LOGINThe glass door of the studio crashed open.Gabriel stood at the door. Gripping a tablet tight. His face paper white."Valeria. What is the meaning of this?"His voice was shaking. He slammed the tablet down on my workbench.The screen showed financial news. The headline was blinding: [Rumored Marriage Between Two Major New York Mafia Families Collapses. Marchetti Syndicate Stock Plummets 12% in One Day]."In front of all the press. You said we were just friends." He gritted his teeth. "You want to brush me off that badly?"I didn't even look up. I kept polishing the diamond in my hand."I stated a fact.""A fact?" He sneered coldly. He leaned in closer. "You knew exactly what those reporters would write! You knew it would blow up like this!"I stopped what I was doing. I finally looked up at him."Is it a fact? Or did you leak the rumor yourself?"Gabriel's face froze."You knew the underground press and financial paparazzi would swarm over a 'Mafia marriage'. So you paid off tabloids
"Willingly submitting to me."The second those words hit my ears, I laughed.I picked up the glass of chilled champagne next to me. Taking my sweet time.The next second, I threw the freezing alcohol and crushed ice right into Vivian's face.She flinched violently. A broken whimper escaped her lips. Like a crushed bug.Victor's pupils shrank. Shock crossed his face for the very first time."You—""Victor." I cut him off. My voice colder than the frozen Hudson River. "You flatter yourself.""To me, you're not even on my radar.""You think setting up a game for a few years is enough to turn me into another Vivian?"I looked down at the woman on the floor who couldn't even stand straight. Then I looked back into Victor's manic eyes."Too bad." I smirked. "I am nobody's prey."I turned on my heel and walked away. My heels clicking sharply against the deck.Behind me, Victor let out a suppressed, guttural roar. Like a cornered beast."Valeria! Stop right there!"I didn't look back.I knew h
The gold foil on the invitation wasn't even fully dry. I stared at the name "Victor". A chill crawled up my spine.Five years ago, in the European social circles, I heard that name.The biggest arms dealer on the East Coast. A complete psychopath. Ruthless. Even the old-school Mafia families avoided him.I suddenly remembered Julian's arrogance. Chloe's blatant scheming. Vivian's mysterious lady's revolver."It's him." My voice shook. "The one backing Julian. It's Victor."Cassian's face turned iron gray instantly. His fists clenched until his knuckles turned white."I'm calling my men right now. I'll blow his yacht to the bottom of the Hudson River tonight!""No." I stopped him. My tone was absolute."Valeria!" His voice cracked with anxiety. "You have no idea how twisted this psycho is! He keeps shadows of Sicilian hitmen on his payroll!""Which is exactly why I need to ask him myself." I looked him straight in the eye. "Cassian, I'm done being played like a pawn. I need to know who
The brass dial of the safe was cold. It pressed against my fingertips.I stared at the four sets of numbers. My heart beat so fast it almost burst out of my chest.Dad's birthday. Mom's birthday.Cassian and I never once tried combining our birthdays.My fingers trembled as I dialed the last number.Click.A soft sound. The heavy steel door popped open.Inside, neat stacks of folders. The top one read "Russo Family Money Laundering Ledgers."My breath hitched. My hands shook so badly I could barely hold it.Underneath all the folders, there was a yellowed envelope.Mom's elegant handwriting on the front."To Cassian."I tore it open with shaking hands. Tears instantly blurred my vision.On the paper, Mom's handwriting was careful and solemn. Like she wrote it with her life."Cassian. If one day we're gone, you must keep Valeria safe for the rest of her life. Even if it costs you everything. Even if it makes her hate you forever. Protect her.""Her life is more important than everything
"I hated you for five years, Cassian! Five whole years!"Cassian let me shake him by the collar. He didn't say a word.Tears rolled down his sharp jawline. Splashing onto the glass-covered floor."Because the Russo family was still out there." He finally spoke hoarsely. "Their network was deeply rooted all over Europe.""I was scared."Hearing those words from the New York Tyrant carried such a heavy terror."I was scared that the second you showed your face, you'd be the next target blown to pieces.""It took me five years." His voice completely shattered. "To rip out every Russo smuggling route and safehouse in Europe by the roots.""They paid in blood."I saw the violent restraint in his bloodshot eyes. My heart felt like it was being crushed in a fist.Five years of hatred collapsed into ashes."Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I sobbed. Tears blurred my vision. "Why let me hate you for so long?"Cassian slowly raised his hand. His rough thumb gently brushed the tears off my cheek.
"You didn't even see them one last time."Those words hit Cassian like his spine had been ripped out.His massive frame swayed violently. He stumbled two steps back.The next second, he dropped to his knees. Right onto the marble floor covered in shattered glass.Thud. I knew those sharp shards pierced right into his knees.But he knelt perfectly straight. Like he couldn't feel the pain at all."Valeria."He looked up. Those cold, ruthless falcon eyes were now bloodshot. Gleaming with tears."The car bomb five years ago. It wasn't an accident."My heart dropped."It was the Russo family in Brooklyn." His voice trembled like dead leaves in the wind. "They set the trap. Mom and Dad died... on the spot.""What did you say?"I stared at him. My mind went totally blank."Dad's last words before he died." Cassian's Adam's apple bobbed hard. "Keep Valeria safe.""So I pretended to be a cold-blooded monster.""I made everyone believe I seized the power and didn't even care to avenge our parent







