Chapter 5

I returned to the estate late that night in a bulletproof car. For the next three days, I drifted through the house like a shadow, hollow and submissive.

Numb and compliant, my eyes vacant, as if the sedatives had finally taken their toll.

I poured their drinks, my face a blank mask as Bianca rambled on about the "thirtieth birthday banquet" she was planning for me.

"This is going to be the talk of the Family, Siena." At dinner on Thursday, her eyes gleamed. "All the elders from the High Table will be there. We're going to let those old fools see for themselves... just how 'well' you're doing."

"Thank you," I said, staring at the bloody steak on my plate. "You've really gone out of your way."

"We just want you to be happy." Angelo reached under the table and covered my hand with his. The moment his skin touched mine, I had to force myself to stay calm.

While they saw a ghost, I spent my days digging up the leverage I needed to send them to hell.

He thought his study was a fortress. He had no idea I'd cracked the safe inside. I copied everything: their bedroom photos, the ledgers for illegal arms deals, every text message plotting to take over. I dumped it all onto an encrypted micro-drive.

I even tracked down the money-laundering account he'd set up in the Caymans under my name, the one he was using to drain funds from my casinos.

Thursday night, I lay awake in the guest room. The master bedroom door down the hall was ajar, and their voices carried.

I crept to the door and pressed my ear to the crack.

"Is she asleep?" Bianca's voice.

"Like a log," Angelo answered, panting. "She swallowed the whole dose tonight."

I hadn't swallowed a single one. I'd flushed every pill down the drain.

"Tomorrow's the big day," Bianca laughed. "I can't believe the bitch was stupid enough to sign herself into the asylum. She really is useless..."

"But wait, when will the divorce be finalized? I don't want to be the mistress forever, Angelo. I want to be your wife. I want to give you an heir."

"Soon, baby," Angelo promised.

"Once the elders see her lose her mind tomorrow night, I can file for an annulment on grounds of incapacitation. We'll take everything she has, Bianca. The money, the casinos, this house. Just one more day."

"I love you, Angelo."

"I know," he said.

I slipped back into the guest room, my eyes ice. They were in my bed, celebrating on the edge of a guillotine.

On Friday morning, the day of the masquerade ball, the entire estate was thrown into extravagant chaos.

Before the sun was fully up, florists were piling hundreds of dark red roses in the hallways. Bianca's heels clicked sharply against the marble floors as she shrieked orders at the maids.

I tossed the first rope over the gallows.

Angelo was roaring into his phone in the study, dealing with a delayed shipment from the South Dock. He looked completely overwhelmed by the business he had stolen. Perfect.

I walked in holding a stack of documents.

"Angelo?" I spoke timidly.

"I do not have time right now, Siena!" He covered the receiver and waved me away with his other hand.

"I'm sorry to bother you," I said, my voice trembling just right. "It's the asylum. They need a spousal signature on the voluntary admission form. They say if they don't get it now, my bed will be gone by morning."

He gritted his teeth impatiently. "Give it here."

I handed him the leather clipboard. The top page was indeed the involuntary commitment form for the private psychiatric ward.

But right beneath that page, perfectly aligned so only the signature line was visible, was a fatal contract drafted by the top Mafia lawyers working under Aunt Zia.

It was a legal document that completely revoked his proxy rights to my territory, and below it, disguised as a liability waiver, was a full confession to embezzling Family funds and committing adultery.

He did not even flip the page. His mind was entirely consumed with getting rid of me, his biggest nuisance.

He furiously signed his name on page after page, his eyes glued to the arms deal figures on his computer screen.

"Take it." He shoved the clipboard back to me. "Go pack. Do not dawdle."

"Thank you, Angelo," I said. "You saved me."

"Yeah, yeah, now get out," he waved me off without looking up.

That same day, I packaged the evidence and the voice recorder. Using Zia's channels, I had it delivered to Marco, the financial steward who had watched me grow up. I was betting on his loyalty to the Romano name.

"Bianca and I are heading to the venue first to run through the schedule." At noon, Angelo walked up and casually informed me. He had changed into a tailored tuxedo and looked like a proper gentleman.

"Rest well at home. I will send a car for you at six."

"I understand," I sat sunk into the sofa in my silk robe, my eyes hollow. "You two... have fun."

"See you tonight, birthday girl," Bianca said, linking her arm through his, no longer bothering to hide her triumph.

The moment their black sedan drove out the cast-iron gates of the estate, I stood up.

I did not wait for his driver. I called an inconspicuous private car.

I smashed the fake black-market diamond ring Angelo had used to placate me years ago onto the bar counter. Forty minutes later, I walked onto the private airstrip in the south.

Massimo was waiting for me by the stairs of a jet-black Gulfstream, casually twisting the vintage gold watch on his wrist.

"You are two minutes late, my fiancée," he looked up, a hint of a smile hiding in his dark gray eyes.

"I had to toss out some trash on the way," I said.

I pulled out my phone. The screen flashed 5:55 PM. The opening music for the ball should have just started playing.

I dialed Angelo's number.

It rang only once before he picked up.

"Siena? Where are you? The driver said you were not at the estate."

"I'm sorry, Angelo," I said into the phone, my voice a perfect imitation of a frantic, manic breakdown. "I… I can't take it anymore."

"What do you mean you cannot take it?!" He roared in a hushed voice, clearly trying to avoid the VIPs around him. "The elders from the High Table are all here. The financial steward is here. Get your ass in the car right now, Siena."

"No!" I wailed. "I'm having a panic attack! Everyone is trying to kill me! I don't want to embarrass myself in front of the whole Family, Angelo. I don't want to ruin the party you planned so carefully."

"You are ruining it right now!" he hissed through his teeth. "Where the fuck are you?!"

"I'm already on my way to the asylum," I lied through my tears. "I'm checking myself in early. It's better for everyone this way. I think I've really gone crazy."

A momentary dead silence fell over the phone.

Then, a long, relieved exhale. He thought I, the lamb waiting for slaughter, had walked into his abattoir all by myself.

"Okay," his voice softened again, layered with that familiar, sickening warmth. "Okay, baby. This is for the best. I will handle things here. I will announce to the elders that you had a sudden episode and had to be sent away."

"Thank you." I sniffled. "Oh, by the way, Angelo?"

"Yes?"

"I sent a big gift to the head table at the banquet. Judging by the time, the Family Executioner should be opening it in front of all the elders right about now."

"A big gift?" His voice instantly went on high alert. "What is it? The territory transfer papers? Are you handing all the assets over to me?"

Massimo stood at the top of the stairs, holding out his hand, waiting for me to board.

The jet engines began a low roar behind me.

"It's a million times better than that," I said, letting my voice go cold.

"What?" For the first time, his voice betrayed fear.

"Goodbye, Angelo."

I hung up the phone.

I tossed the phone casually into a trash can by the runway. Massimo's hand caught my wrist, leading me up the stairs. The cabin door closed behind me, and the roar of the engines pressed the entire city beneath our feet.

I leaned back against the leather seat and closed my eyes. In my mind, I could perfectly picture the scene at the ball.

The Enforcer, the man who carries out Family law, would be taking the ironclad evidence, enough to have Angelo and Bianca cut into a thousand pieces, and slamming it down in front of them, page by page.

The party had just begun.