The sun is shining and it's a beautiful, crisp winter day. The snow is still clean and sparkling out by Mrs. Russo's home. Beautiful green branches support fluffy white coats and everything sparkles in the afternoon sunshine.

“You doing okay?” Dante asks as we turn into his old house. Ethan is driving us today.

I'm meeting Mrs. Russo. The last time we spoke, she threatened to invite Norwood, so it's possible he'll be here today as well. Today, Dante isn't leaving my side for an instant.

“I think so,” I tell him. Inside, I'm a mess. Just the thought of seeing Norwood makes my stomach roll. The bruises still ache from my last meeting with Norwood. My stomach is a mess of knots and I have to pee, even though there's nothing there. It's just nerves. Or maybe the pregnancy.

I think I'm going to be sick.

I pray she was bluffing and Norwood isn't there. I'm ready for an easy meeting.

Still, this needs to be done. After this, I'm free of Mrs. Russo. Soon, I'll be free of Norwood.

Then it's just Dante, me, and our baby. That's the light at the end of the tunnel. That's the hope pushing me forward when all I want to do is curl up in a ball and hide in a dark room.

The car rolls to a stop. Ethan hops out and opens the door for me. Dante is right behind me, his hand holding my arm and keeping me steady. The steps are carefully shoveled and salted, but he's protective of me.

I hold onto him, knowing that I will be safe with him.

The butler greets us and leads us to Mrs. Russo's study. We leave a trail of wet footprints down the hallway, but Dante doesn't seem to care. I try not to care as well.

The study is empty, as I suspected it would be. Mrs. Russo loves playing her waiting games. I take a deep breath and center myself. This isn't the time to get frustrated or lose focus. This is my time to take control.

Still, I hold my messenger bag in my lap like a shield. Dante is wearing his gun again. He doesn't trust his mother either.

“I see you brought my son with you,” Mrs. Russo says, waltzing into the room. Today she's wearing a shade of green that makes me think of avocados. The dress is pretty enough, but seems like a style for an old woman.

“Mother.” Dante says the greeting without any warmth in his voice. He doesn't move to kiss her.

She frowns a little but then shrugs his lack of affection off. “I hope you don't mind, but I invited a guest as well.”

My blood chills. Today is going to be harder than I thought. I consider getting up and running, but Dante meets my eyes.

You can do this, his eyes tell me. No running.

“You don't need to look so worried,” Mrs. Russo chastises me. “He isn't here yet.”

That helps my chest relax a little bit. I don't have to face him just yet. Maybe I can miss out on facing him at all. As much as I put on a brave face, I am terrified of him.

“I must say, I'm a little surprised you called me,” Mrs. Russo continues. She sits at her desk, crossing her legs. “I thought maybe you came to your senses.”

“I actually came with an offer for you,” I tell her, doing my best to smile.

“An offer for me?” She laughs. “You don't have anything I want. I, however, hold the secrets to your mother.”

She tries not to glance at her son. She doesn't know how much Dante knows about her little scheme to me. I can tell having him here makes her nervous, but she is doing a good job of not showing it.

I open my messenger bag and pull out a folder. I fling it on her desk and it slides to her, but doesn't fall off the desk.

“Open it,” I tell her. “It's a gift.”

She frowns and shifts slightly in her seat before opening the folder. There's a series of photographs inside. I tried not to look at them too much myself, but I know what they are.

Mrs. Russo blushes a bright red as she recognizes herself in the photos. They are rather graphic and don't hide anything. It's very clear that she and a young man are enjoying themselves and one another.

She slams the folder shut. “Where did you get these?”

“Mrs. Romano gave them to me,” I reply with a nonchalant shrug. “She and I have agreed to be business partners. As I am to be your daughter in law, she thought it best for our business arrangement.”

Mrs. Russo's lips thin and she adjusts her collar. “Mrs. Romano gave these to you?”

“Yes. And she said you don't need to worry about her anymore.” I frown and reach into my bag. “However, you do need to worry about this.”

I toss another photo onto her desk. She reaches for it like it might be a poisonous snake. In her case, it almost is.

“That's a photo of you meeting with Paulie James,” I tell her. I toss another photo. “And that one, that's Paulie doing some non-approved business on the north side of my territory.”

I add a couple more photos to the pile on her desk but she doesn't look at them. Instead, she looks up at her son. “Dante...”

