Chapter 1 1

The air tasted of salt, rotting fish, and my own blood.

I had been chained to this rusted mooring bollard on the abandoned Brooklyn pier for three days. The rough iron bit into my wrists, slick with grime and the freezing spray of the East River, but the pain in my limbs was nothing compared to the agonizing fire in my throat.

Ten years. For a decade, I was a ghost. On the eve of our bloodiest war with the Irish Mob, my father, Marco Falcone, deliberately shattered his own leg to avoid the front lines. To save his neck from The Commission, he shoved me-his fourteen-year-old daughter-into my dead twin brother's clothes. I became Angelo Falcone. I became the family's most feared Enforcer, carving out our bootlegging empire on a mountain of corpses. I was Falcone's Avenging Angel.

But power is a disease, and my family was terminally infected.

When the war ended, I came home expecting to finally take off the tailored suits and be Anya again. Instead, I found my grave already dug. Marco had taken the Underboss seat, a title bought entirely with my blood. My mother, Isabela, was parading my adopted sister, Sofia, around high society as the "grieving sister of the heroic Angelo," grooming her for a strategic marriage alliance with the Romano family.

They demanded I disappear. A woman operating as a made man was a violation of our sacred code. If The Commission found out, we would all be executed. So, they stole my life.

I tried to fight it. At Marco's promotion dinner, I saw my only chance: Donatella Romano, the shrewd matriarch of the Romano clan. I approached her, desperate to whisper the truth. But Isabela intercepted me, her manicured claws digging into my arm. *"Forgive my daughter, Donatella,"* she had said, her voice dripping with fake pity. *"Grief over her brother has made her hysterical."*

That night, my punishment for speaking up was delivered in the soundproofed basement. My younger brother, Leo, didn't just beat me. With the help of two Soldiers, he forced a metal funnel past my teeth and poured a corrosive chemical down my throat. My vocal cords dissolved into blistered ruin. My voice-my last weapon against their lies-was gone.

The low, menacing growl of a Duesenberg engine pulled me back to the freezing present.

The gleaming black car parked near the edge of the pier, a stark contrast to the bruised purple sky and the desolate docks. Leo stepped out, adjusting the cuffs of his expensive suit. A crowd of dockworkers, street thugs, and low-level Associates had already gathered. These were men who used to bow their heads in reverence when "Angelo" walked past. Now, they looked at me with pure contempt.

Leo stood before them, pointing a finger at my shivering, rag-clad body.

"Look at her!" Leo shouted, his voice echoing over the churning water. He played the part of the righteous, grieving brother perfectly. "This rat, this insane, jealous bitch, tried to steal my brother's glory! She stood in front of our guests and spit on Angelo's grave, claiming his victories as her own!"

The crowd muttered, their faces twisting with disgust. They revered the legend of Angelo Falcone. They hated me for tarnishing his ghost. The irony tasted like ash on my ruined tongue.

Leo unbuckled his thick leather belt, wrapping the end around his knuckles. He didn't hesitate.

The heavy brass buckle slashed across my back, tearing through my ruined clothes and biting deep into my flesh. I jerked against the heavy chains, a ragged, silent gasp tearing from my destroyed throat. I couldn't even scream.

"For Angelo!" Leo roared, bringing the belt down again.

Blood dripped onto the slick wooden planks. The crowd, incited by Leo's performance, surged forward. A jagged rock struck my temple, sending a warm trickle of crimson down my cheek. A broken beer bottle shattered against my ribs. Garbage and curses rained down on me as I slumped against the cold iron bollard.

My public identity was dead. My body was broken. As the dark storm clouds finally broke, unleashing a freezing downpour over the East River, I closed my eyes, letting the rain wash the blood from my skin, knowing it would never wash the hatred from my soul.