
Vincent actually smiled.
It was a terrifying, beautiful, and completely disarming sight.
He stood up to his full height and locked his dark eyes onto mine.
"Clara, come into the office and close the door," he commanded softly.
I stepped inside on trembling legs and heard the heavy oak door click shut behind me.
Mia ran over to her little yellow backpack sitting by the leather sofa.
She pulled out her crayons and a shiny silver object she must have found in my bedroom closet.
She dropped the heavy object right onto Vincent's pristine mahogany desk.
"Look what I found in Mommy's secret memory box," she announced proudly.
Vincent's eyes shifted down to look at the silver object.
His face instantly drained of all color.
It was a vintage silver Zippo lighter with a very specific, jagged scratch across the front casing.
He picked it up with shaking fingers.
"Where did you get this?" he asked, his voice suddenly dropping to a deadly whisper.
"It belonged to my late husband, David," I stammered, feeling a cold sweat break out on my neck.
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Vincent looked up at me with eyes completely hollowed out by pure hatred.
"Your husband is the ghost who murdered my brother," he whispered.
