Prologue

Emery

The smell of earth invaded my senses. A pungent mud and dirt scent that was mixed with flowers that were sitting around the freshly dug hole. A tear fell down my face but I refused to wipe it away. I didn’t apply makeup this morning because I knew it would be pointless… the tears hadn’t stopped falling for the past couple of days.

I watched as they lowered the casket into the ground. I said a silent last goodbye to my husband of ten years as I watched him disappear into the smelly dirty earth. Had he been alive he would’ve been complaining that the hole in which he were being buried wasn’t lined with concrete or marble.

Jasper was a difficult man… as were most of the men in my world. He was proud and cold … but I loved him fiercely. We’d been contractually given to each other so to speak from the time we were toddlers. Our courtship and marriage one of agreement by our fathers, who had both been heads of different mafia gangs.

It didn’t matter to me that we had been forced to be together though, because as the years went by I formed an attraction toward him.. that attraction turned to love, at least for me. I wasn’t sure Jasper had ever been capable of loving someone.. anyone. His love was too wrapped up in the business.

I shifted on my feet and my heels sunk into the soft ground. I stole a look at Vivian who stood next to me, the only other female here, aside from Jasper’s mother. The rest were Jasper’s men.. a sea of black suits and bowed heads as they grieved and honored their esteemed boss.

That is, if you could describe anyone in the mafia world as esteemed.

Vivian hiccuped. Her sobs had been quiet but we’re becoming more and more frantic as time went on. Vivian was Jasper’s ‘adopted’ daughter, although she was barely eight years younger than him. When Jasper’s best friend had died.. he had asked my husband to take care of her in his last breaths. At least that’s what Jasper had told me.

I’d never questioned it…before Jasper and I married Vivian was already there, and has been a permanent fixture ever since, much like the stark white furniture Jasper had insisted on. He never legally adopted her though.. but for all intents and purposes Jasper had become her father, her caretaker, her family.

Unfortunately for us she was the only ‘child’ we had. Even though she wasn’t a child at all. I had tried and tried to get pregnant over the past ten years but no matter what I did.. it just never happened for me. That had always been a source of contention in our marriage. I wanted a baby more than anything. And I was sure that Jasper had wanted an heir.

Jasper’s families’ longtime lawyer John stepped up to the podium. Apparently he was going to get the legalities out of the way while we were all here. The funeral itself, along with the burial had taken place here at the private cemetery. It was tradition .. but I always believed it had been done for safety reasons. Having so many of us together in one spot wasn’t the smartest thing, there were enemies everywhere. And the deaths of any members would be made public.

“As requested by Jasper previously the will shall be read here at the gravesite. Once concluded you will be free to leave.” John said into the small microphone that was attached.

John pulled a folder from his briefcase and began reading:

“I, Jasper Marchetti, do hereby bequeath at the time of my death, all of my personal possessions, house, cars, jewelry, and following listed bank accounts to the woman I loved and cared about most in this world. The woman I hope that my successor, Don, will do everything he can to protect; the person I loved so much but didn’t get the chance to give her a ring… Vivian Reed.”

My body bucked.

Audible gasps were heard from every direction. They were hitting me, slamming into me causing my body to shake. Or maybe that was the complete and utter shock that had taken over. I began to tremble and my face paled.

I was going to pass out.

The whispers and stares began. John was still talking… listing out bank account information but no one was paying attention to him anymore.

I swayed on my feet … wishing now I was the one in the muddy dirt hole.

How could he?? If I wasn’t so humiliated I would be massively confused. Vivian?? He loved her??

A lifetime of occurrences came shooting through my mind. So many things that I had overlooked or dismissed… things I should’ve trusted my gut about. Now they all made sense.

Vivian, next to me, was now yelling.. crying.. screaming about how much she loved Jasper. MY husband. She wailed as she fell to the ground. Looks of pity and sympathy were thrown my way.

I should have known… I should have realized. Jasper hadn’t basically ignored me for ten years because he was a cold mafia boss.. he had done it because he was in love with someone else. And I had been blind. I had loved him regardless.

I stood there not moving… stiff like a corpse. As if I were the one in that box.

A horrible sound blasted through the air in that moment. A sound I was very familiar with, as was everyone here. Then another .. and another. Gunshots.

Our enemies were here. We had stayed here too long in one spot, out in the open. Chaos ensued. People were ducking and yelling and running. But I still hadn’t moved. Couldn’t move.

Jasper’s men had their guns pulled and were shooting back. A large group of assailants came running toward us from every direction. Their faces were covered in masks and they had on all black … as if they were here for the funeral. Now the sea of black .. was a sea of black and red.

There was so much yelling happening.. but I still hadn’t recovered from what I’d just found out. But I heard one of the men yelling to get Jasper’s wife… and I knew that’s why they were here.

When Jasper had died his men had killed the wife of an enemy gang… the group they held responsible for Jasper’s death. Now they wanted me. An eye for an eye. Blood for blood.

The Marchetti men were fighting back though. Several ran toward me and for a moment I believed I would be saved. But it wasn’t me they were running for.. it was Vivian. They were protecting her.

I didn’t want to die … especially now when I had just found out my entire adult life had been nothing but a lie. But at the same time I found that I didn’t care to live either. My heart had just been obliterated.

I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest. The very last thought I’d had before closing my eyes was did Jasper plan all this? Did he foresee this exact scenario happening?

Another sharp pain. I looked down. The red was now covering my black dress. I fell and closed my eyes.

And then …

The smell of earth invaded my senses.