Chapter 1

The agony of losing my unborn child on the basement floor still tore through me when the familiar list of nine names appeared before my eyes.

I drew a sharp breath and found myself sitting in my father Vittorio's study, exactly where I had been five years earlier.

"Alexandra?" My father frowned when he noticed my expression. "The nine candidates' files are here. You will choose one of them at the succession banquet in three days. He will become your husband, join the family council after the wedding, and help you lead the Romano family."

Luca De Santis stood at the top of the list. In my previous life, I had given him authority over port security, our armed men, and several council votes. After Bianca's death, he turned all of that power against me. He ordered the Romano guards to lock me in the basement and keep everyone away until I lost our child and bled to death.

I picked up my pen and crossed out his name.

My father's expression changed. "Did you make a mistake?"

"I did not make a mistake."

"You have insisted since childhood that you would marry Luca. The others barely competed because everyone believed the decision had already been made."

"Then everyone believed the wrong thing."

My pen moved down the page and stopped at the final name.

My father studied me for a long moment. "This is more than an engagement. Once I announce your decision, the man you chose will enter the council and assume control of part of the security division. Luca will lose both his candidacy and any chance of becoming Don."

"I understand exactly what my decision means."

That was exactly why I had chosen differently. Everything Luca had gained through me in our previous life would remain beyond his reach in this one.

My father eventually closed the file. "I will keep your choice private until the banquet. I will announce it myself in three days."

When I left his study, I found Luca and Bianca beside the curved staircase. After Bianca's parents died, my father had paid for her education and given her a position in our charitable foundation. Now her hands were swollen, and chemical burns blistered both wrists. She immediately retreated behind Luca when she saw me.

"Do not be afraid," he murmured. "No one will force you to do this again."

Then he looked at me. Shock and guilt crossed his face before familiar confidence replaced them. I realized that he might have returned as well.

"Since you still plan to choose me in three days, we should settle a few conditions first," Luca said.

He did not ask whom I had selected.

"What conditions do you intend to set?"

"Bianca will remain at the estate. I will give her a formal position after I join the council. You will also stop using your status as heir to punish her."

Bianca's eyes filled with tears. "Please do not argue with Miss Romano because of me. Washing her gowns was part of my duty. I simply did not know the cleaning solution would burn my skin."

"I never ordered you to wash anything," I said. "The estate employs a laundry staff. No foundation employee belongs in that room."

Luca frowned. "Do you think she burned herself on purpose?"

"Every work area has security cameras. We can review the footage."

"Enough. She is injured, and all you care about is proving that she lied."

He remembered locking me in the basement while I was pregnant and leaving me there until I lost our child and bled to death. Yet his first act after returning was not an apology. He wanted me to accept Bianca as a permanent presence in our marriage all over again.

"If you agree to my conditions, I will accept the engagement and fulfill my duties as your husband and the Don."

Before I could answer, glass shattered downstairs. Two muffled gunshots followed.

"Get down!" I shoved Bianca behind a load bearing wall and reached for the pistol strapped to my thigh.

A man disguised as a supplier charged into the hall and aimed directly at me. Luca reacted on instinct, stepped between us, and wrested the weapon from him.

I drew my gun as Bianca screamed beside the staircase. She sat among broken glass with a shallow cut on her calf.

Luca knew I was the target, but he still abandoned me and ran to her.

The sight of him running toward Bianca dragged me back to the basement floor, one hand pressed against the blood soaking my dress while I begged him to unlock the door. Dead or alive, Bianca only had to appear hurt, and Luca decided that I deserved whatever happened next.

The first attacker recovered his weapon while a second gunman entered through a side door. I shot one in the shoulder, but both guns remained trained on me.

Before they fired, someone tackled me behind a stone pillar. A bullet grazed his shoulder. He shot the first man's wrist, and I put a round through the second man's knee.

My rescuer turned to make sure I was unharmed.

It was Matteo Caruso, one of my protectors.