Chapter 3

Mrs. Gotti saw me. Her eyes went bloodshot, and she lunged forward to slap me hard across the face.

"You bitch! How dare you murder my husband!"

She grabbed my collar and raised her hand to hit me again, but the Don's guard behind me blocked her arm.

His gaze swept the crowd. "Dr. Garcia saved the Don. Who dares lay a hand on her?"

The council elders shared power with the Don, and the people gathered here were Elder Gotti's most loyal men.

They weren't afraid of the guard. They shouted back.

"We don't care who she is! She killed our elder, and she'll pay with her life!"

"If you protect her, you're just as guilty as she is!"

They rushed me, each of them desperate to avenge Elder Gotti.

The guard fought to hold them back, but there were too many.

Someone slipped through. Two slaps cracked across my face, followed by a vicious snarl.

"You're just a nobody orphan! If the Gambino family hadn't taken you in, you'd have been dead long ago! You dare bite the hand that fed you and murder our elder? You deserve to die!"

The others roared in agreement.

"Yes! She deserves death! Kill her!"

"Kill the woman who murdered our elder!"

I'd lost too much blood to fight. The struggle tore open the wound at my waist, and pain drained what little strength I had left.

All I could do was grip the wheelchair and force out an explanation.

"It wasn't me! I never even took part in the elder's surgery!"

But my weak voice drowned under their screaming.

Off to the side, Emma watched the mob close in while Luke and my parents held her protectively between them.

I saw the corner of her mouth curl into a cruel smile, hidden from them.

Then she put on a heartbroken face.

"Amelia, just stop making excuses. Apologize, and maybe everyone will forgive you."

My adoptive mother sneered.

"Ha! Forgive her? She used to drug us when she lived with us. Of course she'd murder an elder. I was blind to raise that monster!"

Luke spoke up too. "I was a fool back then. I didn't know you were such a horrible woman. Good thing I met Emma and saw your true face!"

I almost laughed. They'd say anything to protect Emma.

It was Emma who drugged them back then.

She'd resented them for abandoning her. She slipped them laxatives and blamed me.

I tried everything to explain, but no one would believe me.

Just like now, everyone had believed Emma over me.

Their words seemed to settle my guilt in everyone's minds.

Everyone was now certain that someone as vile as me had to be the elder's killer.

The looks they gave me turned even more vicious.

But the guard was one of the Don's best men, and he stood between me and the crowd.

They surged forward, trying to drag me out from behind him.

He pressed me farther behind his back and faced them down.

"I already told you. She is—"

But they were too blinded by rage. No one listened.

Luke had to keep Emma's crime hidden. He stepped up, hauled the guard away, and pinned him against the wall.

"That's an order! Stop protecting that criminal!"

The guard struggled, but he could not break free.

With my protection gone, the others turned to me with savage looks.

I caught the guard's eye and tried to signal him to call the Don.

A slap sent me tumbling from the wheelchair.

I curled up to protect myself, but someone grabbed my hair and yanked me upright.

"Don't you dare hide! If you had the guts to murder the elder, you face the consequences!"

"It wasn't me!" I insisted.

But no one believed me.

"Damn you! You killed our elder! Die!"

The man holding me drew back his hand to hit me again.

And then—

Bang!

A gunshot echoed through the hospital hallway.

The Don's icy voice cut through the hallway. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The Gambino Don was the youngest the family had ever had. He was ruthless, decisive, and no stranger to bloodshed.

At the sight of him, the crowd froze. People dropped to the floor, pale and trembling.

The man holding me let go. I hit the floor, pain ripping through my wound.

"Forgive us, Don. We only wanted justice for our Elder Gotti," one of them dared to stammer.

Mrs. Gotti rushed to the Don and pointed at me.

"Don, it's this woman. She killed my husband, the greatest elder of the Gambino family. You must give him justice!"

The others chimed in, some even weeping.

"Don, this woman must be working with the rival families. She wanted to destroy the Gambino family!"

"The elder could have been fine. It's all her fault..."

The Don listened, then gave a cold laugh.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"She took a bullet for me during the riot and passed out. She only just woke up. When, exactly, did she operate on Elder Gotti?"

Emma went white and stumbled back two steps.

The crowd on the floor went silent. They stared at me in disbelief.