Chapter 1

I was arranging lilies for my engagement party when the hospital called. A dog bite, they said.

My fiancé, Salvatore Moretti, was supposed to be in Chicago on business. But he answered my frantic call from a ski slope in Aspen, with the sound of my best friend, Sofia, laughing in the background.

He told me not to worry, that my mother's injury was just a scratch. But when I got to the hospital, I learned it was Sofia's unvaccinated Doberman that had attacked my diabetic mother. I texted Sal that her kidneys were failing, that they might have to amputate.

His only reply: "Sofia is hysterical. She feels terrible. Calm her down for me, okay?"

Hours later, Sofia posted a photo of Sal kissing her on a ski lift. The next call I got was from the doctor, telling me my mother's heart had stopped.

She died alone, while the man who swore to protect me was on a romantic vacation with the woman whose dog killed her. The rage inside me wasn't hot; it turned into a block of ice.

I didn't drive back to the penthouse he gave me. I went to my mother's empty house and made a call I hadn't made in fifteen years. To my estranged father, a man whose name was a ghost story in Salvatore's world: Don Matteo Costello.

"I'm coming home," I told him.

My vendetta wouldn't be one of blood. It would be one of erasure. I would dismantle my life here and disappear so completely, it would be as if I had never existed.

Chapter 1

Adriana "Ria" Rossi POV:

The hospital's call came while I was arranging flowers for my engagement party; a dog bite, they said. An hour later, my fiancé's laughter echoed from a ski slope in Aspen, telling me not to worry while my mother was dying.

The scent of lilies was thick, almost suffocating, filling the pristine white apartment Salvatore Moretti provided for me. I was trimming the stems of a new bouquet, the crisp snap of green under the shears a satisfying, rhythmic sound in the quiet. Everything in my life was about rhythm, about maintaining the perfect, placid surface expected of the future wife of the Moretti Family's heir.

My phone buzzed on the marble countertop, an unfamiliar number flashing on the screen. I wiped my damp hands on my jeans before answering.

"Hello?"

"Is this Adriana Rossi?" a crisp, professional voice asked.

"Yes, this is she."

"Ms. Rossi? It's St. Michael's. There's been an incident with your mother, Elena."

The shears slipped from my grasp, clattering loudly against the floor.

A cold, sharp feeling, like swallowing glass, shot through my stomach.

"What incident? What's happened?" I demanded, my voice tight.

"She was brought in with a severe laceration to her leg. A dog bite. We need you to come down as soon as you can."

My keys. I needed my keys. I grabbed my purse, my mind racing. A dog bite? My mother was terrified of dogs. She wouldn't have gone near one. It had to be a stray, a freak accident.

My first instinct, my trained instinct after five years in this world, was to call Salvatore. He was my rock, my protector, the man who would be the next *Capo di tutti capi*, the boss of all bosses. His power was a shield, and right now, I needed it.

He answered on the fourth ring, the sound of wind whipping in the background.

"Ria? Everything okay, baby?"

"Sal, it's Mom," I said, my words tumbling out in a panicked rush. "She's at St. Michael's. She's been bitten by a dog."

A familiar laugh, tinkling and high-pitched like shattered glass, echoed faintly down the line. Sofia. My best friend. My heart twisted.

"Whoa, slow down," Sal said, his voice laced with the condescending calm he used when I was being 'emotional'. "Bitten by a dog? I'm sure it's just a scratch."

"They said it was severe. St. Michael's... that's the family clinic, Sal. It's serious." The Morettis didn't use public hospitals. They had their own facilities, discreet and efficient, for handling the... occupational hazards of their business. For my mother to be there meant it wasn't a minor issue.

"That's on the other side of the city," he complained, a note of irritation in his voice. "What was she doing over there?"

"I don't know. I'm going there now."

He sighed, a sound I knew meant he was consulting someone else. "Sofia says we can't get a flight out until morning. The snow is coming down hard."

Snow. He had told me he was going to a business conference in Chicago. A quick, two-day trip to secure a new distribution line for his legitimate façade, the Moretti Shipping empire.

My voice came out as a whisper. "You're in Aspen?"

"Yeah, baby, the deal in Chicago closed early. Sofia convinced me to take a break. We deserved it." His tone was light, carefree.

A cold dread, heavy and suffocating, settled in my chest. He was skiing. With her. While my mother was in a hospital.

"Sal, she's in the hospital." I repeated the words, hoping they would somehow penetrate his blissful vacation.

