Chapter 1

"Sophia, that pampered little body of yours wouldn't fetch a single crate of bullets on the black market."

Gina wore combat gear blackened by gun smoke, two bloodied Glocks at her waist.

Blood was seeping through the bandage on her right shoulder, but she held her back ramrod straight.

The Corleone family elders seated along both sides of the long table chuckled under their breath.

Enzo's underboss, Luca, lit a cigar and blew out a thick white smoke ring.

"Gina's right, Don. You've let certain people get away with way too much.

"Right now the families in Rome and Naples are all watching us. What we need are soldiers who can kill. As for useless women who only know how to blow money on jewelry, you can find plenty of those in the red-light district."

The black truffle steak in the middle of the table gave off a rich aroma.

In the past, Enzo had always put on white gloves himself, cut the most tender meat into small pieces, and carefully fed them to me.

If I so much as frowned, he'd have the head chef dragged out and his leg broken.

But tonight, his large hands, which had taken countless lives, rested calmly on the bloodstained deed Gina had handed him. An obsidian ring on his finger marked him as head of the family.

Enzo didn't scold Gina for overstepping, and he didn't pull his gun on the loudmouthed Luca like he usually would.

He looked up, his cold gray eyes and faint smile betraying his approval.

"Gina fought hard. She wiped out the Irish mob's stronghold beautifully this time."

I leaned back in my velvet high-backed chair, my fair fingertips slowly turning the pigeon-blood ruby on my ring finger.

The stone tapped against the silver knife with a crisp clink.

"Enzo, the meat smells gamey."

I frowned and tossed my knife and fork onto the bone china plate, the way I had a thousand times before whenever I wanted to make things hard for him.

"This ordinary wagyu tastes like grass. It's making me sick.

"I want the batch flown in from Kobe half an hour ago, with that bottle of brandy from the Monaco royal family's private collection.

"Send the helicopter for it. I want it now."

Three days ago, Enzo would have laughed, pulled me onto his lap, and kissed the side of my neck.

"My little tyrant, if you'll just eat one more bite, I'll tear down the palace in Monaco and ship it to you."

But tonight, in Enzo's spacious, luxurious private chamber, the only sound was the roar of waves crashing against the cliffs outside.

Enzo picked up his whiskey, took a small sip, and frowned hard.

"Sophia, rein in your temper."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried the weight of someone long used to power.

"The helicopter's on escort duty tonight.

"Gina was badly wounded taking back the docks. Everyone's bleeding.

"Be reasonable. Finish the steak in front of you, and I'll have someone take you back to your room."

At that, Gina's eyes lit up with triumph.

She pulled out a chair and looked down at me, her voice dripping with condescension.

"Sophia, if you're really too delicate to stomach a normal meal, I can go to the kitchen and make you some oatmeal.

"But the Don's being squeezed by both the Church and the FBI every day. He's already got his hands full.

"If you can't take a bullet for him, at least don't make things harder when his life is on the line."

She held her head high, looking ready to die for the Corleone family's cause.

Luca immediately banged the table and cheered.

"Listen to her! That's the kind of woman the Corleone family needs!

"Some leeches can't even stand the smell of gun oil. All they know is how to waste the family's hard-earned money.

"Don, that deepwater arms port in Genoa you were going to put in a certain parasite's name for her birthday? Why not just give it to Gina? She paid for it with her ribs. She's earned it."

I looked up at Enzo.

The port of Genoa was the hub of the smuggling routes across the Mediterranean.

Last month on the yacht deck, Enzo had pressed me against the railing, kissed me hard, and said hoarsely, "Sophia, once we take the port, it'll be your private garden. Only your yacht will be allowed to dock there."

Even now, the title deed and the controlling-interest agreement were sitting in the safe.

Enzo set down his glass and avoided my cool gaze.

"Luca's suggestion makes sense."

Enzo's tone was flat, as if he were just handling some trivial expense.

"Gina deserves the lion's share of the credit. She should be rewarded accordingly.

"Transfer the Genoa port into Gina's name, so she can station armed men there and fend off outside enemies."

The mob leaders around the long table burst into loud cheers.

Gina was so moved her eyes reddened. She snapped a crisp salute.

"Don! This is too much! I'm just a hound who fights for you!

"I don't need a port. All I want is to be a weapon you can rely on!"

The approval in Enzo's eyes deepened.

"Take it. You risked your life for it. Better you than someone who does nothing but take."

Someone who did nothing but take.

That humiliating label had finally been pinned on me.

I sat in my ornate chair, watching these men who reeked of gun smoke bond with their new warrior goddess.

For the past three years, to make me smile, Enzo had blown up a rival's oil tanker in international waters, bought out an entire luxury shopping street in Rome, and even put my alias on countless dirty-money accounts.

Back then, he'd wanted me to be even more demanding, to take even more, because every extravagant splurge told the whole underworld that Enzo was now powerful enough to let his woman treat gold like dirt.

Now that his throne was secure and he had all of Sicily in his grip, he'd started counting every cent he spent on me.

It wasn't that he'd fallen out of love.

He was just arrogant enough to think he could replace an expensive woman like me with someone cheaper.

He thought he was just teaching a spoiled canary a lesson.

But he'd forgotten that in the underworld, an asset transfer was never a free gift.

I smiled faintly. I didn't flip the long table like they expected.

I dabbed my lips with my napkin, stood up, and picked up my custom crocodile-skin handbag from the back of the chair.

"Since Don Corleone thinks I'm being unreasonable, you all go on celebrating."

I looked down my nose at Gina, at the naked ambition written all over her face.

"Lieutenant Gina, the breakwaters at the Genoa port need maintenance every quarter, and paying off customs officials costs at least eight million euros a month.

"I hope that little injury payout and your soldier's pay will cover the upkeep on the fine piece of property the Don just gave you."

Gina went pale and bit her lip in humiliation.

Enzo shot to his feet, his voice ice-cold.

"Sophia, do you have to make such an ugly scene?"

I stopped in front of the carved double doors, turned around, and gave him a dazzling smile.

"Don Corleone, you're the one who publicly changed the name on what you promised me. And now you blame the bookkeeper for refusing to write off a bad debt?"