Chapter 2 2

Isabella POV

I stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room, watching the black armored Cadillac V-16 idle on Fifth Avenue before merging into the night like a predator. The penthouse was suffocatingly silent.

Marta, the housekeeper, approached with hesitant steps. "The Underboss said you shouldn't wait for them to dine, *Signora*(Madam)."

I waved her away without a word. The silence of this gilded cage was crushing my lungs. I couldn't stay here. My feet moved on their own, driven by a masochistic need to witness the execution of my marriage.

The October wind bit through my coat as I stood in the shadows of a thick sycamore tree across from Ristorante Belladonna. Through the restaurant's bulletproof glass, the scene was framed like a Renaissance painting of betrayal.

Adriana wore a blood-red sequined dress that caught the candlelight. She leaned over the table, feeding Elena a spoonful of gelato, gently wiping a smudge of cream from my daughter's mouth with a linen napkin. Dante, the ruthless Underboss of the Moretti family, watched them. He wore an indulgent, soft smile-a look he had never once directed at me. They were the perfect family. I was the ghost haunting the glass.

I retreated into a dark alley just as the private phone in my handbag rang. I answered it, my fingers numb.

"Isabella," Adriana's sickly sweet voice purred through the receiver. "Elena wants to say hello."

A rustle, then my daughter's bright, excited voice pierced my ear. "Auntie Adriana is the best! She let me have two ice creams! Mommy is mean, she always makes me eat broccoli!"

In the background, Dante's deep chuckle rumbled. "There's no *Vendetta*(revenge) on vegetables tonight, *Principessa*(Princess)."

The sacred word of our world, the absolute law of blood and retaliation, used as a casual joke to mock my mothering. Bile rose in my throat. I hung up the phone. The woman who had tried to be a good Mafia wife died in that alley.

I fled back to the penthouse, my mind terrifyingly clear.

I walked straight into Dante's study, the nerve center of the Moretti empire. It smelled of aged whiskey, leather, and his arrogant certainty. I swung open the oil painting of Sicily to reveal the heavy steel safe. He thought I was oblivious, but I was *Spettro*. I spun the dial to the date he had so easily forgotten: 10-14.

The heavy bolts clicked open. I ignored the stacks of cash and blood ledgers, reaching into the hidden compartment at the back. I pulled out two items. The first was the blood oath parchment of our arranged marriage, written in old Italian. The second was a heavy, coded token bearing the Falcone crest-the key to my hidden assets and my intelligence network.

I uncapped a fountain pen from his desk and slashed a violent, tearing line straight through my signature on the parchment. The hostage was free.

Leaving the study, I walked into Elena's bedroom. I stepped over the tacky plush toys Adriana had bought her and picked up the intricate mechanical model I had purchased-a symbol of Falcone intellect. I carried it out to the marble hallway and dropped it down the brass trash chute without a second glance.

The elevator chimed, and Leo, the doorman, stepped out looking uncomfortable. "A messenger brought this for you, ma'am."

I took the folded note.

*Happy Birthday, sister. Thank you for giving me your husband, your daughter, and the spotlight. I hope you aren't too lonely.*

Every word was a calculated strike, confirming she knew exactly what today was. I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I walked over to the console table and violently yanked the main telephone cord from its socket.