Chapter 1

My father, Lorenzo Vitano, sat at the head of the conference table. Across from him was the envoy the Rosso Family had sent.

The man delivered a long string of flattery before sliding a marriage contract to the center of the table. "Don Vitano, your little princess has just come of age, and our Family's heir fell for her the moment he saw her. If our families join through marriage, every dock operation on the South Shore will be yours."

Lorenzo didn't answer right away. He swirled the wine in his glass, his gaze drifting over until it settled on my face.

I knew that look all too well. He was weighing the costs and benefits.

The Vitano Family controlled nearly every illegal enterprise, from drugs to gambling, but port-based arms dealing remained our one weak link.

Any time we needed to move goods through the docks, we had to pay the Rosso Family exorbitant fees.

That was exactly why Lorenzo was willing to use a marriage to bind the two families together.

To him, I was the obvious choice, having been groomed through years of training within the Family.

But Adrian Rosso hadn't picked me. He had picked Rosa, my younger sister, who had been sheltered her entire life and never once set foot in Family business.

I turned to look at her. She was sitting right beside me, idly twirling a silver fork between her fingers.

She listened quietly, glancing now and then at the photograph the round-faced envoy had brought along.

Adrian Rosso was admittedly handsome in the photo: deep-set eyes, a straight nose, and one slightly pointed canine that showed when he smiled.

In my last life, that face had destroyed the Vitano Family.

This time, I would never let the tragedy repeat itself.

Lorenzo seemed about to speak, but I stood up first and slid the documents back toward the Rosso envoy.

"Last month, the Rosso Family hijacked three of our shipments. They didn't leave a single man alive on those cargo ships. And now you have the nerve to come here talking about a marriage alliance, demanding that my sister, who has never touched Family business, marry into your clan? You want to use her as a hostage so the Vitano Family becomes your personal bank?"

I had only discovered this two months after Rosa married into the Rosso Family in my previous life.

The Rosso Family's work had been clean and ruthless. They'd even bought off several of our handlers. The cover-up was flawless.

If I hadn't stumbled across a suspicious document, it would never have come to light.

I had wanted to take it straight to Lorenzo and to my brother, Dante Vitano, so they could rescue Rosa, but at that exact moment the casino had nearly been bombed by a deranged gambler, and I'd had to set everything aside to deal with the crisis. I left the document in a corner of the study.

It stayed there until Rosa was beaten to death. Dante shut himself in the study for days, consumed by grief, and that was when he finally found the document.

Because of that document, Lorenzo and Dante became certain I had caused Rosa's death. Nothing I said could change their minds.

This time, I would not give that document the chance to ruin my life.

The round-faced envoy's smile stiffened for a split second when I laid bare a secret the Rosso Family thought they had buried.

But he recovered almost instantly, his grin sliding right back into place. "Accusations without evidence can get you into trouble."

I said nothing. I simply pushed the document in front of Lorenzo.

He opened it. Several seconds of silence passed as his expression darkened with every line.

He lifted his head and fixed the envoy with a stare, then slammed the papers onto the table. "We've seen the Rosso Family's sincerity. You have three days to return our cargo, untouched and in full. Otherwise, your casinos and your drug trade will cost you several times what that shipment was worth."

Beads of sweat broke out across the envoy's forehead. Lorenzo's men escorted him out with practiced courtesy.

Once the doors closed again, Rosa slowly raised her head. Her eyes were rimmed with red. "Father, I want to marry him. Please don't make things so tense with the Rosso Family, okay?"

Lorenzo frowned, but his voice softened. "Rosa, your sister is right. The Rosso Family sees you as nothing more than a key. A key that can unlock everything the Vitano Family has."

"I don't care!" Rosa's voice climbed higher. "I like the man in that photo! I want to marry him!"

In our last life, Rosa had thrown the same tantrum, demanding to marry into the Rosso Family.

Lorenzo and Dante couldn't refuse her, and in the end they gave in. Less than a year after the wedding, she was beaten to death.

I was about to step in when Dante, who had been sitting silently as if lost in thought, suddenly spoke up and shut down the sister he had always doted on.

"You can do whatever you want, but marrying into the Rosso Family is not up for discussion!"

I looked at Dante, at the way he had acted so completely against his own nature, and I knew. He had been reborn too.

Good. Some regrets were his to fix on his own.

Denied her brother's support, Rosa let out a shriek. She shot to her feet, clutched her chest, and crumpled to the floor.

The butler rushed to catch her. "Don! The little princess has fainted!"

Lorenzo strode over and scooped her into his arms, shouting for a doctor. Dante hurried to her side too, patting her back and murmuring comfort.

The two of them hovered over her, drenched in sweat, one wiping her tears, the other rubbing her chest to steady her breathing.

In that whole room, I was the only one who didn't belong.

The thought settled in. I shifted on my feet, turned quietly, and walked out of the living room.

In the hallway, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number.

The other end picked up, amusement plain in his voice. "The Vitano princess, calling me? Now that's a surprise."

"I need to leave the Family. Arrange an accident for me, and a new identity the Vitano Family will never trace."

Silence on the line. Then, "Ten days. I'll come to you with the new identity."