Chapter 1

As the only daughter of the Rossi family, I had three exceptional men handpicked and raised by my mother as potential husbands.

Once, they had gone to extraordinary lengths to win my affection. One bought me a centuries-old watchtower on the Sicilian coast. Another presented me with a one-of-a-kind black diamond ring.

Then Blair, the daughter of our longtime butler, returned from boarding school, and all three men became obsessed with her.

They adored her kindness, her innocence, and her delicate nature. Meanwhile, they condemned me for the coldness and ruthlessness I had developed after growing up in a world of blood and violence.

Once they had broken my heart beyond repair, I washed my hands of the three ungrateful bastards and agreed to marry Vito Capello, the Don of the Capello family, who had been left in a vegetative state.

The news shattered their pride.

What I couldn’t understand was why they still thought I was playing hard to get—even after I became Vito’s Donna.

“Have you lost your mind? You’re marrying a vegetable just to spite us?”

Raphael kicked open the dressing room door.

His face was livid, his outrage edged with disbelief as though I had no right to choose a man other than one of them.

Matteo and Luca stood behind him, one on either side, staring at me as though I were throwing another tantrum and waiting for them to stop me.

I stood before the full-length mirror, adjusting my black lace gloves without so much as glancing up.

“I haven’t lost my mind,” I said calmly. “My mother has already approved the match. In four weeks, Vito Capello and I will make our engagement official.”

“Alia Rossi!”

Raphael stormed forward and clamped a hand around my wrist, squeezing hard enough to grind the bones together.

“All because Blair accidentally touched one of your designer gowns, you went crying to your mother and had our shares in the family businesses taken away. Now you’re threatening to marry some half-dead man wasting away in bed?” His grip tightened. “Stop this, Alia. You may be angry with us, but you would never turn both yourself and the Rossi family over to a stranger. You’ve spent your whole life knowing you would marry one of us.”

Pain shot through my wrist, but it was nothing compared to the ache in my chest.

My father had died young, leaving my mother in sole control of the Rossi family.

Determined to secure my future, she brought Raphael, Matteo, and Luca into the family and raised them to become worthy contenders for my hand.

Once, they would have done anything to make me smile.

Raphael bought a centuries-old watchtower on the Sicilian coast. Matteo gave me a one-of-a-kind black diamond ring. Luca handed me a stake in one of the family’s most important auction houses.

Then Blair arrived, and everything changed.

She was fragile and sweet, all wide eyes and trembling smiles. It took almost no effort for her to wrap all three men around her finger.

To them, Blair was an innocent girl who needed to be protected at all costs.

I was the woman they had known all their lives: strong, sharp-tempered, and hopelessly devoted to them. They mistook that devotion for something permanent, something they could wound without ever losing.

I looked into Raphael’s once-familiar face and felt the last trace of warmth inside me die. I raised my free hand and slapped him across the face with all my strength.

“Remember your place, Raphael.” My eyes burned, but my voice remained glacial. “Once Vito and I are married and I take over the family, I’ll give all three of you generous severance packages. Take the money, take Blair, and get the hell out of the Rossi family. I never want to see any of you again.”

“You don’t mean that,” Matteo snarled.

Matteo lunged forward with a roar and shoved me violently to the floor.

My back slammed into the corner of an ornate mahogany cabinet.

A bolt of agony tore through me, bringing tears to my eyes.

“After everything we’ve done for you, you think you can throw us out like servants?” Matteo spat. “Come on, guys. We’re leaving the Rossi family today. Let’s see how long this hollow empire lasts without us out there risking our necks for it!”

He threatened to walk away, clearly expecting me to panic and beg them to stay.

But Luca, always the most levelheaded of the three, grabbed his arm.

The men exchanged looks, and an awkward silence settled over the room.

Leave the family?

They would never dare.

They loved the Rossi family’s staggering wealth and influence far too much. More importantly, they would never make their precious Blair endure a life without luxury.

Matteo’s expression shifted several times before he finally spat on the floor and stormed away.

I lay on the cold floor and let out a bitter laugh.