Chapter 1

"What's wrong, Vivian?"

Lucian's voice came through the bathroom door.

I grabbed the phone off the tile and kept my voice flat. "Nothing. A vase tipped over."

I pressed in the lock code, my birthday, and my eyes stayed nailed to the screen.

"Don, if our families weren't sworn enemies, you're the one I'd want to marry."

"But don't worry, I don't love Julian. The second I get what's mine, I'm coming to you."

"Even if you have to hide me away, even if I'm only ever the other woman, I don't care. And if you don't want my son…"

By the timestamps, Lucian hadn't made her wait a single second for the reply.

"I'll take care of your son to the end, and I will never let you be the other woman."

"As for Vivian, I've already had her dosed. The doctor says she'll never be able to have children."

"When the time comes, that's the reason we'll use to push her out of the family."

"Once you've taken what belongs to you and you're free of the Sloanes, I'll clear the way for you and bring you into the Graves house myself."

By the last line my face was soaked, and it felt like a hand had closed around my throat.

I didn't snap out of it until the water in the bathroom shut off.

I copied the whole thread and dragged my sleeve across my face.

When my mother died and my fiancé betrayed me, the storm of public opinion nearly drove me out of my mind.

The depression took me down hard, and more than once I wanted to die to be with her.

Every time, it was Lucian who pulled me back from the edge.

He killed the rumors for me, and he hit my fiancé Julian Ashford's businesses hard enough to bleed them.

He did it just to take the edge off the bitterness I couldn't shake.

I dug my nails into my palm and forced myself calm.

But the moment Lucian came out, he caught the red rimming my eyes in a single look.

His step stalled, and then he crossed the room to me.

"What is it?"

I pushed his hand away and turned my face from his.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about my mother."

Lucian looked at me for a few seconds.

The next moment, the Don whom every family in Sicily feared dropped to one knee in front of me.

He lifted his hand and ran his thumb slowly along the corner of my eye.

"Vivian. Look at me."

I didn't move.

He took my chin and tipped my face down to his.

"I told you."

"As long as I'm breathing, you'll never be alone again."

Then he stood, pulled me hard against his chest, and held me like he was giving me every ounce of safety in the world.

"Cry if you want to."

"I'll cancel my meetings tomorrow and take you to see your mother."

"I'll have the road to the cemetery closed off ahead of time. Stay as long as you want."

He sounded sincere, but with my back to him, there wasn't a trace of feeling left in me.

I let the silence stretch a long time before I spoke, my voice raw.

"Lucian."

"Security was airtight that day. So tell me, how exactly did Camilla Sloane get in?"

His body went visibly stiff, and then he smoothed it over.

"Vivian, stop dwelling on that day."

"You can't lock yourself in with the dead and the past forever. Understand?"

That night Lucian held me to sleep the way he always did, and gave me my sedative the way he always did.

This time I didn't swallow it. I tucked it into my cheek and spat it into my palm, and I had never felt so clear-headed in my life.

In the middle of the night, Lucian went out to the balcony to take a call.

"Every trace from the wedding day, wipe it clean."

"Surveillance, entry logs, the guest list. Don't leave a single one."

I curled deeper under the covers, my eyes going cold, and then I heard him say more.

"And buy that discontinued jewelry set. I want it delivered before March seventh."

The man on the other end perked right up.

"For the Donna, sir? I remember she loved that set too."

Lucian went quiet for a beat, and his voice came back impatient.

"Just handle it as I told you. Don't ask me pointless questions."

He hung up, eased back into bed, and carefully looped an arm around my waist.

I couldn't bring myself to smile.

Because I knew that March seventh was Camilla Sloane's birthday.

In the dead hours before dawn, once Lucian was deep asleep, I slipped downstairs and called Dr. Reed, the Lockwood family physician.

"Dr. Reed, I need you to set up a procedure for me. I want to stage my own death."

Then I added, my voice catching, "Please don't ask me why."

There wasn't a reason anyway. It was simply the only way out from under Lucian Graves.

After I hung up, I stood at the window and stared out at the garden Lucian had built for me.

Back then he'd poured everything he had into making me happy, from a single gift to an entire garden.

In the end, all of it was fake.

He was the one who'd walked me into hell with his own two hands.

So in return, it was only fair that I let him taste hell too.

Let everyone find out how their flawlessly loyal Don secretly doted on an enemy's daughter.

And how he destroyed the wife he was supposed to love more than anything, with his own hands.

I wanted to see whether he could keep the act going after that.

I wiped my face dry, and I didn't spare the garden behind me another ounce of regret.