“Yes?” He puts his hands on my shoulders, making it very clear where his loyalties are.

“You have to understand....” she starts. She looks at the photos. “It's not what it looks like.”

“You don't have to explain to me,” I tell her. “You don't have to explain to anyone. I just want it to stop. I want it all to stop. No more games.”

She slumps in her chair, defeated. She nods. “No more games.”

There's a knock on the door. Mrs. Russo looks up, hope brightening her eyes. She has a backup plan. I'm not sure what it is yet, but I have a feeling it involves a senator.

The butler opens the door and in walks Senator Norwood.

I can't help it. My hands start to tremble. My stomach clenches. It's a good thing that I'm sitting down because my knees are shaking. The only thing keeping me from panicking is Dante's hands on my shoulders.

“Senator, you're early,” Mrs. Russo greets him with a smile. “But, I'm so glad you're here.”

“When you said you had someone for me to meet, I had no idea it would be with Cara Savio.” He looks at me with those cold, dead eyes and I shiver. “Cara.”

I hate the way he says my name. I hate everything about him. I wish that God would strike him down with lightning where he stood.

“Cara was just telling me how we shouldn't play games,” Mrs. Russo says. She's confident again now that Norwood is here. She can see the effect he has on me.

“I happen to like games,” Norwood replies. He sits down in a chair next to me. I want to run, but I stay where I am.

This is what we planned for. This is what we hoped.

My phone chirps. It's Grayson.

---

Turn on the TV. Channel seven.

---

“Do you have a TV in here?” I ask Mrs. Russo. She frowns, surprised by my question.

“There's one behind that painting,” Dante supplies.

“Why do you want a TV?” Mrs. Russo asks.

“There's a news story breaking. I think it's something Mr. Norwood will want to see.” I look right at Norwood. “Especially since he's fond of games.”

There's no concern in his face. In fact, he laughs. “Turn on the TV. I have nothing to hide.”

Mrs. Russo fumbles in her desk for a moment before finding the remote. The painting lifts and disappears into the wall, revealing a large flat screen TV underneath.

“Channel seven, please,” I request.

It takes her a moment to find the right buttons, but when she does the TV flares to life.

Senator Grayson stands next to a police chief. It isn't O'Brien. The breaking news announcement on the bottom of the screen says this is happening in my old town. Grayson is in Michigan for this reveal.

“... These photos are being looked at for federal and state crimes,” Grayson announces. “This kind of thing cannot stand in our country. As a leader, I am putting my own money down for a reward on more information.”

“What is this nonsense?” Norwood asks, frowning at the TV.

Then the screen switches to one of the photos of my mother.

He turns a deathly pale as Grayson's voice describes the injuries. “All of these are attributed to Senator Norwood. There are more photos and evidence. This was not a one time thing. As to the brutality suggested in these photos, the police have agreed to reopen the death of Caroline Savio Jeffries.”

Norwood looks like he's about to pass out. His hands grip the chair and he's lost all color. Suddenly, he looks old and frail to my eyes.

He doesn't scare me anymore. He's lost his power over me.

“How do you like my game, Senator?” I ask, keeping my voice sweet.

His eyes turn to mine, burning with hate and fear. “How?”

“My mother left them for me. I actually only found them when you destroyed my piano.” I smile, but it's feral and dangerous rather than kind. “In a way, you showed them to me. I never would have found them without you.”

His eyes narrow and I'm glad Dante is standing behind me with a gun on his hip.

“You're just like your mother,” he hisses.

“Good.” I stand up. “Mrs. Russo, as you can see, you have nothing that interests me anymore.”

She looks like I've slapped her across the face. I just put her down not once, but twice in the span of ten minutes.

“If you'll excuse us, Dante and I are going to go meet with a caterer for our wedding.” I gather my things. “Oh, and feel free to keep those photos. I have them all backed up and on the cloud for safe keeping.”

Mrs. Russo and Norwood just sit and stare at me.

Dante takes my hand and together we walk out of his mother's study. We walk down the hallway, following our footprints out to the bright sunshine world of snow and sparkle.

Outside the birds are singing. The world is bright.

Dante pulls me in for a kiss before we get in the car.

“You did good, Vesper,” he tells me.

And that makes my day absolutely perfect.