His Mafia World

My fiancé, the Underboss of the DeLuca Crime Family, promised he would burn the world down for me.

But when my mother was dying in the hospital, he chose a ski trip with another woman.

It was that woman's dog that attacked my mother, but when I called him, shaking, he was annoyed. He was in Aspen with Isabella, and I could hear her laughing in the background. He dismissed my mother's injuries as a "minor scrape" and told me not to "make a big deal out of this."

While my mother's fever spiked, he ignored my desperate pleas. Instead, my phone lit up with an Instagram post of him and Isabella smiling by a fireplace, sipping hot chocolate.

My mother slipped into septic shock. That picture was a public declaration, a judgment on my mother's worth, and my own. A cold fury burned away every last bit of love I had for him.

She died at 3:17 a.m. I held her hand until it was cold, then walked out of the hospital and called the one number I was never supposed to use—the number for my father.

"She's dead," I said. "I'm coming to Chicago. I'm leaving this life, and I'm going to burn his world to the ground."

Chapter 1

Alessia POV:

My fiancé, the Underboss of the DeLuca Crime Family, promised he would burn the world down for me. But when my mother was dying, he chose a ski trip with another woman.

The fluorescent lights of the hospital waiting room hummed, a flat, dead sound that scraped against my raw nerves. An hour ago, I was wiping down my mother's kitchen counters, the scent of lemon cleaner still faint on my hands. Then the call came-an unknown number. An accident. A dog. My mother.

Now I was here, my world shrunken to the size of this sterile, beige room. I'd called Caden on the drive over, my hands shaking so badly I could barely keep the phone to my ear. He was my anchor, my future, the man who had plucked me from a life of paychecks and prayers and promised me a kingdom. His power was a shield, and I needed it now more than ever.

He answered on the third ring.

"Ally? What's wrong?" His voice was tight, irritated.

In the background, I heard a woman's bright, tinkling laughter. I knew it instantly. Isabella Ricci.

"Caden, it's my mother," I said, my voice trembling. "She's in the hospital. She was attacked by a dog."

A heavy sigh on his end. "Jesus, Ally. Is it serious?"

"I don't know yet. The doctors are with her now. I... I need you."

"I'm not in New York," he said, the impatience in his tone like a slap. "Isabella and I just landed in Aspen. It's a business trip, a strategic retreat. You know how important her family's alliance is."

Isabella's laughter again, closer this time. A chill, sharp and painful, slid down my spine. He was with her-of course, he was with her.

"Don't make a big deal out of this," he said, his voice dropping to that low, commanding tone he used to signal a conversation was over.

He hung up.