ella

heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs, but I kept my spine steel-straight. I had thrown the gauntlet at th

ark eyes assessing my worth in real-time. She didn't see a heartbroken g

without the aid of a microphone. "The Moreno family honors its debts

ver her family like a spotlight. "All unmar

tion. For a heartbeat, no one moved. Then, sl

lutel

nds to feed a small country. She stood up, clutching the arm of her s

My Matteo is a Capo in training. You want him to take his leftovers?" She gestured

name through the mud. Do you want to explain to the Carlsons why we are breaking the Pac

looming large. "Unless you wish to invite a Vendetta that

y language these people respected. She sank ba

o candidates ste

was Alex's cousin, but more importantly, he was Alex's best friend. If I married him, I would be sleeping next to a man who would resent m

at the floor, terrified to meet my eyes. He was an Associate, not even a Made Man yet. He had no power,

oward. Those w

out, but the house had rigged the deck. If I chose either of them, I was dead. Maybe

. I needed someone so terrifying tha

uca, past the rows of staring sol

his family by an invisible barrier of fea

impeccable, his dark hair silvering at the temples, but his face was a mask of cold, hard indifference. He was a man who had bur

r, bored, as if this entir

ook root in my mind. It blo

Moreno. It didn't sa

t of incense and fear. I looked at Sofia, then

" I

these are your choices.

," I corrected her, my voice gaini

to be picky," Francesc

r. "And I am choosing the only man in this room

er didn't point at Matteo

ght at the man i

s obsidian, locked onto mine. The air in the cathedral

ringing with a finality that se