All Chapters of A Rose Owes No Allegiance: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

A knock sounded at the study door."Bella?" Luca called. "Why is it taking so long to copy the security files?"His voice was as warm as ever.I pulled out the flash drive and cleared the screen. When I stood, my stomach clenched so hard that I had to brace myself against the desk."I'm done."The hallway outside was crowded with D'Angelo soldiers checking weapons and clearing guest vehicles. Luca took the drive and asked why I looked so pale.I stared at the crest on his cuff and remembered that, ten years ago, he had been the loudest voice against bringing Sofia home.Her stepfather had gambled away everything he owned, then offered her to smugglers at the old port to settle the balance. I had gone to Sicily with Papa's men, paid the debt, and brought her back to New York.She spoke almost no English, so I tutored her every day. When society women laughed at her, I taught her how to use every piece of silverware on a formal table, how to dance, and how to move through a room full of

Every conversation in the chapel died when the doors opened.Alessandro stood at the end of the aisle with the silver Moretti crest pinned to his jacket. He looked at me and gave the room the gentle smile everyone expected.Only when I drew closer did I see that his gaze kept slipping over my shoulder to Sofia.Papa placed my hand in Alessandro's, but he did not release it immediately."Take care of her," he said."On the honor of the Moretti family," Alessandro replied without hesitation.The priest began the vows. At the side of the altar, our advisers opened the truce agreement. Once Alessandro and I completed the ceremony, the D'Angelos and Morettis would control the southern harbor together, and the old blood debt would be declared settled."Alessandro Moretti, do you take—"A choked retch came from behind me.Sofia covered her mouth and staggered into an arrangement of lilies. The vase shattered. All the color drained from her face."Sofia!"Alessandro tore his hand from mine and

Before the cabin door closed, I used the last five minutes the research team allowed me to make one call.Gabriel Leone answered on the first ring.He controlled the Leone family, but I knew him through the Leone Medical Foundation, which funded two of Aurora Seven's laboratories. Two years earlier, he had offered to build a neuropharmacology unit around my research. I had turned him down because Papa had been wounded and my wedding was approaching."Isabella," he said. "Aren't you supposed to be getting married today?""The ceremony is over."Rain streaked the runway beyond my window. My voice sounded distant, as though I were describing someone else's life."You once said the laboratory would remain open to me. Did you mean it?"There was a brief silence."Every word," Gabriel said. "Finish Aurora Seven first. When the program releases you, you will have your own research team in New York.""There is one more thing."I sent him the encrypted file I had prepared in the anteroom. It co

My speech lasted twelve minutes.When the room rose to applaud, I saw Papa standing in the front row.Mamma was crying beside him.Luca did not look away from the stage.Alessandro stood at the back with his hands clenched at his sides, as if the distance between us required physical restraint.Sofia was gone.I found her ten minutes later in the private reception room. She had removed the emerald brooch and was holding it so tightly that the pin had cut her palm."You planned this," she said.The softness had disappeared from her voice."You came back with a title and a room full of people praising you. You made them look at me as if I stole something.""You did."She flinched."I gave you ten years of my life. I defended you when no one else wanted you in New York. You answered by wearing my dress to marry my fiancé.""He married me because I was carrying his child.""Was he?"The door opened behind us.Alessandro entered first, followed by Mamma, Luca, Gabriel, and Papa. Matteo was

The annulment became public within a week.So did Sofia's confession.The paternity test confirmed what the recordings already proved: Alessandro was not Matteo's father.Sofia was charged with fraud, extortion, falsifying records, and conspiring with the hotel employee who had staged the photographs. Her former lover returned to New York after investigators froze the account she had used to pay him.Matteo remained protected by the trust Alessandro had created.When a reporter asked why he would support a child who was not his, Alessandro gave the only decent answer he had offered in years."A six-year-old did not deceive me. The adults did."It proved only that he had finally learned not to punish the weakest person in the room.Mamma suffered a cardiac episode the morning Sofia was arrested.My assistant brought me the hospital message during a dosage review.I saw Mamma holding honeyed water to Sofia's lips while blood soaked through my bouquet ribbon.I went to see her after work.