One Mask, No Mercy

The camera was shoved so close to my face that I couldn't look away.

"She still hasn't figured it out!" Valentina squealed. "You should've seen her face when Matteo grabbed me and ran. She went completely white!"

Laughter rolled through the engagement party. Several heads of minor mafia families crowded around the staircase, congratulating my sister on her brilliant idea. They assured her that once she uploaded the footage, her engagement-party prank would go viral.

I lay curled on the steps, clutching the black overcoat a security guard had thrown over me. I was freezing. Waves of pain twisted through my lower abdomen.

Where I'd struck the stairs, it felt as if someone had pressed a red-hot iron against my body. Every movement sent another searing stab across my stomach and back.

"Hospital," I managed.

My mother's smile faded. "Why would you need a hospital? Nothing actually exploded."

She bent down, caught my arm, and tried to haul me upright.

The moment I raised my torso, pain ripped through my belly. I collapsed onto the step again, cold sweat bursting across my forehead.

"Mom, my stomach hurts. I think I'm injured."

She inspected my arms and legs. Once she saw that I could move them, she relaxed.

"Nothing's broken. How bad could it be? This is your engagement party, Elena. Don't ruin everyone's evening over a joke."

Valentina's eyes filled with tears on cue.

"I only wanted to know whether you'd still care about Mom and me after you got married. If I'd known you'd get this angry, I never would've planned the surprise."

She sounded apologetic, but the camera stayed trained on me.

Mom drew her into a protective embrace. "You spent more than two weeks preparing this. Your sister should be thanking you."

Then she turned to me. "You've competed with Valentina your whole life. She's always been the forgiving one. Can't you let this go for once?"

I stared at her.

When Valentina had an asthma attack as a child, I could be running a fever of 102 and no one would notice. Everyone rushed to care for her. Mom and the household staff would stay at the hospital for three nights straight while I swallowed my medicine alone.

I'd never fought my sister for anything.

But in Mom's eyes, whenever there was a disagreement, I was automatically the guilty one.

Matteo finally approached from the crowd. He crouched and braced a hand against my shoulder.

I clutched his sleeve like a lifeline.

"Matteo. Please take me to the hospital."

His brow furrowed. "Elena, you fell down a few steps. We have a ballroom full of guests waiting. Do you have to be difficult right now?

"Even if it hurts, can't you bear it for another fifteen minutes?"

The butler called from the ballroom that it was time to sign the engagement agreement.

Mom jumped at the chance. "The ceremony comes first. Let's not keep everyone waiting."

Between them, they dragged me off the stairs.

The instant my feet touched the floor, my vision went black. I nearly fell again.

Valentina jumped backward, shielding her camera. "Careful, Elena! Don't break my equipment."

I had no strength left to argue.

They half-carried me into the ballroom and lowered me onto a crimson upholstered chair.

Another vicious cramp seized my abdomen. I doubled over, pressing my hand against it. Something warm seemed to be leaking from inside me.

The enormous screen above the ballroom began replaying the secretly recorded footage. There was Matteo snatching the mask from me, then flinging me down the stairs.

The guests applauded the performance.

"Don Rinaldi made it look so real! I thought he was actually going to abandon his Donna!"

"Valentina's a genius. This is going to go viral."

Matteo lifted his wineglass with an indulgent smile.

"It was all Valentina's idea. She said the more believable it looked, the more engagement it would get online."

My nails dug into my palm. The pain had drained every bit of color from my face.

Then Valentina thrust her phone under my nose. A likeness-release form glowed on the screen.

"Just sign here, Elena."