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PrologueMy fingers shook like leaves in the breeze as I raised the hand was firer

White gold with twenty small diamonds

What was n of love and devotion for other couples was nothing but a testaolden cage I’d be trapped in for the rest of my life Until death do us part wasn’t an empty promise as with so e There was no way out of this union for me I was Luca’s until the bitter end The last feords of the oath that men shen they were inducted into thevow:

“I enter alive and I will have to get out dead”

I should have run when I still had the chance Now, as hundreds of faces froht was no longer an option Nor was divorce Death was the only acceptable end to a ed to escape Luca’s watchful eyes and that of his hench my father could say would prevent Luca’s Fa them lose face

My feelings didn’tup in a world where no choices were given, especially to women

This wedding wasn’t about love or trust or choice It was about duty and honor, about doing as expected

A bond to ensure peace

I wasn’t an idiot I knehat else this was about:since the Russian Mob ‘The Bratva’, the Taiwanese Triad, and other cri to expand their influence into our territories The Italian Familias across the US needed to lay their feuds to rest and work together to beat down their enemies I should be honored to marry the oldest son of the New York Familia That’s what my father and every other male relative had tried to tell me since my betrothal to Luca I knew that, and it wasn’t as if I hadn’t had time to prepare for this exact rip

“You may kiss the bride,” the priest said

I raised my head Every pair of eyes in the pavilion scrutinizedfor a flicker of weakness Father would be furious if I let ainst us But I had grown up in a world where a perfect mask was the only protection afforded to wo my face into a placid expression Nobody would kno much I wanted to escape Nobody but Luca I couldn’t hide from hi As ray eyes, I could tell that he kne often had he instilled fear in others? Recognizing it was probably second nature to him

He bent down to bridge the ten inches he towered over n of hesitation, fear or doubt on his face My lips treainst his e was clear: You are mineCHAPTER ONEThree years priorI was curled up on the chaise longue in our library, reading, when a knock sounded Liliana’s head rested in my lap and she didn’t even stir when the dark wooden door opened and our htly and fasted in a bun at the back of her head Mother was pale, her face draorry