THE WALTZ REVEALED WHAT THE WAITRESS WAS HIDING

Part 2

Vincent found the beat.

Karina felt it immediately.

The tension in his shoulders disappeared.

His grip changed.

His weight settled properly over the floor.

The man who had been trying to dominate the dance finally stopped fighting it.

Her eyes narrowed.

Interesting.

She stepped backward.

He followed.

She turned.

He turned with her.

The orchestra climbed.

One.

Two.

Three.

Karina accelerated.

Vincent matched her.

A murmur moved through the room.

Levi stared at them.

His boss was smiling.

Not the cold smile Vincent used before making a threat.

A real one.

Small.

Almost boyish.

Karina noticed.

It unsettled her more than his anger had.

“Don’t smile,” she whispered.

“Why?”

“You look less frightening.”

“I’ll try to fix that.”

She nearly laughed.

Instead, she spun beneath his arm.

Vincent caught her on the other side.

Their bodies collided lightly.

For one second, her cheek brushed his shoulder.

She smelled tobacco and rain.

His hand steadied her waist.

Karina’s pulse jumped.

She hated that it did.

She pulled away.

Vincent noticed.

Of course he noticed.

“You’re nervous.”

“No.”

“You’re lying.”

“I work here.”

“So?”

“So nervous women don’t usually dance with men like you.”

His expression darkened.

“Men like me?”

Karina glanced around the room.

At the frightened faces.

The armed men near the entrance.

The alderman who wouldn’t meet Vincent’s eyes.

She looked back at him.

“You know exactly what I mean.”

Vincent’s smile disappeared.

Before he could answer, Levi approached.

“Vince.”

Vincent didn’t turn.

“What?”

Levi held out his phone.

“We have a problem.”

Vincent finally looked.

The screen showed a pH๏τograph.

A shipping manifest.

Three containers.

One missing shipment.

And a name.

Karina Yoda.

Vincent’s eyes hardened.

Karina saw the change.

“What?”

He turned the phone toward her.

She stared at the screen.

Her face went pale.

“I don’t know what that is.”

Levi watched her carefully.

“Your name is on the manifest.”

“I’ve never seen it.”

Vincent’s voice became quiet.

“Karina.”

She looked at him.

There was something in his eyes now that hadn’t been there during the dance.

Suspicion.

She stepped backward.

“I swear—”

A gunsH๏τ cracked somewhere upstairs.

The orchestra stopped.

People screamed.

Vincent moved instantly.

One arm wrapped around Karina’s waist and pulled her behind him.

His other hand disappeared beneath his jacket.

“Down.”

Karina dropped.

Another sH๏τ shattered a chandelier.

Glᴀss rained onto the dance floor.

Men reached for weapons.

Tables overturned.

The Continental exploded into chaos.

Vincent dragged Karina behind the bar.

“Stay here.”

She grabbed his sleeve.

“Wait.”

He looked down.

Her hand was shaking.

But her eyes weren’t.

“I know who did it.”

Vincent froze.

“Who?”

Karina swallowed.

“The man who hired me.”

His expression changed.

“You’ve been working for someone else?”

“I thought he was just a restaurant investor.”

“Name.”

She hesitated.

Vincent’s voice hardened.

“Karina.”

She looked toward the shattered windows.

Then whispered:

“Levi.”

Vincent turned.

Across the room, Levi was gone.

His empty glᴀss remained on the table.

And beside it lay the black ledger.

Open.

One page had been torn out.

Vincent looked back at Karina.

“You knew.”

“No.”

“Then why did you say his name?”

“Because he asked me about this waltz yesterday.”

Vincent’s eyes narrowed.

“What did he ask?”

Karina’s voice dropped.

“He asked whether I could dance it fast enough to distract an entire room.”

Silence.

The gunfire outside stopped.

Vincent stared at her.

Then at the empty booth.

Suddenly, the broken glᴀsses, the missing ledger page, the suspicious shipment, and the waitress who had appeared out of nowhere began fitting together.

Karina stepped closer.

“I didn’t come here to spy on you.”

Vincent’s gaze hardened.

“Then why did you come?”

She looked toward the staircase.

Her eyes filled with something he hadn’t seen before.

Fear.

Real fear.

“My father.”

Vincent waited.

“He disappeared six years ago.”

Her voice cracked.

“The last place anyone saw him was in this building.”

Vincent’s expression changed.

“Who was he?”

Karina looked directly into his eyes.

“Your accountant.”

The room seemed to go silent again.

Vincent stared at her.

“That’s impossible.”

“I know.”

She reached into the hidden pocket of her dress.

Pulled out an old pH๏τograph.

Placed it in his hand.

Vincent looked down.

His face drained of color.

The pH๏τograph showed a younger version of himself standing beside three men.

One was Levi.

One was his father.

And the third—

Vincent’s fingers тιԍнтened around the pH๏τograph.

He knew that man.

Everyone in Chicago believed he had died twelve years ago.

Karina whispered:

“He’s the reason my father disappeared.”

Vincent slowly lifted his eyes.

“Where did you get this?”

Karina looked toward the staircase.

“From Levi.”

A floorboard creaked above them.

Vincent raised his gun.

Karina stepped closer.

And somewhere in the darkness upstairs, a man’s voice laughed.

“Vincent.”

The lights went out.