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Chapter 1

"You're angry?" Matteo looked down at me for a moment. He didn't lose his temper. He just sighed and took my trembling fist. "Celia, the port is too easy. It'll make you soft."His thumb stroked the back of my hand, over and over."Those thugs in the slums only answer to you. Chloe wouldn't last one night down there. Do you want to watch her die?"I looked at the face I'd known for 12 years, and my chest went cold.He always put Chloe first.On his birthday, Chloe threw him a huge party, so he had to cancel our date.When I had a fever, Chloe happened to land in the hospital with an allergic reaction, so Matteo and Uncle Enzo had to stay with her all night.The worst time was my birthday.Matteo promised to have dinner with me. Instead, he left me waiting at Dante's for six hours.At midnight, his right-hand man, Michael Bruno, finally showed up to apologize for him, with a diamond bracelet and some excuse about "business trouble."The next morning, I saw a photo in the gossip column.

Chapter 2

The next day, Matteo said he wanted to make it up to me. He opened a safe at the back of the vault and slid a velvet box toward me."Every Donna in the Morandi family has worn this ring. It's one of a kind." He took my hand, looking guilty. "I'm sorry about the port. I owe you.""Matteo!" Chloe appeared in the doorway of the vault, clutching a gold-embossed invitation."The assembly speaker and two senators have agreed to come to my show next month. But the curator says I don't have anything impressive enough to be the centerpiece." She bit her lip, her voice trailing off. "If it flops, how am I supposed to show my face in that crowd again?"Matteo's eyes landed on the pink diamond in front of me.He glanced at me and rubbed the back of my hand. Then, after a moment's hesitation, he pushed the velvet box toward Chloe."Take it for the show. It'll keep those politicians staring all night."Then he turned to me, looking utterly sincere."Celia, you don't want a rock like this getting in

Chapter 3

Matteo looked grim.I hung up and kept my voice steady. "Wedding security. The Rossetti family has been moving a lot of men along the coast lately. I don't want our enemies finding a way in."His brow eased, but the tension never left his face."About the ring... You shouldn't have treated Chloe like that."The sound of breaking glass downstairs cut him off.Chloe's bodyguard ran up the stairs. "Don, Ms. Serra can't breathe. Her hands and feet are ice cold, and she can't speak."Matteo's face tightened.I grabbed him with one hand and pressed the other to my throbbing lower back. Fragments from the bullet I'd taken for him were still lodged there. Every now and then, they made the old wound flare up."Help me." I pressed my lips together. It hurt too much to say anything else."Celia?" Suspicion crossed Matteo's face.His brow knitted tight, and he let out a weary sigh."Even if you're upset about the ring, you don't need to pull a cheap stunt to compete with Chloe," he said quietly, l

Chapter 4

Early on the morning of the wedding, I strapped a pistol to my hip.The bulletproof lining inside my dark red dress pressed against the old wound on my back, and every step pulled at it.Downstairs, Matteo was going over the press list for Chloe's art show.He bent and kissed my forehead. His lips were as soft and warm as ever."I'm taking Chloe to the gallery to set up. After the private dinner with the senator, I'll head straight to the ceremony."My back gave a twinge, and my heart ached a little."My wound bled again last night."Matteo stopped flipping through the list.He looked up at me, then toward my back beneath the dress. His face hardened."Has a doctor looked at it?""Yes," I said. "It's nothing serious.""Every time you say it's nothing, it's something."He closed the list and turned to the guard behind him. "Get my doctor. I want her checked again before the wedding."Then he turned back to me. "That's an order.""What about the ceremony?" I asked. "Won't that hold thing

