1

I walked in on my husband in bed with three women.

They didn't notice me until they were done.

The three women clutched the sheets around themselves and huddled together in fear.

The one in the middle was Camilla Rhodes, a senator's illegitimate daughter.

Two years ago, anyone who dared climb into Dante Cavallaro's bed would have paid for it.

I would have shot every one of them in the head.

All of New York's underworld knew I was a madwoman.

Now I just stood in the doorway, staring blankly.

Dante leaned against the headboard, his chest covered in scratches.

He lit a cigar.

"Are you done standing there? Run me a hot bath and iron the suit I'm wearing tomorrow."

Camilla had already put on my robe. She sauntered over with a glass in her hand, her eyes daring me to react.

As she passed me, she bumped into me on purpose, then cried out and stumbled sideways.

The glass shattered, and she scraped her knee.

"Ow. That hurts..."

Camilla clutched her injured knee and gave Dante a wounded look.

"I just wanted to take a bath. Why would your wife push me? Our baby's going to be okay, right?"

Dante's face went dark.

He didn't ask a single question. He came straight over to me.

"Elena, knock it off with the attitude."

He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at her.

"A woman who couldn't even keep her baby alive has no right to act like the lady of the house.

"If Camilla ends up with a scar, I'll take the oxygen mask off your father's face."

Dante shoved me toward the broken glass.

"Pick it all up with your hands. For every piece you miss, your father goes a month without his meds."

Camilla stood to one side, smiling smugly.

Without a word, I knelt down and started picking up the shards.

Dante watched me, braced for me to make a scene.

Even when the glass cut my finger, I didn't so much as flinch.

For some reason, my silence set his teeth on edge.

"Enough!"

He kicked the rest of the glass aside.

"Get out. Go to the guest room. I don't want to see you."

With that, he slammed the door and left.

I got up and walked out. On my way past the billiard room, I saw a few capos and bodyguards crowded around the card table, placing bets.

"Thirty thousand says she's on her knees outside the Don's door by morning, begging for forgiveness."

"Ever since she lost the baby two years ago, she's been screaming at the Don. Every time he cuts off her father's meds, she comes crawling back like a dog."

"She's the last Moretti left. If the old Don hadn't taken pity on her, she'd be lying in a hospital bed too."

I stopped in the doorway.

They looked at me with nothing but contempt. Not a shred of respect for the lady of the house.

I kept my temper. I walked to the card table, slipped off my wedding ring, and tossed it in front of the dealer.

"Fifty thousand."

I looked at the capo who'd started the betting.

"I'm betting Elena Moretti walks out on the Cavallaro family today."

Everyone froze, then burst out laughing.

I ignored them and went down to the records room in the basement.

Meanwhile, one of the men had already reported it to Dante.

"Don, the Donna put her wedding ring on the table. She's betting she'll leave today."

Dante scowled.

"Her father's life is in my hands. Where's she going to go? She just wants me to back down."

Seconds later, he called me.

"You threw away your ring? How much do you want this time? Is two million enough? You think that'll make me get rid of Camilla?"

I stood in front of the safe, my voice calm.

"I don't want a cent of your dirty money. Save it to buy her a coffin."

I hung up just as the hidden compartment in the safe clicked open.

Inside were only two contracts, sealed away for five years.

The first was the agreement the old Don, Vittorio Cavallaro, had made me sign five years ago.

"The woman will bear an heir within five years; in exchange, the Cavallaro family will cover her father's medical expenses."

The second was an addendum no one else knew about. I'd bought my way out with the ports in my family's name.

"If no heir is born within five years, the woman may end the marriage contract on her own and give up all property."

The five years were up.

My tears finally spilled over.

Five years ago, a vendetta wiped out the Moretti family and left my father badly wounded and in a coma.

With nowhere else to turn, I took the marriage pact our families had made years ago and begged Vittorio for help.

Vittorio originally meant for me to marry his younger brother, who lived far away in Europe.

I assumed he was an old man over 50, like Vittorio.

I was terrified and fought the arrangement. Dante, who had been pursuing me all along, stepped in to rescue me.

He begged Vittorio to make him the groom instead.

The first year of our marriage, Dante was wonderful to me.

He swore he'd protect me with his life.

Until two years ago, when I was eight months pregnant and pushed open the door to his study.

Dante had dug up the heir contract.

He was convinced I'd married him only to pay for my father's care. No matter how I tried to explain, he wouldn't listen.

In the middle of the fight, he shoved me down the stairs.

The baby I'd carried for eight months was gone, along with my chance of ever having another.

When Dante walked into my hospital room afterward, there was nothing in his eyes but ice.

"You killed our own baby just so you wouldn't have to give me an heir and could keep bleeding me for your father's medical bills.

"Elena, you're the most vicious woman I've ever met."

From that day on, the husband who'd loved me was gone.

He started bringing women home like a man possessed.

Opera singers, smugglers' mistresses, even strippers.

He made me stand by the bed, hand the women towels, and clean up after them.

At first, I sobbed, shot his bed to pieces, and threw every one of those women out.

But Dante just watched coldly as I fell apart.

"Keep it up, Elena. For every one you run off, I'll bring home ten."

Then, three months ago, Camilla showed up.

She pretended to slip and fall off the yacht and pinned it on me.

So Dante locked me in the walk-in freezer for three days.

The fever that followed burned away my last illusion about him.

I finally saw it clearly. He wasn't punishing me because his love had turned to hate.

He just didn't love me anymore.

I tucked away the termination agreement. I felt calmer than I ever had.

I'd owed the Cavallaro family a debt.

I'd paid it with every Moretti port, the baby I lost, and my dignity.

It was paid in full.