Chapter 1 No.1

Isabella POV

The armored Cadillac came to a halt, the heavy tires crunching against the gravel like bones snapping under pressure. Through the tinted glass, the Moretti estate loomed against the gray Chicago sky-a gothic fortress of dark stone and iron, devoid of warmth. It didn't look like a home; it looked like a prison built for giants.

I didn't wait for the driver. I pushed the heavy door open and stepped out into the biting wind, smoothing the skirt of my dress. My grandfather, Don Gilberto Falcone, had taught me that a Falcone never cowers, especially not when walking into the lion's den.

The massive oak doors swung open, revealing a foyer that smelled of lemon polish and cold ambition. Standing in the center, flanked by two nervous maids, was a woman who could only be Erica Moretti. She wore her age like armor, her face pulled tight in a permanent expression of disdain.

"So," she said, her eyes raking over me as if I were a stray dog that had wandered onto her pristine marble floors. "The girl from New York."

"Isabella Falcone," I corrected smoothly, stepping inside.

Erica didn't blink. She snapped her fingers. "Clean her. I won't have the filth of that city-or her family-contaminating my son's home."

One of the maids stepped forward, wielding a spray bottle of industrial disinfectant like a weapon. Before I could process the absurdity, a mist of chemical stench hit me. It stung my eyes and clung to my skin.

Rage, hot and sharp, flared in my chest, but I forced my face to remain a mask of ice. When the maid reached for my hair, intending to douse my curls, I moved.

My hand shot out, clamping around the maid's wrist with a grip honed by years of self-defense training. The bottle rattled in her shaking hand. The foyer went silent.

I turned my gaze slowly to Erica. "In New York, we only do this to rats before we dispose of them." I released the maid, who stumbled back, terrified. "But I suppose there are some things, like stupidity, that no amount of chemicals can wash away, Signora Moretti."

Erica's face turned a mottled shade of purple, her lips parting in shock. I didn't give her the chance to recover. I brushed past her, my heels clicking rhythmically against the stone, claiming the space as my own.

I found the parlor adjacent to the foyer. It was a museum of a room, filled with gilded furniture that looked too expensive to touch. Sitting on a velvet settee was a girl about my age, with dark hair and eyes that held a glimmer of malice.

Cristina Moretti. Vincenzo's "cousin."

She gasped theatrically, covering her mouth with a manicured hand. "Oh my god. Is it true? You took the train?" She let out a tinkling, cruel laugh. "I thought the Falcones were struggling, but I didn't realize you couldn't afford a plane ticket. Or do they not have airports in New York?"

She looked at me with pity, expecting shame.

I almost laughed. These Chicago nouveaux riches had no idea. My grandfather hadn't just bought me a ticket; he had chartered an entire private Pullman railcar, complete with a personal chef and a velvet-lined stateroom. It was a mode of travel reserved for kings and the old guard, a level of luxury that private jets couldn't replicate.

But lions do not explain themselves to sheep.

I looked at her as if she were a piece of uninteresting furniture. "I prefer to see the country I'm about to conquer," I said simply, then turned my back on her.

The silence behind me was heavy with her humiliation. I walked toward the grand staircase, needing to escape the suffocating air of the ground floor.

I was halfway up the stairs when Cristina appeared beside me, her footsteps silent on the plush runner. Her face was composed now, a mask of sugary sweetness plastered over her earlier venom.

"I apologize," she said, her voice dripping with false sincerity. "We got off on the wrong foot. Let me show you to your room. Vincenzo wanted you to have the best suite."

I hesitated, eyeing her. But I was tired, and the estate was a labyrinth.

She led me down a long, dimly lit corridor on the second floor. The walls were lined with paintings of violent hunts-hounds tearing into stags. At the very end of the hall stood a heavy, dark oak door. It had no handle, only a brass keyhole, and it radiated a strange, imposing energy.

"Right there," Cristina whispered, pointing. "Go on. Make yourself at home."

I nodded, gripping the handle of my suitcase. "Thank you."

I pushed the heavy door open. It swung inward silently on well-oiled hinges.

As I stepped across the threshold, the air changed instantly. The room was freezing, smelling of expensive whiskey, gun oil, and raw, masculine power. It didn't feel like a guest room. It felt like the inside of a predator's lung.

Behind me, I heard the soft click of the door closing, sealing me inside the darkness.