Chapter 5

Matteo's POV:"Where is she?"A few minutes later, Matteo and his men stormed into the wrecked banquet hall.Michael ran up to him, covered in blood. Matteo grabbed him by the collar."Don, Celia's been shot. It was chaos in here, and now she's gone..."Matteo cut him off. "Where was she hit?""Left shoulder."Matteo let go. His gaze swept past the overturned tables and chairs and landed on the head table. The ivory veil lay crumpled among the broken glass, blood staining its fine handmade lace.For a moment, he couldn't breathe."Seal the exits. Search the whole estate." Matteo's voice shook with rage.Michael hurried after him, breathless. "Don, what happens when we find her? What if she won't come back with you?"Matteo stopped.The hallway went silent.Michael lowered his voice, looking guilty. "I told you the hall was under attack and people were hurt. You said Chloe was terrified and you couldn't leave.""I didn't know she'd get shot." Matteo's voice was hoarse. He could barely f

Chapter 6

Celia's POV:Three months after leaving Sicily, I had my own flower shop in Malta. Every day, the place smelled of lavender, soil, and fresh grass.When I first got to Malta, I couldn't even lift a bucket of water.The shop's former owner watched me trim stems every day and showed me every trick there was, until I learned how to make flowers thrive. I loved taking care of them. As long as I put my heart into it, they paid me back in fragrance.Now the shop had orders lined up into next month.The wind chime over the door jingled.My new friend, Lucia Vella, pushed through the door and slapped an order form down on the counter. "The hospital wants 20 more bouquets next week."Her brother, Luca Vella, came in behind her with a bright smile.I'd known them both almost as long as I'd lived on the island.I wasn't sure when it started, but Luca had begun bringing me little things: coffee with no sugar, my favorite tuna sandwich, pink myrtle from who knew where.Every time, his ears turned b

Chapter 7

Celia's POV:That afternoon, Matteo showed up at the door again.He saw Luca off to one side, trimming stems like he'd done it a hundred times, and jealousy and hurt flashed across his face."What exactly is he to you?"I scoffed and set down the watering can. "What does that have to do with you people going through my books?"Matteo's voice dropped. "I've already warned Enzo. He won't contact the old owner again. But I need to talk to you alone."He glanced at Luca. The look told him to leave.But Luca didn't back down. He didn't make the decision for me, either. He just leaned down and asked gently, "Do you want me to stay?"He'd done it again.It still moved me that Luca left the choice entirely in my hands.So my voice did matter.I nodded without a word.Luca's rough, warm palm brushed the top of my head. Then he quietly stepped aside to sort the flowers.Matteo watched me lean so easily on Luca, and his breathing grew heavier.Matteo stepped closer and reached for the baby's brea

Chapter 8

Celia's POV:I went pale, grabbed my jacket, and ran out.Luca followed me, frowning. "I'm coming with you. Your shoulder isn't completely healed. Don't push it."Before I could argue, he draped a heavy coat over my shoulders, careful to avoid the injured one.When we reached the docks, the sea wind was salty and biting. The old sailors knelt there with their hands tied behind their backs. Jack was pinned down too, shaking all over. I couldn't tell whether it was from cold or fear.Uncle Enzo saw me get out of the car and raised a hand. His men loosened the ropes."Celia, it's time to come home.""So you're using them to threaten me?" I laughed in sheer fury.An engine roared at the edge of the docks.It was Matteo.His face was gray and grim. He'd clearly just found out what Uncle Enzo was doing behind his back and had come to stop it."Enzo!" His voice was ice. "Let them go."Uncle Enzo slammed his cane on the ground. His voice carried a new menace. "Don Morandi, the marriage between

Chapter 9

Matteo's POV:Matteo returned to his apartment and took the ivory lace veil from a drawer. The blood on it had dried long ago.He remembered Celia at 14, hiding by the kitchen's back door and gnawing on cold bread. In a moment of pity, he'd handed her a slice of toast, but she'd told him, "I don't take food for free. I can work for you."Then came that night at North Harbor, when she'd thrown herself in front of a bullet for him. Her bright red blood ran down her lower back and into his hands.And she still screamed at him, "Don't look back. Keep running."On her birthday, he was sitting at the opera house when she texted, "I ordered your favorite. Take your time."But he'd had to stay. Chloe wasn't the only one there. The high-ranking Italian police officials who'd worked with the Morandi family for years were there too, along with the man who controlled the Mediterranean shipping routes and an arms supplier from Southeast Asia...Back then, she'd loved him so much. He was all she cou

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