"I know, and I'll be back as soon as I can. What do you want me to do from here, Ria? I can't exactly stop a blizzard." His logic was cold, unassailable, and utterly devoid of comfort.

I said nothing. I couldn't.

"Look," he sighed, the sound crackling with impatience. "Call my driver. He'll take you. Keep me updated. Sofia is waving me over, we're about to do the black diamond run."

He hung up. The line went dead, leaving only the sound of my own ragged breathing.

Sofia. She was there. Of course, she was.

The drive was a blur of traffic and rain-slicked streets. I found my mother in a sterile, private room, a grim-faced doctor standing by her bed.

"Ms. Rossi," he began, his eyes tired. "Your mother's wound is deep."

"What happened? What dog was it?"

The doctor hesitated, looking down at his chart. "According to the woman who was with her, your mother startled the dog. A Doberman. It belongs to a Ms. Sofia Ricci."

The world tilted. The air left my lungs in a single, silent gasp. Sofia's dog. Caesar.

"The dog wasn't vaccinated," the doctor continued, his voice low. "We're concerned about infection, especially given your mother's history."

My blood ran cold. "She's diabetic." The words were barely a whisper.

His face grew serious. "That complicates things significantly. We'll have to monitor her very closely for any signs of sepsis."

My hands began to shake. I knew that dog. Caesar had a history. He'd snapped at a caterer at one of Sofia's parties last year. Sofia had laughed it off, saying the man had provoked him. She swore the dog was perfectly trained.

I sat by my mother's bed, her hand cool in mine. She was pale, her breathing shallow. She stirred, her eyes fluttering open.

"Ria, honey," she murmured. "It was an accident. Caesar didn't mean it."

Even now, she was protecting them. Protecting my future.

My phone buzzed with a text from Sal. `How is she?`

My thumbs trembled as I typed. `It was Sofia's dog. He wasn't vaccinated. Mom is diabetic, they're worried about sepsis.`

The three dots appeared, disappeared, then reappeared. A minute passed.

Finally, a message came through. `Sofia is hysterical. She feels terrible. Calm her down for me when you see her, okay? She's very sensitive.`

I stared at the words, a slow, burning rage building in my chest. He was worried about Sofia.

I didn't reply.

For the next twenty-four hours, I didn't leave my mother's side. Her fever spiked. The doctors started talking about septic shock. I tried calling Sal again, but it went straight to voicemail.

`Her kidneys are failing. They might have to amputate.` I left the message, my voice cracking.

No response.

That night, scrolling numbly through my phone, I saw it. A picture Sofia had posted an hour ago. It was a selfie of her and Sal on a ski lift, their faces flushed, grinning at the camera. He was kissing her snow-dusted cheek. The caption read: `Best spontaneous trip ever! ❤️`

The rage wasn't burning anymore. It had turned into something cold and solid, a block of ice forming around my heart.

The call from the doctor came at 3:17 AM. Her heart had stopped. They couldn't revive her.

She was gone.

My mother, the only person in the world who had ever loved me unconditionally, was gone.

And Salvatore Moretti, my fiancé, the future Don of the most powerful Family on the East Coast, was in Aspen. With her.

I held my mother's hand until it grew cold. I walked out of the hospital as the sun began to rise, the gray morning light feeling like an insult. I didn't drive back to the apartment Sal gave me. I drove to the small house I grew up in, the house my mother had left to me.

I locked the door behind me, the sound of the deadbolt echoing in the silent house. My first call wasn't to Salvatore. It was to a number I hadn't dialed in fifteen years. The number of my father, a man who had disappeared from my life, leaving only broken promises. Don Matteo Costello.

He answered on the second ring, his voice thick with sleep. "Adriana?"

"She's gone," I whispered, the words breaking apart in my throat. "Dad... Mom's gone."

A heavy silence stretched across the line, then a deep, ragged breath. "I'm so sorry, mia cara. I'm so sorry."

"I'm leaving him," I said, the decision solidifying into something unbreakable inside me. "I'm coming to New York."

"Anything," he said, his voice thick with an emotion I couldn't place. "Whatever you need. I'll be there."

I ended the call.

In the cold light of dawn, a decision formed in my mind, clear and sharp. It wasn't about anger anymore. It was about justice. A Vendetta. Not of blood, but of erasure. I would dismantle my life here, piece by piece. I would disappear from Salvatore Moretti's world so completely that it would be as if I had never existed. I would burn it all down, not with a match, but with my absence.