born into a mafia family is this: Powe

ear in corridors where violence echoed louder than justice. She was the princess of the De Luca syndica

ire came, none

e than the screams. She remembered the sting of betrayal in her lungs a

ht she die

et them b

Years

hadn't

ver broken sidewalks. Sirens wailed in the distance like lullabies of the damned. And in the center of

stood behind the tinted glass, wa

knew who sh

De Luca, the mafia pri

Vierra, cold

rate

assa

ogniz

ough the legal underworld and the corporate elite. She'd used every shadow, every whisp

ted the pe

new empire.

rs

a sleek twist, lips painted a blood-deep red, expression unreadable. No tr

re line. The message appeared i

back, and he's

ingers tightening aro

ss

Her father's right h

ht her family died, and who

"Let him walk into my kingdo

or opened wit

ya, her assistant. "M

g her emotions bur

t race. Her han

er, coiled inside her lik

ned wider. H

ian

rble, polished, deadly, unreadable. His suit was black, custom-tailored, w

scar near his collarbone.

ing precision, the kind that rememb

like cracked leather. "Didn't

said smoothly

head. "You l

had been buried so deep it would take hell itself to e

"That's an overus

alked deeper into her off

't. Not

neered merger between her underground legal network and the former holdi

, it was

ing, and had rewritten every clause in the cont

ught he was retu

epped into the jaws of th

contract folder on the

d forward, planting both hands o

years," he said. "Impressive. But dange

believe i

owed slightly. "They u

d him. "This is business,

in this city." He sat d

ised a

id you c

rowded her tongue. N

e said finally. "And I l

s gaze darkened, like somethi

ecognize he

e was

, her stilettos silent against marble. The private surveillance room was two

of monitors glo

ophone. Every whisper in

ens as he poured himself a drink in th

ater was hers. The l

e

had her fingerprints a

y, not to forgive, but to finis

hovered over

fication p

T ACQU

d hired, the first step in her slow unraveling

amily's security codes had been found

he screen and whi

hours that night, but

s. His voice.

d blood that li

at her father's side, promising protection, and how she

is name as the flame

cried in t

ldn't s

city skyline glisten

seat at the head of the table, flanked by executiv

entere

n't ap

n't ne

round him like met

ople deferred to his presence, drawn t

oppos

she asked, pass

the paper

of someone,"

that

aned back. "Someone I

out flinching. "Must

id no

his silence mad

er in her private study and stared

e'd salvaged from the ru

er. And next to it, a photo of her and C

glass, then cl

would make h

derworld would r

she whispered

they buri

.. is the woman