The Don's Betrayal, My Unstoppable Rise

, the Don of the Chicago Outfit. Our marriage was a contract, si

she ca

dark closet for Seven Minutes in Heaven, emerging with a fresh love bi

e, just like her mot

s men throw me into the family's private holding cell. He knew it w

as just a "low-cost placeholder," a body in his

f Design Director. I would compete against Dante for the city's biggest contract, using the very architect

pte

phin

or a marriage that was never alive. The dissolution clause was n

d with a life from which I was excluded. Crystal chandeliers threw fractured rainbows across the faces of Chicago's elite, the air thick with the scent of expensive p

rast to the glittering, jewel-encrusted dresses of the ot

Look what w

through the noise. She glided toward me, flanked by tw

raphina. I thought the help u

irling amber liquid in a glass a

g up?" one of her friends chimed in, looking me up and

ce as cold and flat as I could make it. "As hi

elusional. You were a fluke. A funny little story everyone tells about the time the Don of the O

sweet. Her whisper was for my ears only, a

eak? I hope she's not stealing the silver. It's

fragile surface I had maintained for sev

It wasn't a hard push, but it was enough

ce low and dangerous, a tone I hadn't used since I was a

contorted with r

rk liquid splattered across my face and down the front of my dress, a viol

blood. I didn't move. I just star

oug

ws, but it cut through the ballroom lik

nt

utation. He was Dante "The Devil" De Luca, the absolute Don of the Chicago Outfit, a man who had inherited a criminal empire at twenty-f

from her. His fury was a palpable thing, a cold

s voice chillingly quiet but carrying t

ctim. Her eyes filled with tears. "Dante, she attacke

rciless, a public ex

wait fo

nd unforgiving. Without another word, he pulled me through the stunned crowd a

ed out the window at the blurred city lights, acutely aware of the ti

The tension in his shoulders seemed to ease, but only marginally. When he finally s

niversary

look at him. "I

es." He cleared his throat, the gesture hollow. "I'll make it up to you. I'll r

buzzed on the seat between us.

bel

e, a seductive, cooing pu

sorry. I'm all alone.