lla's

s business, I had learnt how to keep my head down and avoid difficu

d me, beautiful lace hanging down my arms. For a Mafia man, the perfect woman is I could not l

Rossi, had seen tha

r the family." His comments had been subdued, as though he were sugges

riggling at my chest. I drew deeply and pushed myself to be cool and en

o- tail in brilliant green. Her black graying hair pulled back into a tight chignon, her face a mask of serenity, she

nality, yet she spok

grasped the long length of my garment, but I pushed forward. One ste

the polished marble floor, I stood at the altar scarcely hearing the priest speak. The most pow

his weight rig

er than I had remembered from our first meeting, his dark hair slicked back, his

ake Enzo De Luca as your

and my heartbeat in my chest as

tforwardly in a brusqu

s man in the city, I was Isabella De Luca. Still, I felt as though

nd harsh. Though I got ready for the kiss that would signal our fate, to my surprise it never

as the room erupted in applause.

ext to me at the head table; my plate of uneatable food went cold while I listened to the muted conversations

back but his eyes never missed anything. Right

o notice somethi

ough his facial expression was hard to grasp, my spine shivered from something

; my voice just above

ut his jaw tightened slightly.

ng for and set me on alert. One

ng. The huge halls of Enzo felt like a maze, each turn less familiar than the next. Leaning again

xistence. One life I had not chos

urning, my pulse thumping, I found Enzo

ting, he continued, "You s

quickening. "I sensed

lla, there are risks on this planet you are not fam

know I was not a child, that I could take care of myself. Imp

anged his whole approach immediately. He pivoted sharply, his han

oice like stee

ith purposeful, heavy st

a problem in anything. I can sense it. But I cou

him for a b

rrived. I slide behind a marble column, just in time to see

he whispered sternly, "You've

Come along, enzo. As well as I do, you know that this marriage

y The same people my father had advised me not to hang ar

?" Enzo asked as his hand remai

your protection. The Vitale family will find a way to get to her independen

ing in my chest. He was referring to

is revolver, his face darkened. "This is the

his eyes lacked comedy.

ff down the corridor. But Luca disappeared into the darkness before

rising and falling with almost under contr

ed fury; I expected him to lash at me for straying from his orders

he said, "You h

could tal

e really at war; the weight of the me

at me. "I told Bella, right now you are

the feeling that this was just beginning. The Vitale family was suppo

even

nzo's warning kept playing in my thoughts. This

t right in th