When I got back to my rundown apartment, an eviction notice from the landlord was taped to my door.

I leaned against the wall and slowly slid to the floor.

From the depths of a drawer, I retrieved a small box. Inside lay the rusted bullet slug they’d dug out of Duke.

The memories engulfed me.

The industrial ruins five years ago. I was dragging an unconscious Duke, my ears bleeding, my throat raw from the smoke.

The deafening roar of the explosion and the searing blast waves threatened to knock me off my feet again and again.

But I didn't let go.

Because I held my entire world in my arms.

I dragged him for what felt like miles through the ruins until I finally found the South District's back-alley doctor, "Old Bones" Petrov, and his underground clinic.

But when I stumbled through the door, I saw a woman I'd thought was my friend, Victoria, hugging a newly awakened Duke, her face streaked with tears.

"Duke, you scared me to death! When I led my men in to save you, I thought we were going to die together in there..."

Duke stroked her hair, his voice weak but gentle.

"Victoria, thank you. When I'm better, I'll marry you."

I couldn't make out the rest of what was said.

Old Bones pushed a sedative into my vein, and my world dissolved.

When I woke up, I was in a filthy cubicle.

The doctor told me I'd inhaled too much smoke, permanently damaging my vocal cords. Speaking would be nearly impossible from now on.

He added that the blast had ruptured both my eardrums, causing profound and irreversible hearing loss.

Finally, he said the gash on my back from a steel bar needed immediate stitching, or it would get infected.

I asked him, where was Duke?

The doctor glanced at me. "The Costello boy? His fiancée picked him up."

Fiancée.

The word hit me like a bullet.

I ripped the IV from my arm and, dragging my still-bleeding leg, shuffled to the clinic's exit.

The door was ajar.

I saw Victoria gently helping Duke sip some water.

I read her lips. 'Thank God I got there in time... And Scarlett… I just can’t believe she’d conspire with a rival family. To just run off like that, without even a word…'

Duke was silent for a moment. Then I read his lips: 'Don't mention her.'

'Okay, okay, I won't.' Victoria dabbed at her eyes. 'I'll take care of you from now on. When you become the Capo, we'll get married, okay?'

Duke didn't speak.

But his hand closed over Victoria's.

I stood outside the door, the painkillers in my hand slipping from my grasp and scattering on the floor.

A nurse's aide approached me. "Who are you looking for?"

I opened my mouth, but only a strangled, hoarse gasp came out.

He frowned. "If you don't need anything, you're blocking the way."

I turned and walked away.

I stayed away for five years.

Back in the present, the glow of my phone illuminated my bloodless face. I tossed the rusted slug into the trash can outside my window.

It was pointless.

Some truths were meant to be buried with me.

Just as Duke would never know that the scar below his right shoulder blade wasn't from the shootout.

It was from me, shielding him with my own back as a steel bar came crashing down.

The engagement party was held in Duke's penthouse apartment, with a view of the entire Chicago skyline.

When I arrived, Victoria was having a maid fasten an expensive necklace for her.

The diamonds under the lights were blinding.

She saw me and waved with a saccharine smile. "Scarlett, come over here and check this for me. Is the clasp a little loose?"

I walked over and, with my eyes downcast, helped her adjust it.

The moment my fingers brushed the cold diamonds, Victoria cried out, stumbling back. The necklace fell to the floor, the clasp snapping with a sharp crack.

"Oh!" She covered her mouth, her eyes instantly welling with tears. "Scarlett, I know you hate me, but you can't destroy the engagement necklace Duke gave me!"

Every head in the room turned to stare.

Duke stormed out of an adjacent room, his face darkening when he saw the broken necklace on the floor.

"Scarlett Hayes!" he snarled, his hand clamping around my wrist with enough force to shatter bone. "Did you do that on purpose?"

I shook my head, my hands flying up to sign an explanation.

But he wasn't looking. He was already dragging me toward the terrace.

"Since you can't keep your goddamn hands to yourself, go outside and cool your head off!"

Before I could react, he had hauled me over the edge of the balcony, dangling half my body over the abyss.

The cold wind rushed into my mouth and nose.

I scrambled for a hold on the railing, my eyes finding Duke standing just inside the balcony, gazing down at me with cold indifference.

Victoria snuggled up beside him, whispering, "Duke, let it go. I don't think Scarlett did it on purpose."

"Not on purpose?" Duke sneered. "I know her. She can't stand to see anyone else happy."

I hung there, my body trembling.

The wind howled, threatening to rip me from my precarious hold.

Duke's leather shoe rested on the railing, inches from my fingers.

"Did I say you could come up? You stay there. When the party's over, you can go to the storage room and think about what you've done."

Victoria tugged at his arm. "Duke, the guests are all watching, this doesn't look good..."

"What's not to look good? A thieving cleaning lady slips and falls. Who's going to care?"

He wrapped his arm around Victoria's waist and guided her back to the party.

I hung outside, watching their receding backs.

The party lights were beautiful, the champagne tower glittered, and the diamonds on Victoria's dress were so bright they hurt my eyes.

It was just like the future we had imagined five years ago, huddled together in our rundown apartment.

The weather had been just as clear, the city skyline just as beautiful.

He had held me and said, "Scarlett, I'll love you forever."

Later, a lifetime shrank to three years. Shrank to a shootout.

Shrank to this moment, dangling from his penthouse balcony, waiting for a party to end so I could be locked in a storage room.

I don't know how much time passed before Dominic, the butler, called to me. "Hey, you. Come on in."

When he pulled me up, my legs were too numb to stand.

The butler frowned. "Get to work. Mr. Costello wants you in charge of the beverage station. No mistakes."

I nodded and made my way to the main hall.

As I passed a lounge, I glanced through the slightly ajar door. Victoria was laughing, showing Duke her earrings. I read her lips: 'Duke, do you like my new diamond earrings?'

His expression softened in a way I didn't recognize as he answered. I could only make out one word: 'Beautiful.'

'So... more beautiful than anything Scarlett wears, right?'