Chapter 9 · Talk Contract

The door didn't open. It slammed, and the contract hit the counter so hard my coffee jumped.

"You wrote your real name," Nico said. Not a question. He said it like a verdict.

"That's what you paid for." I didn't move from the stool. Moving felt like losing. "A real signature. Notarized. You wanted it to hold up in front of your family's lawyers."

"I wanted a name that disappears in six months." He peeled off his jacket like the room owed him heat. "Eli Tan doesn't disappear. Eli Tan is on a Cook County record now, married to a Falcone. Forever, unless we file. You understand what forever means to people who hire men like me to make problems stop existing?"

"I understand you're mad the hearing went sideways and you need somewhere to put it." I stood up. That was the mistake — standing put me three feet from him instead of six. "So put it on the paperwork. Not on me."

"The judge asked if the marriage was consummated." He said it flat, watching my face for the flinch. I gave him one. Couldn't help it. "My aunt's lawyer asked. In front of everyone.