phin

damp brick walls of the alley. I braced myself, waiting fo

he air around him suddenly plummeted in temperatur

ter died

," he

, the Capo who had just insulted me, turned deathly pale. Without a second of hesitation, he and

rning into mine. "She is under my protection," he declared to his men, h

t my ribs. Why was this bleeding, dangerous st

steady despite the tremor in my hands. "Pay me so

ick envelope of cash. I snatched it. But before turning away, my trained eyes flicked to his left wrist. During our

r. "You should have your physician look at the skin unde

urned and walked out of the alley,

taly was replaced by the suffocating opul

e grabbed my hands, her perfectly manicured fingers digging into my skin. "Sera, darl

ard Don Moretti is a ruthless, terrifying man, sister. Giving the engagemen

rumors surrounding the Moretti family, thrilled to offer me up as th

from my mother's grasp.

ley. I was tired of being a pawn, waiting for the executioner's axe to fall. If I was going to enter the Mo

ite's heavy double doors and yanked them open. A Morett

cée wishes to see him," I said, m

ate blinked in sheer shock at my audacity, but the unwaver

nd stood in the center

otsteps echoed in the corri

al chandelier was tall, broad-shouldered, and clad in a perfectly

ly pulled the silver w

y handsome, yet brutally cold. His dark, intense eyes, the same ones that had st

nger I had saved