Chapter 1

Ten years ago, he was nothing more than an unwanted illegitimate son of the Moretti Family, living on the streets. He'd been hunted by enemies and left bleeding in the rain. I was the one who carried him back to my run-down apartment and spent my meager wages from odd jobs on his medicine.

To help him gain a foothold in the blood-soaked Moretti Family, I gave up any chance at a normal life. I learned to handle a gun and fought my way through the underworld. I shielded him from lethal attacks. I even hid inside a freezer for ten straight hours to help him transport a weapons shipment, nearly freezing to death.

Back then, he would hold my hand tightly as we huddled in an unheated basement, his eyes full of devotion as he dreamed aloud about our future. He said we'd go to Sicily, buy a white villa on the Amalfi Coast, and live a quiet, peaceful life.

I thought we were each other's salvation.

But now, hearing the cold calculations in his heart and looking at that face so full of feigned devotion, I finally understood. He was never going to marry me.

He was going to marry the mafia princess, and I was nothing more than a stepping stone on his path to power, a tool he'd used and would discard.

Eric had barely sat at my bedside for a few minutes before his phone began buzzing furiously in his suit pocket.

He killed the call almost instinctively, then turned to me with an apologetic smile. "Selena, just a little Family business. I'll be right back."

He deliberately moved away from me, retreating to the far corner of the balcony to return the call.

But every word of his conversation reached my ears with perfect clarity.

"Darling, why are you calling now?" Eric's voice was low and sweet, almost fawning. It was a tone he'd never once used with me. "Didn't I tell you? I'm in a meeting going over the Moretti Family's accounts..."

Angelina's shrill, cutting voice came through the phone. "Eric! Stop hiding behind Family meetings! I don't care what you're doing. Get to the luxury boutiques on Fifth Avenue and pick me up, now! If you make me wait more than ten minutes, the arms license my father gave your Family is finished!"

Eric panicked. A thin sheen of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he scrambled to soothe her. "Okay, okay, my little princess, don't be upset. I'm on my way. Ten minutes, no, I'll be there in five."

After hanging up, Eric took a deep breath and worked to rearrange his expression. By the time he walked back to my bedside, his face was a portrait of reluctance and regret.

"Selena, sweetheart, I'm so sorry." He sat down and took my hand, his face full of guilt. "A gang fight just broke out at the docks. Rivals are tearing up our territory. As the Don, I have to go handle it personally, or the men will lose faith."

He sighed, looking as though he had no choice.

But at the same time, his thoughts detonated in my mind like a bomb:

[Damn it! Of all times, Angelina decides she wants to go shopping now. If I'm late, that lunatic will run crying to her father again. The Astalotta Family controls nearly half our money-laundering channels. I absolutely cannot afford to offend her right now.]

[And Selena. She couldn't have picked a worse time to be lying in a hospital bed. I really don't have time to sit around here.]

I stared at his handsome face, my own as white as a sheet. My chest heaved with each ragged breath, and the gunshot wound that had been stitched up only days ago pulled at raw flesh, sending searing pain through my body.

I reached out a trembling hand and tried to catch the edge of his jacket. My voice was weak, almost begging. "But Eric, you've only been here five minutes. It hurts so much. The painkillers aren't working anymore. I feel so cold, like I'm about to die... Stay and talk to me for just a little while, please? Just ten minutes."

I watched Eric's sharp brows furrow the moment he heard my plea. His irritation had reached its peak.

[What's wrong with her today? She used to take a bullet and be back on her feet the next day, helping me go over the books. When did she get so needy? Angelina is waiting at the store. If I'm late, my claim to the Don's seat is finished!]

Despite the storm raging inside him, Eric forced himself to crouch down, pressed a perfunctory kiss to my forehead, and said softly, "Selena, be good. You've always been the strongest, the most understanding."

His voice was gentle, the kind of gentle you'd use to comfort a fool. "Once you're better, I'll make it up to you properly. You've always wanted to see the ocean in Sicily, haven't you? When everything settles down, I'll take you around the world. We'll buy a villa on the Amalfi Coast, just for us. How does that sound?"

I thought of the Amalfi Coast.

That was the promise we'd made when things were at their worst, clinging to each other in a moldy basement.

Now, the very promise that had carried me through years of bloodshed had become his cheap excuse to brush me off and walk away.

Just then, the door opened, and a young nurse hurried in, her expression tense.

"Ms. Moretti, it's time for your cerebral angiogram and lumbar puncture. These procedures carry a serious risk of intracranial bleeding. A family member or partner must remain available to sign an emergency consent form if necessary."

The nurse looked at Eric standing nearby, then at me lying weak in the bed. Her expression grew solemn. As part of the attending team, she clearly knew about my terminal brain cancer diagnosis and that I had only a month left.

She took a deep breath and turned to Eric. "Mr. Moretti, regarding Selena's true cond—"

"Nurse!"

I raised my voice sharply, cutting her off mid-sentence. The effort sent a wave of tightness through my chest, and I fought to suppress the discomfort.

From where Eric couldn't see me, I shook my head desperately at the nurse, my eyes pleading with her to stop.

I couldn't let Eric find out about the cancer.

I didn't want him staying at my bedside out of guilt or obligation.

Every bit of care, every moment he spent with me would become nothing more than pity and charity for a dying woman.

I didn't need his charity, and I certainly didn't want his cheap sympathy.

The nurse looked into my desperate eyes, and in the end, she sighed, unable to bear it. She pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Eric glanced between me and the nurse, somewhat puzzled. "A routine brain scan needs a signature? Selena only has a gunshot wound. Did she hit her head?"

"Yes, just a mild concussion. The doctor is being cautious, that's all." I spoke up first, forcing a pale but dutiful smile. "Eric, go to the docks. The Family's business comes first. I can handle this on my own."

He hesitated for exactly one second before standing up.

"Selena, you really are the perfect partner. Meeting you is the greatest blessing of my life." He straightened his tie. "Be good. Get the tests done and rest. I'll be back early tonight to have dinner with you."

Then, without so much as a backward glance, he strode out of the room.

The instant the door clicked shut, his thoughts echoed through my mind again, dripping with relief:

[Thank God she didn't cling. Selena really is so much less trouble than Angelina. Next time. Next time I'll set aside a whole day just for you, Selena. Wait for me. I'll make it up to you tenfold.]

Next time, he had promised.

My parched lips trembled. In a voice barely above a whisper, I said:

"There won't be a next time, Eric. For us, it's already too late."