Chapter 1

I stared at her ring finger.

“But that’s… a wedding band. Are you married to him?”

“This?” She held her hand up, admiring it. “I told him to take it from his wife.”

The air left my lungs.

“I wasn’t going to bother the wife, you know? But then, on my birthday, the woman had a miscarriage. Demanded he run to the hospital. Left me alone on my birthday.”

My hand drifted to my own stomach.

I remembered that winter. The ice on the sidewalk. Matteo’s wages were meager back then. A car was a dream. I slipped. Fell hard.

The three-month life inside me became a dark stain on the ice.

Matteo dropped everything. Stayed by my bedside for three days.

When I woke up, my ring was gone too. Lost with the blood.

He held me. “It’s okay. We’ll have another child. I’ll get you a new ring.”

I cried, shaking my head. “You said the Family might make cuts. We need to save money. Get me a new one when you’ve made it big.”

Tears shone in his eyes then. “I’m sorry. I’m a failure. I can’t give you the life you deserve.”

I told him it didn’t matter.

Beside me, the woman was still admiring the stolen ring.

My voice was flat. “So you had him steal his wife’s wedding ring for you.”

“He offered to buy a bigger one. But that old hag acts so high and mighty just because she’s the wife. She needed to be put in her place.”

I clenched my jaw so hard it ached.

“Honestly, this ring is cheap compared to what he buys me. But it’s the principle. It’s the wife’s ring.”

She smiled at me. Pitifully. “A woman who ends up like her… she’s finished.”

I gripped the armrest, forcing a smile. “A man who spends so freely on a mistress… the wife must get a hefty allowance to keep quiet.”

She laughed. Leaned in, her perfume cloying.

“Let me tell you a secret. The wife still doesn’t know he’s the Don.”

“Why not?”

She examined her diamond-studded nails. “What’s the point? Her best years were spent while he was climbing the ranks. If you were a powerful man, would you waste money on a faded wife? Money can’t buy back her youth.”

My own reflection stared back from the window. Tired. Worn.

She leaned closer. “Listen, you’re older, but you’ve still got something. I’ll give you some free advice. A woman needs work. Procedures. Your skin is dry. Your husband must be losing interest.”

I said nothing.

Her skin was perfect. Once, mine was better.

A decade in cramped safe-houses, always looking over your shoulder… I barely recognized my own old photos.

“Procedures are expensive.”

“So?” She shrugged. “My man gives me fifty grand a month for expenses. And he pays for the procedures.”

A tiny diamond glittered near her eye. My hand trembled against the fabric of my cheap dress.

“How long have you been his?”

“Since June twelfth. Twenty-twenty-three. Why?”

My blood turned to ice.

June 12, 2023.

The day my mother died.

She needed a fifty-thousand-dollar surgery.

I remember Matteo begging, calling in every favor, emptying our meager accounts. He scraped together thirty-five thousand.

I killed myself to find eight more.

It wasn’t enough.

He held me as I sobbed. “I’m sorry. I’m garbage. I couldn’t save your mother. You deserve so much better.”

My heart was breaking, but I wiped his tears. “You found thirty-five thousand. I’m grateful. Mama said you tried. She didn’t blame you. I don’t blame you. It was my fault for not finding the rest.”

His tears fell on my hands.

He gripped them like a lifeline. “Sara… just wait. Wait for me. I swear I won’t let us live like this anymore.”

I nodded through my tears.

Fifty thousand.

He had it.

“You know,” the woman said, pulling me back. “The wife’s mother needed fifty grand that month too.”

I looked at her.

She winked. “He was going to give it.”

I stopped breathing. “He gave it to you instead? For your allowance?”

“Don’t be silly. He’s loaded. Giving me fifty grand leaves him with plenty. He didn’t give it to the wife because…”

She rested her chin on her hand.

“I told him if her mother died, the wife would have no one left. No family. Then, even if she found out about me, she’d have nowhere to go. She’d have to stay quiet.”

I tasted blood from biting my cheek.

“And besides,” she smiled, “I really wanted that new Chanel bag. It was exactly fifty grand.”

I stared, my vision narrowing. “Aren’t you afraid the wife will find out?”

“Please. I’m smart.”

She laughed. “I told him to give her thirty-five grand. Make it look like his life savings. The wife will think her poor, loyal husband did his best. She’ll never think to look for another woman.”

Her smile faded, replaced by a scowl.

“The annoying part is he only agreed because he was worried the wife would leave him if I was ever discovered. Ugh. That old bitch got lucky.”

CRACK.

The sound was sharp in the cabin.

My palm connected with her cheek before I even knew I’d moved.