Chapter 4

A month after I went back to work for my father, an unusual guest arrived at the house.

Camilla Mead, the only girl Elias had grown up with.

The Mead family had been close to the Voss family for generations, serving at the right hand of every Voss Don.

Her brother was Elias's most trusted underboss.

She wasn't involved in the family business herself, but she and Elias shared a deep bond.

The moment I came in, she gave me a sour look.

"Carolyn, where have you been? Why are you only getting back now?"

I changed my shoes without looking at her.

"I was at work."

That threw her. She probably hadn't expected me to be that cold.

For Elias's sake, I'd always been kind and patient with her.

No matter how much she picked on me, I never got angry.

But I wasn't going to put up with it anymore.

Work was hard enough. I had no energy left for her.

She grabbed my arm as I tried to step around her, clearly suspicious.

"Since when do you have a job? You're not out doing something behind Elias's back, are you?"

I knocked her hand away and was about to answer when Elias came out of the study.

She went straight to him and hooked her arm through his.

"Elias, Carolyn says she's working now. Did you know about this?"

He looked at me with a slight frown, surprise flickering across his face.

"When did you start working?"

I said calmly, "A month ago."

Camilla gave me a nasty look.

"She didn't even tell you. Maybe she's out doing something behind your back. Maybe she..."

Elias cut her off with one cold look. "Camilla, who gave you the right to talk about the Voss family's Donna like that?"

Her face stiffened, and she offered an insincere apology. "I'm sorry. That was out of line."

I didn't care much, but I wasn't about to tell her it was fine. I just nodded and kept walking.

I didn't relax until Silas threw himself into my arms.

Camilla stayed a few days before she was made to leave.

I knew she'd spent those days complaining about me to Elias.

She said I'd changed a lot, that my world no longer revolved around him, and that I wasn't fit to be the Voss family's Donna anymore.

But Elias simply told her in an unusually cold voice that I would always be the Donna of the Voss family.

After that day, he threw her out.

Once, I'd envied her.

Envied that Elias trusted her.

Envied that she could walk in and out of his study.

Envied that every time we disagreed, he took her side.

I didn't envy her anymore.

Elias didn't love me, and he didn't love her either.

And I didn't need his love anymore.

The morning after she left, everything looked normal.

Except that before he left, Elias asked me, "Carolyn, would you tie my tie?"

I glanced up at him and went back to my breakfast.

"That's the maid's job. If you don't like how she does it, get a different maid."

He was quiet for a long time. When he finally spoke, his voice was strained. "You don't want to do it for me anymore, do you?"

My voice stayed level. "Elias, tying your tie isn't part of my job as the Voss family's Donna.

"And as the Voss family's heir, you shouldn't waste your energy on something so trivial."

He looked at me, his mouth opening and closing with nothing coming out.

In the end, he gave me one long look, then turned and left.

I knew that look. It was the same one I'd worn whenever he'd turned me down.

The chains that had bound me for eight years were finally closing around him instead.

But none of that was my concern anymore.