Chapter 1

My father, Vittorio Conti, shot to his feet.

"Cassandra, do you hear yourself?"

I gripped the marriage contract and answered him, every word deliberate. "I said I'll marry him!"

My father thumped his chest, his face tight with anxiety.

"Cassandra, do you have any idea what you're saying?

"That man's face is scarred, and he walks with a limp. He looks like the kind of man who'd kill without a second thought.

"What kind of life could you possibly have with him? You could be dead before you even knew what hit you!"

For a moment, seeing my father so worked up over me gave me a glimmer of hope.

Maybe he hadn't forgotten that I was his only biological daughter.

Bianca immediately burst into tears and interrupted him. "If we don't give the mafia a bride, they'll never leave us alone."

She clung to his hand.

"Elena is your daughter too, and she's still so young. How can you hand her over to the mafia?

"Besides, Elena's already married to Cedric. If we try to fool the mafia, it'll only end badly for us!"

My father hurried to comfort her. When he spoke again, the worry was gone from his eyes.

"Cassandra, your sister is still young. Our family isn't what it used to be, and we can't afford to cross the mafia.

"Why don't you go through with the marriage for now? I'll figure out a way to get you out of it later. I promise."

My father couldn't even bring himself to meet my eyes.

A bitter feeling rose in my throat. It was always the same. Whenever something went wrong, I was the one who had to suffer.

My father had always let Elena have her way. First, she'd taken my jewelry, then my room, and even my money.

And now, right before my wedding, she'd taken my fiancé!

Whatever hope I still had for this family died right there.

"Fine, I'll marry him. But I want everything my mother left me returned. Every last piece!"

The second I mentioned the jewelry, Bianca's face changed.

"Absolutely not. Your father already decided. All of that went to your sister.

"You're sisters now. Why are you making such a fuss over a few pieces of jewelry?"

My mother, Lucia Bellini, ran a small shop and had saved up a collection of jewelry for me.

Right before she died, she took my hand.

"I don't have much time left. I've saved over 100 pieces of jewelry for you.

"They're for all the birthdays I won't be around to celebrate with you."

Those things had been mine all along.

I pointed at the signet ring and raised an eyebrow at all of them.

"Then maybe I should tell the mafia that the ring belongs to Elena. She was so desperate to avoid marrying into the mafia that she rushed off and married the first man she could find!"

Elena went white.

Everyone in Sicily knew what the mafia was capable of.

These days, the few small shops we had left were all that kept us afloat. Crossing the mafia would ruin us.

They'd send men to our door every day to threaten us, and we'd have no way to make a living.

Bianca gritted her teeth and slammed her hand down on the table.

"Fine. You'll get your mother's things back. But you have to swear the ring was yours all along!"

I agreed and followed her to gather up my mother's things. I wasn't leaving them a single piece.

Once everything was packed, I started back to my room.

Cedric came after me and caught my hand.

When he saw the cut still bleeding on my palm, he carefully bandaged it for me.

Only then did he speak, his voice heavy with guilt.

"Cassandra, I'm sorry. I only married Elena to save her.

"When those mafia thugs get tired of you, I'll come get you and set you up in that apartment outside the city.

"Don't worry. Elena may be my wife on paper, but you're the one I love."

So I'd be the woman he kept on the side, living on whatever he chose to give me? A prisoner in a gilded cage?

I only had one life, and I wasn't about to waste it letting him walk all over me.

I pointed at Elena's lipstick still smeared across his chest.

"Then why didn't you marry me first and make Elena your lover on the side?"

Cedric frowned at my question.

"Elena's a few years younger than you. She couldn't handle all the gossip.

"Cassandra, you're stronger than she is. It makes the most sense for you to go."

But being strong didn't give any of them the right to hurt me.

Cedric had made me a promise once.

Even if everyone else betrayed me, even if everyone else took Elena's side, he would always choose me, no matter what.

But he'd broken that promise. Worse, he'd become the one who hurt me most.

Elena started crying upstairs. Cedric let go of my hand at once.

Before he left, he looked back, and there was a warning in his voice. "Cassandra, stop being difficult. This is the best deal you're going to get."

I tore the bandage off my hand and threw it in the trash.

Even if it meant marrying into the mafia, I wasn't staying in this house.

If they were so determined to get rid of me, I'd use the mafia's influence to reclaim everything they'd stolen from me.