From Mob Princess to Mugshot Photographer novel Chapter 29

**Chapter 2**

Before I could muster a response, Sienna unleashed a torrent of tears, her voice quivering with desperation.

“Vesper… you’re really going to throw me out? Is that what you’re saying?”

She spun around, her sobs echoing like a haunting melody, directed at Dante. “What will happen to me then? You know what they’ll do to me out there…”

Dante’s jaw clenched tightly, his gaze fixed on me as if I had just desecrated something sacred.

“Is this really how low we’ve sunk? You’re pulling rank on a girl who can’t even defend herself? This is the game we’re playing now?”

He didn’t even allow me the chance to respond. The rest of the crew quickly joined in, their voices rising in a cacophony of accusations.

“Vesper, you know the rules. If one of you has to go, it has to be her. Are you really signing her death warrant?”

“Cold as ice. You don’t even care about family.”

Lana stepped forward, gripping my arm with a sense of urgency, her eyes wide with concern.

“Come on, Vesper. You were young once too. Cut her some slack…”

I met her gaze, and a wave of cold dread washed over me, hardening my insides like stone.

Years ago, during a botched operation, she had set off every alarm in the building. I had already made my escape but went back in alone, pulling her from a room filled with chaos and death.

She had been drenched in blood that day, swearing that she owed me her life.

And now, here she was, defending the girl who had stolen my heart.

“Lana, I’m leaving because I choose to. No one is talking about kicking her out—”

Dante cut me off, his tone sharp and unforgiving. “Are you done yet?”

“Let’s be honest. You’re just jealous.” He pulled Sienna close, his eyes blazing with intensity. “This whole mess? It’s my fault. If you’ve got a problem, come at me. Sienna’s just a kid. She didn’t do anything wrong. Why are you targeting her?”

A sharp pain shot through my skull, a reminder of the memory wipe that was messing with my mind.

I was done talking. I pressed my fingers against my temple, feeling the pressure build as I started to walk away.

“Vesper, don’t leave! Please…”

In a sudden burst of desperation, Sienna threw herself at my legs, collapsing onto her knees.

She wrapped her arms around my calf, her nails digging into my ankle, breaking the skin.

Instinct kicked in, and I jerked my leg free, barely moving at all. But to everyone else, it looked as if I had kicked her across the room.

Sienna screamed, hitting the floor hard. I could see her left hand twisting at an unnatural angle.

Dante advanced, shoving me back with a look of disgust. “You make me sick!”

Sienna cradled her wrist, her voice trembling. “My hand… I can’t feel my fingers…”

Dante scooped her up, glaring at me as if I were nothing more than trash.

“She runs all our comms. All our intel. Her hands are her lifeline. And you actually tried to break them?!”

He carried her past me, stopping just long enough to lower his voice to a whisper.

“Vesper. If you don’t want to work anymore, fine. Leave. Let’s see how long you survive without the family watching your back.”

The room emptied in a hurry, everyone following him like moths to a flame.

Even the newest guy—someone who had barely been initiated a year—went out of his way to avoid me, snorting as he passed.

“Getting old, huh? Acting like some jealous high schooler. It’s embarrassing.”

When I finally got home, a migraine was gnawing at my skull. I crashed early, hoping for some peace.

But I woke to the sound of footsteps.

I shot upright, my heart racing. There stood Dante in my room.

“I brought your knife back.” He placed it on the nightstand with a gentle touch.

I barely glanced at it. “You didn’t need to come all the way here just for that.”

He shook his head, frustration etched across his face. “You’ve had that thing for ten years. It’s seen everything we’ve been through together.”

“Vesper. A decade. All the hell we survived together. Why are we burning it all down over this?”

Memories crashed over me like waves, flooding my mind before I could stop them.

I recalled him diving in front of me during a firefight, a bullet tearing through his shoulder, almost costing him his arm.

The jungle operation gone wrong, where an explosion had shredded my legs, and he had carried me a hundred miles on his back to safety.

The first time I had taken a fall for him, they had broken me for days. He had looked me in the eye afterward and promised he would never turn on me.

Yeah, we had been good back then.

His voice snapped me back to the present.

“Sienna’s fingers are just cracked. She needs to stay off them for a while.”

“She’s supposed to be running logistics. You’ll cover her shifts for the next few days.”

He crossed his arms, his expression serious. “The wedding is in a week. The whole family is watching. We need to keep this clean.”

I met his gaze, my voice steady yet flat. “Dante. I don’t want to marry you anymore. So why on earth would I keep pretending?”