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Chapter 1
Allegra
Two men with guns meet me at the entrance to my nonna’s house. They don’t say anything as I heft my bag up onto my shoulder and stare past them into the Sicilian countryside. Long rolling fields and scrubby trees. Some of the most beautiful landscape I’ve ever seen, and this is probably my last chance to take it all in.
I’ve been here for a while now, and even though Nonna promised I could stay as long as I wanted, Papa was always going to bring me home. I quit my job at a decent nonprofit and gave up everything to disappear out into the countryside, and now my escape is over.
“Which one is it this time?” I ask as my father’s personal bodyguard ambles up the road. “Did Papa decide to sell me off to someone else?”
“Don’t be like that,” Amadeus says. He’s older, in his early fifties, but still spry despite the gut he’s been growing these last ten years. I’ve known him since I was little, and while I wouldn’t say we’re close, he’s always been polite.
I’ve never liked him though—it’s the way he looks at people like everyone’s a threat. Including me.
“At least tell me who I’m marrying. Is it still Renzo Rossi?”
“No, Don Rossi found a new wife. Unlucky for you.”
I glance down at the ground. He’s wrong about that—I ran here to Sicily to hide in Nonna’s compound to escape getting thrown into that Rossi family. But I knew I couldn’t hide out forever, no matter how hard I tried to pretend like Papa would forget about me.
I’m the Don’s only daughter, which means I have value.
Not necessarily for my sharp brain or my many talents—the Famiglia doesn’t really give a crap if I can sing, tap dance, and ride horses—but because I can get married and make babies.
When I boil it all down to the dregs, that’s all the women in this family are ever worth, no matter how much we lie to ourselves.
That became clear the moment my father announced that I’d be marrying a man I’d only met once or twice in my entire life and didn’t know at all.
I’m more than a little bitter today.
“Now you’re here to drag me back. I assume there’s a good reason for it.”
Amadeus shrugs. “You were right. There’s a new husband. His younger brother, Saul.”
I tug at the strap of my bag. Saul Rossi. I know almost nothing about him, either—even less than Renzo. He’s the second-in-command of the Rossi Famiglia, so still a powerful and important figure in their organization, but beyond that?
No clue.
I don’t know if he likes music, what his favorite movies are, if he likes to laugh, likes to dance, if he’ll treat me well.
I know his last name, and that’s really all I need. At least according to my father.
“Let’s get this over with then.” I hold out my hands, fists together, as if Amadeus is going to cuff me.
He gives a snort and waves my wrists away. “Don’t be dramatic. We both know you aren’t going to run a second time. Come on, the plane’s waiting.”
I let my arms drop and follow him down the winding road. I look back over my shoulder and spot Nonna standing in her bedroom window. She gives me a small wave, looking old, sad, and exhausted, her skinny frame lost in the curtains. I wave back and try to smile—this isn’t her fault, and I never should’ve put her in this position. I just had nowhere else to go.
And I love my family. That’s the hardest thing about all this. I love my papa, my cousins, my uncles. I want to do the right thing, but the right thing feels like it’s going to strangle me in my sleep.
Family is everything.
Which is funny, since I came here to escape them.
“Is Papa mad?” I ask Amadeus once we’re in the car and speeding away from the countryside toward the airport.
He tilts his head. “Yes and no. I think he’s more annoyed with his mother, but he’ll never say that out loud.”
“I’m lucky she agreed to help me. I guess she felt bad or something.”
