Vesper shied back at the sudden noise, his hooves clattering against the floorboards.

“Easy, boy,” I whispered, keeping my hand flat against his neck, feeling the rapid, terrified beat of his heart.

Dante didn’t look at the horse; his eyes were fixed on Marco.

“Kroll,” Dante repeated, the name tasting like poison on his tongue.

“Boss, please,” Marco gasped, his face pressed hard against the cold aluminum of the trailer.

“They have my sister. They made me do it.”

“You let an animal rot from the inside out,” Dante said, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous murmur.

“You let my father’s horse suffer.”

“They paid me,” Marco sobbed, his bravado entirely gone.

“They paid me twenty thousand to wrap the leg tight, to keep him walking until the auction on Friday. They wanted him to collapse in front of the buyers. They wanted to ruin you.”

Dante tilted his head, his expression as cold as the winter wind blowing through the diner parking lot.

“Take him,” Dante ordered his men.

“Put him in the trunk.”

The guards dragged Marco away, his boots scraping against the gravel as he pleaded for his life.