Chapter 1

Even Dante Romano, the underboss, stared at me in disbelief. "Donna, are you sure?

"Colton's been running three casinos, and his numbers are the best we've got. Everybody knows how smart and capable he is.

"Could you have misread something?"

I crossed out his name again, pressing harder this time. "I didn't misread anything."

Dante gaped at me, then turned to Lorenzo. "Colton's parents have been in the family for years. They used to run our entire operation in Miami.

"And the Donna wants to throw him out just because she says he has a dirty past? How is that fair?"

Lorenzo said nothing. He simply looked to me for an answer.

Another member spoke up. "Exactly. Besides, the Miami crew nominated him as the new captain. All three of his recommendation letters cleared every level of vetting.

"Donna, you can't shut him out based on your word alone. That isn't fair."

I took a sip from my glass and didn't react.

"If you want to know whether he's clean, look into him. Then it'll be fair, won't it?"

Everyone in the room turned to look at me.

They looked uncertain, even shocked.

They clearly didn't believe me. They thought I was only trying to stir up trouble.

I had no evidence, yet I was blocking a talented man from joining the inner circle. To everyone else, I looked completely unreasonable.

Dante's tone hardened.

"Don, the guys at the bottom already have it hard enough. They put their lives on the line for this family. If the Donna can keep a man out of the inner circle with a single offhand comment, what are the guys in the Miami crew supposed to think?"

Lorenzo said nothing and lit a cigar.

He turned slowly to me. "Did something happen between you and Colton?"

"There's some history between us, yes."

Lorenzo's expression darkened.

"But I promise I'm not using my position to settle a score. He's rotten to the core. Have a private investigator look into his past.

"If I'm wrong about him, I'll accept whatever punishment the family decides."

I held Lorenzo's gaze, my voice steady.

Lorenzo looked down at Colton's promotion file. He studied it, exhaled a slow stream of smoke, and said, "Put his application on hold. Get a private investigator to dig into his past and see if there's anything suspicious there.

"I want an answer in three days."

His voice remained calm as he stubbed out his cigar.

Dante looked like he wanted to say more, but he swallowed his words when I took Lorenzo's arm and left the council room with him.

Once we were outside the council room, Lorenzo said gently, "You can tell me what happened between you two if you want.

"Or if there's anything you need, just say the word.

"You know I'm on your side, no matter what."

I smiled. Lorenzo had always treated me incredibly well. After I became his Donna, he gave me a real voice in the family and backed every decision I made.

When I got into horse racing, he even built me my own stables.

Of course I knew he'd be on my side, no matter what.

I said, "You've already hired the investigator, haven't you?

"In three days, you'll know everything."

Lorenzo smiled back at me.

After all these years, the time had finally come to settle the score with Colton.