The Hostage

Ines Ferrante spent four years becoming no one. She has a bakery, a dog, a name that doesn't scare anyone. Then Anton Marchetti's men take her off a sidewalk in broad daylight, and the family she buried comes roaring back. Anton is certain her uncle killed his brother. Ines is certain she'll die in this cellar before she proves otherwise. But the longer she stays underground, the clearer the picture gets — and the real murderer is closer to Anton than either of them wants to admit. She stitches his wounds. He plays chess with her when he should be interrogating her. Neither of them says the word. When the truth finally breaks, it costs Ines the last family she has, and hands Anton a choice between the revenge he's built his whole life around and the woman who quietly rearranged it. He chooses her. She walks away anyway. Months later, he finds her. He doesn't ask her to come back. He asks to stay.