Chapter 4

On the drive back to the estate, Isabella leaned against the back seat with her eyes closed.

We had just merged onto the highway when headlights flared behind us.

A black sedan swerved in from the right, with a gun barrel jutting from its window.

Bullets shattered the rear window, and one hit Isabella in the arm.

The driver swerved wildly through traffic, finally shaking off our pursuers.

When we reached the estate, I helped Isabella out of the car.

She had been shot in the arm, and the skin around her wound had turned black.

By the time Bruno arrived, Isabella was unconscious.

After examining her, Bruno's expression turned grim. “Isabella has been poisoned.

“Years ago, she was poisoned while protecting the old Don. It was ricin, just like this.

“Some of the toxin remained in her system. The new dose reactivated what was left. Her condition is worse than yours.”

The maid sobbed. “What will happen to her?”

Bruno looked at me. “Nick took the last dose of antidote.”

I didn't say anything. The maid sank to the floor at my feet, crying.

“Donna, Isabella always said you reminded her of herself.

“When she was poisoned protecting the old Don, no one looked out for her. And now you...”

I leaned against the wall as the poison coursed through my body, my vision fading in and out.

I remembered when I first married into the Valenti family. My father and older brother had just died. My younger brother was all I had left.

No one in the Valenti family would even look at me. Only Isabella took my hand. “Julia, from now on, you're my daughter.”

I called Nick and told him to send the antidote back.

Nick said, “Mia was suffering from the poison last night, so I gave her the antidote. There's none left.”

So they had never intended to use the antidote to save me.

Isabella was unconscious. As a last resort, I called my younger brother and asked him to send me one dose of antidote.

It arrived that same night. I held the vial in my palm, knowing it was my only chance to survive.

As I listened to the maid cry, I thought about all the years Isabella had protected me.

In the end, I handed the antidote to Bruno. “Give this dose to Isabella.”

Bruno froze. “Donna, if she gets it, what about you?”

I smiled bitterly. “She was once poisoned while protecting the old Don. She shouldn't die from it now.

“After my father and brother died, she was kinder to me than anyone in the Valenti family. I can't forget that.”

By then, I was too weak to stand. Only a ventilator was keeping me alive.

I lay cradled in Isabella's arms.

I watched as the lifesaving antidote flowed into her vein.

When Isabella woke, I was dying. Even the ventilator couldn't keep me alive much longer.

Nick and Mia had been gone all night. They still hadn't returned.

Bruno looked at me and shook his head. “Isabella, I'm afraid Julia won't make it through the night.”

Isabella took my hand. “Julia, whatever your last wishes are, tell me. I'll make sure they're carried out.”

The night before, I'd made arrangements for the remaining members of my family. I told them that once I was gone, they were no longer to risk their lives for the Valenti family.

I had also asked my younger brother, Paolo Ferraro, to take my ashes back to the estate our father had bought.

I said, “I want to be buried in the family cemetery, beside Mom, Dad, and our brother.”

As I lay dying, I held Isabella's hand tightly. “When I'm gone, I don't want to be Nick's wife anymore.

“I don't want to be his Donna... or his wife.

“Will you promise me?”

Isabella choked back tears. “Julia, I promise. I'll make sure Nick leaves you in peace.”

I took off the bullet pendant and gave it to her, along with my wedding ring.

I closed my eyes as their sobs filled the room.

Meanwhile, at the Valenti family's restaurant, Nick had his arm around Mia and was pouring her wine.

The phone rang, shrill and insistent. Nick answered with barely concealed impatience. “What is it?”

It was his mother. “Nick Valenti, your marriage to Julia ended when she died.”

Before he could react, she went on. “As of this moment, you're no longer the Don of the Valenti family.

“You have no wife. No family.

“You have nothing.”