Chapter 2

When it was time for the toasts, Dante led me from table to table.

But he made sure to introduce Elena to every family boss.

"This is Elena. There's no one I trust more. We grew up together. She's family to me."

Elena leaned into him, her smile sickly sweet.

I looked at their nearly touching shoulders, but my mind drifted to the figure in the corner of the hall.

It was summer in Sicily, seven years earlier.

Seven years ago, I'd stared a second too long at a red dress in a shop window. Gabriel had taken on a local gang by himself, robbed them, and used the money to buy it for me.

He stood in front of me covered in blood, grinning like an idiot. "Serena, my girl deserves the best."

He never let anyone treat me badly, not even a little.

Then came the hit meant for me.

When the car bomb went off, he covered me with his body.

The flames swallowed everything.

I dug through the blood-soaked wreckage with my bare hands for three days and three nights.

All I found was a broken pocket watch.

Those were the darkest days of my life. Dante sat at my bedside every day, brought me water and medicine, and handled family business for me.

I thought he was my salvation.

I thought that if I held on to that one lifeline, I could survive without Gabriel.

So I agreed to the marriage alliance.

Looking back, it was a joke.

"Serena, why are you spacing out?" Dante nudged my elbow. "Head table."

I pushed down the turmoil in my head and pulled my eyes away from the corner.

It was time to clean up tonight's mess.

We walked to the east side of the hall.

My father, Don Lorenzo Rossi, head of the Rossi family, sat with Dante's father, Don Vincenzo Corsini.

Gabriel stood quietly a step behind me and to one side, like a shadow.

I could feel him watching me.

His gaze stayed on my back the whole time.

I barely dared to breathe. I wanted so badly to turn around and make sure it was him.

But I couldn't.

"Serena looks beautiful tonight." Vincenzo raised his glass. "Dante, you'd better treat her right."

"Of course, Father." Dante nodded, then said, "Let's take a group photo to mark the alliance."

The older generation agreed.

The photographer scrambled to set up his equipment.

"Wait." Dante and I said it at the same time.

I took an antique pocket watch out of my clutch.

The edge of its face was stained with dark red blood that would never wash off. It was the only thing Gabriel had left me seven years ago.

"I'm holding this." My tone left no room for argument.

Dante's mother frowned. "That old broken watch? Holding that at a blood pact ceremony is terrible luck."

"It means everything to me."

I gripped it tighter, feeling the cold metal edges.

Dante tried to keep the peace. "Mother, if Serena wants to hold it, let her."

He turned to the photographer.

The photographer began, "Okay, if everyone could..."

"I want to add someone." Dante cut him off. Before anyone could react, he reached out and pulled Elena into the center. "Elena, come here."

I stared at him.

He'd actually pulled an outsider into the picture.

He'd already humiliated me, and apparently that wasn't enough.

The air in the room froze.

My father's expression darkened. "Dante, Ms. Ferri isn't an official member of the Corsini family. She doesn't belong in the alliance photo."

"Don Rossi, Elena is family to me." Dante casually draped an arm over her shoulders. "What's wrong with Elena being in a picture?"

Elena leaned right into his side and gave my father a taunting little smirk.

We stood on either side of Dante in almost identical gowns.

To everyone watching, we looked like two women sharing the same man.

Whispers broke out all around us.

The photographer was sweating and had no idea what to do.

Gabriel stepped forward. "I'll take the photo." He took the camera, his movements smooth and precise. "Ready?" He raised the camera.

Just as the flash went off, Elena gasped, pretended to twist her ankle, and slammed her shoulder into me.

The pocket watch slipped from my fingers.

Crack.

Its glass face shattered on the marble floor.

"My watch!" I dropped to my knees.

Elena stepped back in alarm and smoothed her skirt. Then she covered her mouth and cried out. "Oh my God, Serena, I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to!"

Her eyes reddened as if she were about to cry, but her voice was just loud enough for everyone around us to hear.

A chill crept up my spine.

I stared at the broken glass.

"Elena." Dante immediately stepped in front of her. "Serena, she didn't mean it. She just tripped. Throw that junk away and let's finish the photo, okay?"

I looked up at him. That watch was what had kept me alive for seven years.

And he still had that smug, superior look on his face, like none of this was his problem.

"You know how much this watch means to me."

"I know, I know." He tried to calm me down. "It's just a watch. Tomorrow I'll buy you a Patek Philippe. Whichever one you want." His voice softened. "Serena, do this for me. Don't make a scene in front of the five families. Just let it go."

Whatever I'd felt for him was dead. All that remained was cold disgust.

Footsteps came closer.

It was Gabriel.

Without a word, he took out a clean handkerchief and carefully gathered up the pieces.

The tears came all at once.

In the end, they took the photo anyway.

It was a twisted picture.

Dante and Elena stood front and center, smiling sweetly.

I stood off at the edge, and I wasn't looking at the camera.

I was looking past it, at the man behind the camera whose eyes were locked on me.