Chapter 2

I woke in a private hospital controlled by the De Luca organization.

The surgeon told me the bullet had missed a major artery by less than an inch. Chicago's best trauma team had been waiting when I arrived. The blood supply had been prepared, and the entire floor had been locked down before my convoy reached the building.

My people had not arranged any of it.

Victor placed an encrypted phone beside my hand.

"Damian De Luca wants to speak with you."

I looked at the screen for several seconds before I answered.

The man who controlled the Chicago Outfit did not begin with a greeting.

"Does Lorenzo know you were shot?"

"He knows."

"He did not come."

I said nothing.

Damian did not ask again. He understood my silence.

When he finally spoke, his voice was low and controlled.

"I have waited for you for seven years, Isabella."

Seven years earlier, Damian had just taken control of the De Luca organization. The Moretti and De Luca families had discussed a marriage that would connect the East Coast to the Great Lakes.

The settlement had protected my name, my inheritance, and my private command. My father believed Damian was the only man powerful enough to stand beside me without trying to take my place.

I rejected him in front of both families because I had already chosen Lorenzo.

"I never wanted your relationship to fail," Damian said. "You loved him, and I respected that. I cannot respect a man who lets you bleed for his empire while he drinks champagne in another woman's bed."

"Did you call to enjoy this?"

"I called because I know what you do when he hurts you. You find a reason to forgive him."

I closed my eyes.

Lorenzo had received everything I could give and treated each sacrifice as part of my duty.

Damian had been rejected in front of his own men. He still sent doctors, blood, and armed protection without asking for anything in return.

"You do not have to accept me now," he said. "You can reject me again. I need you to know that the old settlement is still in my safe. Your name has never been removed."

I looked down at the clean bandage over my side.

"What would Moretti have to give up if I married you?"

"Nothing."

"My soldiers?"

"They remain yours."

"My name, my Commission seat, and my port interests?"

"They remain yours too." His voice softened. "I want Isabella Moretti. I do not want a woman who has to become smaller so her husband can feel powerful."

I did not answer for a long time.

"Do you still have the settlement?"

Damian drew a sharp breath.

"I have kept it for seven years."

"Send it to New York."

"Are you going to sign it?"

"I have not decided yet."

I looked at the red mark spreading through the edge of my bandage.

"I may need it soon."

Three days later, I returned to New York without telling Lorenzo.

The Vieri estate in Westchester was being prepared for our wedding. Invitations had already gone to the Five Families, the Port Newark unions, the De Luca organization, and every ally who had joined Vieri because of me.

Sophia's white fur coat hung outside the private wing.

She came downstairs wearing Lorenzo's shirt. A fresh mark showed at the base of her neck.

Her face changed when she saw me, but she recovered quickly.

"Isabella, you should have told us how serious it was. Lorenzo wanted to go to Chicago. I told him to stay."

"Have all the wedding invitations been sent?" I asked.

Sophia stopped smiling.

Lorenzo came down a moment later. When he saw that I was calm, the tension left his face.

"The wedding will continue as planned. What happened in Chicago stays private. I do not want you discussing it with our guests."

"The wedding will continue," I said.

I took the guest list and checked every name.

"Do not remove anyone."

Lorenzo smiled because he believed he had control of me again.

He did not know why I wanted every family in the chapel.

I was not preserving the wedding so I could become Mrs. Vieri.

I was preserving it so the entire underworld could watch him lose his crown.