, the most feared Mafia Don in New York. I mistook his la
divorce, he laughed. An hour later
n a dark street corner in the pouri
ansaction, a pact made to settle my father's debts. I was just a placeholder, a substitute
ligation he could discard at will. He thought I was too weak, too dep
d just run and hi
ut of pride. To break a pact with a Don, you can't just run. You have to be prepared for war. And standing th
pte
sia
I asked my husband for
llights of his armored car vanish into the night, his mistress safely inside. Tha
car, the air thick with the smell o
ct, Dante," I said, m
iglia, the Devil of New York-this wasn't a request. It
rain-streaked window, the city lights blurring into
m your wife. And I w
old as a winter night, landing on me. He was beautiful, in the way a panther is beautiful right before it snaps your neck. His power was a physical thing, a palpable weight crus
was my
ole between us. The name on
ference melted away, replaced by a flicker
cked
his voice a low,
ened, his brow furrowed with concern. "Are y
d an order at the dr
," he sa
in outside suddenly see
devoid of any emotion. He was already d
er. The door beside me unlocked with a soft click.
dn't
t sound. "Alessia, don
he side of the road?" My voice tr
needs
estion hung in the ai
saw an obligation. A transaction. The blood oath he'd made to his dying Nonna to settle my f
built for me, the private screenings of classic films-it was all a performance for a ghost. I'd only learned the truth a week ago, from her b
never seen you, Sia. Not the real
ut of t
thout a backward glance, leaving me in the pouring rain. Water soaked through my thin dress, plasterin
in my pocket. A
When you're ready, I'm
ripping onto the glass. He thought
uld hunt you to the ends of the earth, not out of lov
with a Don, yo
e, drenched and discarded, I realized I was. I wou