All Chapters of They Sacrificed Me for Her: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Sicily had an old custom. When a daughter of one of the families turned 18, she designed a piece of jewelry herself, and on Christmas Day it was sent to New York to be auctioned.Whoever outbid the whole room for it would be the man she married.For years, Sicily had held on to the last of its old glory through that ritual.I designed a pair of diamond cufflinks set with the letter L for Luca Moretti, my childhood friend, who had just moved to New York. But Vincent DeLuca, the Don, won them.Vincent said he hadn't known who they were meant for. He'd simply fallen for me at first sight.Everyone said marrying Vincent had saved me. The Bellini family was barely hanging on, while the DeLuca family ran the busiest ports and casinos on the East Coast and never had to do its own dirty work.After the wedding, Vincent was wonderful to me.When I first got to New York, people made fun of my Sicilian accent. So Vincent taught himself Italian, and after that, nobody dared laugh.No matter how la

First thing the next morning, I went to the records office. But once the registrar heard why I'd come, he gave me a strange look."Ms. Bellini, I'm afraid there's no marriage here to dissolve.""What do you mean?"The registrar slid a file across the desk to me."Back then, Don DeLuca only filed a temporary declaration of marriage with the Commission. There's no certificate with the joint seal of the Five Families, so... the marriage was never actually valid.""So I was never officially the Donna?"A young clerk beside him hesitated, then spoke up quietly."That's right. I remember the day Don DeLuca came in with the paperwork. The chairman asked him why he didn't just finish the whole process. He said it could wait until Mr. Moretti and Ms. Russo were engaged."I let out a short laugh. So every time someone had called me Donna over the past two years, I'd been the only one who believed it.Vincent had never let anyone look down on me at a party. When my father was seriously ill, he pu

Sophia's voice was thick with tears.I gritted my teeth, turned around, and ran back anyway.The smoke stung so badly I couldn't keep my eyes open. I pulled off my jacket, pressed it over my nose and mouth, knelt beside the steel beam pinning her calf, and heaved with all my strength.A cramp tore through my belly, and my arms wouldn't stop shaking. Finally, the beam lifted a little, and Sophia yanked her leg free."Go!"I grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the door.We were almost out when a burning steel frame overhead came crashing down. It clipped my right shoulder, and the red-hot metal burned straight through my clothes. The pain spread from there across my whole back.I stumbled, but I kept a tight grip on Sophia and got us both out of the fire.Several black SUVs screeched to a stop outside the warehouse.Vincent jumped out with his men and reached us in a few strides.Sophia instantly shook off my hand and threw herself into his arms."Vincent!"Vincent held her tight and

When the three days were over, Vincent finally showed up. He took me from the port control room to a safe house out in the middle of nowhere.He cut away the gauze stuck to my wound himself, then had a doctor re-dress the burn on my right shoulder.When the antiseptic touched the wound, I shook with pain.He immediately pressed my face into his chest and murmured to me, his voice as gentle as it had always been. "You've been through so much. Thank you for what you did for Sophia."I went stiff and wanted to push him away, but I had no strength left."The Commission still hasn't calmed down. Rest here for a few days. As soon as Sophia's engagement is registered, I'll bring you back to the main house.""Why can't I stay somewhere closer to home?"Out here, I'd be cut off from everything."The people from the port are still making trouble. I'm afraid they'll sneak onto the estate and hurt you." He bent and kissed my forehead. "This is the safest place. I've asked Anna to stay with you. Sh

By the time Anna was brought into the study, a bandage wrapped around her head, Vincent's men had already checked the travel records for every airport and dock in New York.No one had found Victoria."Where did she go?""I don't know." Anna looked up at him. "Ms. Bellini knocked me out before she left. I couldn't stop her. All she left were a few words. She said her marriage to you was never official, and that a DeLuca lapdog like me should let her go. And she said... that you killed her baby, Don, and that it's completely over between you. If she ever sees a DeLuca man anywhere near her, she'll throw herself into the sea."Vincent blanched."She... how did she know?""One night after she lost the baby, she seemed off. The next day, she went to the Commission and found out."Which meant Victoria had known all along... known he'd ordered the abortion, and known their marriage had never been properly registered.And after that, she'd still drunk the soup he brought her, carried his seal