Vengeance With My White Knight by Maya Kensington

Chapter 24

stephanie’s breath caught in her throat, her whole body tense. For a moment, she couldn’t calm down.

Her hands shook as she grabbed the phone. “Hello?”

“Miss Giovanni” The voice on the other end was unmistakable.

Stephanie’s face went blank, her eyes betraying the storm of emotions she was fighting to keep in check.

She forced herself to speak. “Yeah, it’s me.”

The guy went on, “Mr. Giovanni’s flight is arriving at Long Harbor at 8 PM tonight. He wants you to meet him at the airport.”

Stephanie’s heart skipped a beat.

She gripped the phone tighter, her palm sweating. “He… he’s coming to Long Harbor?”

The weight of this moment hit her all at once. He was finally coming, after all this time.

Just yesterday, she’d had swiped the wrong black card while shopping. She knew he’d find out, but she hadn’t expected it to blow up this fast.

The voice on the other end belonged to Elliot Grant, an assistant.

Polite, respectful on the surface–but everyone in Fiorenza feared him. Elliot had a way of making people shake in their boots.

And if Elliot could do that… well, Sebastian Giovanni? The man he assisted? He could do anything.

He was the man who’d raised Stephanie.

Elliot’s voice came again, cold as ever. “He also said you better have an explanation ready. Or…”

He didn’t need to finish. The silence said it all.

Stephanie shuddered.

She hung up, the motion casual, but inside, her mind was racing.

The afternoon felt like a blur. She couldn’t focus. Her thoughts kept drifting. Even during the meeting, she struggled to stay

present.

All she could think about was Sebastian.

He was the guy the Hart family was looking for–the one who raised her.

have power–he controlled everything. The legal world. The illegal world. He was the

ago, just before she

lost in her thoughts until the end

stepped outside–and her phone

she answered, “Hello?”

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13

Chapter 24

really block my by Cathie’s voice came through, furious, like she

street, answering

who could joke with Carlins was

with them. Always the high expectations, the endless judgment. Catlin was the worst–cold and

voice, Catlin’s

“You, you tell me, Allison is your best friend, right? You’re the one

let out a shon, cold laugh. “Yeah, I did. So what?”

on the other end. Catlin sounded

mad, her hands shook

instead, the just owned it,

It was clear now–Stephanie didn’t care about this family.

had already planned how to interrogate her, but Stephanie had just flat–out confirmed everything without hesitation.

“So, you admit it?”

be bothered. “What’s the big deal? With everything going on between Olivia and me, you really think it’s surprising I’d

Olivia’s games, the way she pulled strings behind the

she wanted something done, she’d do it straight up. No

was so stunned by Stephanie’s bluntness, she almost couldn’t

anymore. All she could manage

Catlin? You want me to bring Allison back so

“Catlin” made

the Hart family, she’d never once called her “Mom.” In fact, she’d never addressed her formally at

say it like that, it stung. It wasn’t out of any kind of affection or familiarity.

was a deliberate choice–Stephanie didn’t want to show her even the

Catlin snapped, “I’m your mother.”

as she shot back, “Do you really want to argue about something that

vocabulary. She had two options: call her

widened at how casually Stephanie spoke, like it didn’t even

a weight had been sitting in her chest all this time–heavy and painful–and now it was finally

Dr. Pierce back. I’ll unlock your

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on, 3 Mar