Chapter 2

The seaside safe house had been my mother's favorite place in the world.

When I was eight, fighting broke out between the Moretti family and a rival crew. My father ordered everyone to the Moretti estate and kept them there for a meeting. But my mother took me and fled here in the middle of the night. She taught me herself how to lock the security door and how to find the escape route through the underground garage.

She told me back then, "Isabella, being afraid isn't the problem. What matters is always knowing your way out."

In my last life, I forgot those words completely.

In this life, the first thing I was going to do was secure my own way out.

The car pulled up in front of the house, where someone sent by Colin was already waiting. I pushed the door open and walked into the living room, and the first thing I saw was my mother's emerald necklace.

It was around Rosa's neck.

She was wearing a long silk dress and turning from side to side in front of the full-length mirror, admiring herself. Viola stood next to her in a silvery-white gown. Two months ago, a designer had custom-made it for my engagement banquet. Even the bodice had been cut to my measurements.

I stood in the doorway and didn't say a word.

Viola spotted me first. Her face changed for a split second, then the smile was back. "Sis, what brings you here?"

Sis.

She said it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

I walked in. My eyes passed over the gown and landed back on the necklace.

"Take it off."

Viola froze. Rosa turned around too.

"Isabella, don't start throwing a fit the second you walk in the door."

I ignored Rosa and said it again to Viola. "The dress. Take it off."

She bit her lip. "Dad said you have tons of dresses. I was only trying it on."

"I'm going to say it one more time."

I held her gaze. I wasn't giving an inch.

"Off."

Viola's smile finally cracked. She yanked the gown off her shoulders and threw it on the couch. "Fine. Have it back."

I turned to Rosa.

"The necklace."

Her hand flew to her throat. "Antonio gave this to me."

The lawyer Colin had sent set the estate papers on the table. "Ms. Ferri, this emerald necklace is listed in Elena Moretti's personal estate. Mr. Moretti had no right to give it to anyone."

Rosa's face went red, then white. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," I said, walking up to her, "that what the dead leave behind doesn't belong to whoever's still alive to grab it."

Rosa's head snapped toward me.

I didn't give her a chance to argue. I reached for the clasp at the back of her neck. Rosa jerked away, and her nails raked across my palm. Blood welled up instantly.

And then she was the one who screamed. "Don't touch me!"

She raised both hands and tried to shove me with all her strength.

I twisted out of the way and drew my gun in the same motion.

The second the barrel came up, the living room went silent.

Viola went white. "Isabella, are you crazy?"

"I'm perfectly sane."

I kept my eyes locked on Rosa.

"Move your hands."

Just then, the front door swung open.

Luca walked in with two of his men behind him, the cold from outside still clinging to his black coat. Rosa looked at him like he'd come to save her and called out, "Luca, just look at her."

Luca didn't look at the gun in my hand.

His eyes went to my bleeding palm.

"Give me your hand."

I stayed where I was and didn't move.

He came straight over and took my wrist. "Isabella."

"It's just a scratch."

"I can see it."

He pushed the barrel down. He didn't take the gun away from me. He just flicked the safety on and slid it back into my holster. Then he led me over to the sink to rinse the cut.

Cold water ran over the torn skin, and I couldn't help wincing.

Luca looked up. "Does it hurt?"

"What do you think?"

"You know it hurts, and you still went and started a fight."

He took two painkillers out of his pocket, then handed me a square of dark chocolate.

I looked at the two pills, and something in my chest went soft.

I'd always hated how bitter pills were. Whenever I had to take medicine, he had chocolate ready for me. In five years, he'd never once forgotten.

"How did you know I was here?"

"Antonio called me. He said you'd shown up to confront Rosa with a gun." Luca kept his head down, winding gauze around my hand.

"I'm guessing he didn't mention she was wearing my mother's necklace."

Luca stopped wrapping for half a second.

"No."

He turned around. His eyes swept over the property papers on the table and stopped on the emerald necklace.

"Give her back the necklace."

Rosa stiffened. "Luca—"

"I said, give it back." This time his voice was so cold it left no room to argue.

Rosa had no choice but to take the necklace off.

Viola could tell how tense the room had gotten. She tugged at her clothes. "I only tried the dress on, that's all."

Luca glanced at her, then picked up the gown and put it in my hands.

"This belongs to Isabella." He paused, then added, "So does the engagement."

Viola's face went dark with humiliation.

I looked at Luca standing there, and I came this close to making the same mistake I'd made in my last life. I almost went soft on him all over again.

It was always these small, tender moments. Over and over, they blinded me and kept me from admitting that he was hurting me too.

He would stand up for me. He remembered little things, like how much I hated taking pills. He would say in front of everyone that the place at his side was mine and no one else's.

So whenever he made another decision for me, I found an excuse for him.

He's just worried about me.

He's just used to being in control.

He loves me this much. How could he ever really hurt me?

On the drive back, Luca took the wheel himself. I reached for my motorcycle keys, but he got to them first and slid them away.

"What are you doing?"

"Things are unstable right now."

"So?"

"Don't ride your bike for the next few days. You can have my armored car, and I'll assign you a driver too." He said it like it was a given.

I turned my head to look at him and couldn't help laughing. "Luca, do you really think that if you give me something expensive enough, you can take whatever you want from me without it being robbery?"

He frowned. "I just want you safe."

"If what you want is a fiancée who always does what she's told and never makes you worry," I said, looking at him, "then isn't Viola just perfect?"

The car stopped at a red light.

Luca turned to face me. "Don't say things like that just because you're angry."

"Why not?"

"Because you're the only one I'm marrying." He spoke slowly, each word heavy and certain.

My heart still skipped a beat before I could stop it.

The next second, he slipped my motorcycle keys into the inside pocket of his coat.

"Which is exactly why you need to learn to protect yourself."

I didn't say anything.

The streetlights streaked past the window.

When we got back to the Moretti estate, there were two cars I didn't recognize parked out front. The living room was piled with suitcases of every size. Rosa sat next to my father, and Viola was telling the staff to carry the bags up to the bedrooms.

My father looked up and saw me.

"Good, you're back.

"Rosa and Viola are going to live here from now on."

I stood in the entryway. The house I'd grown up in suddenly felt like someone else's.

My father acted like he couldn't see the look on my face at all. He just added, flatly, "You're all one family. The sooner you get used to it, the better."