Chapter 3

As I was leaving the estate, I found them under the archway of the outer gate, Rocco escorting Esmeralda to her car.

He looked at me with undisguised contempt.

"I told you I would never marry you. At least you saved yourself the humiliation today."

He took a step closer, his voice low, as if bestowing a great favor.

"If you have second thoughts, after Esmeralda and I are married, maybe I can talk my mother into setting you up in an apartment. You'll be taken care of, of course, but you won't have the rights of a wife. I've already promised Esmeralda—only she will bear my children."

Esmeralda leaned against him, her cheeks flushed.

"Rocco, please don't be like this," she whispered, though she made no move to pull her hand from his.

Then she looked at me, her gaze timid and calculating.

"Riona, I never meant to cause any harm. I just wanted to make my own choice, for once. You won't hold it against me, will you?"

Rocco pulled her closer.

"Don't worry about it. As long as I'm here, no one will dare oppose you. You will be the matriarch of this family one day, and everyone—including Riona—will bow to you."

I looked at Rocco’s face, and the memory of another lifetime cut through me—the day he ordered my family purged for Esmeralda Rossi, the day he signed my death warrant. It was a wound so sharp I couldn't bear to touch it, even now.

This time, I would protect everyone I loved. History would not repeat itself.

Without the alliance my marriage would have cemented—without the ports, the influence, and the Boston loyalty my name commanded—did he really think he could just inherit Chicago?

Did he think the title of Don would simply fall into his lap?

Esmeralda Rossi was soon officially accepted as the heir's intended, and overnight she became the most talked-about woman in the Chicago underworld. The daughter of a low-level dealer ascending to the highest echelons caused the daughters of the great families to barely conceal their fury.

In drawing rooms and private clubs, the whispers were constant.

"Riona, the heir went too far. A dealer's daughter as his legitimate bride?"

"You grew up with him. To cast aside years of affection so easily—how could he?"

"I heard Esmeralda was never kind to her father's other children. What does the heir even see in her?"

What did he see in her?

He had once told me, with utter sincerity, "Esmeralda is untouched by the ambitions of this family. She is pure, untainted. She isn't calculating and grasping like the rest of you."

"I love her precisely because she isn't moved by status or wealth."

I smiled faintly at the memory.

Good.

Let's see how long that purity lasts when faced with real power.