THE MAFIA BOSS SAW HIS PREGNANT MAID CARRYING A HEAVY SUITCASE—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SCREAMED, “DON’T OPEN IT!” “I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE PREGNANT! GET THAT SUITCASE DOWNSTAIRS!”
Chapter 1 – THE SECRET INSIDE THE LOCKET
The silence in the entrance hall was suffocating.
Elena’s voice had just faded from the phone’s speaker, but her words were still echoing off the marble wall…
My husband’s 29-year-old mistress walked into our seventeenth wedding anniversary party wearing my dead mother’s sapphire necklace. I didn’t scream.
Chapter 1 – THE BULLET THAT BROKE A SEVENTEEN-YEAR LIE
I didn’t scream.
I didn’t throw my champagne.
I simply smiled.
Because after seventeen years of marriage to Chicago’s most feared mafia boss,…
EMPTY YOUR POCKETS, YOU LITTLE THIEF! AND WHEN I FIND MY DIAMONDS, YOU’RE LEAVING THIS HOUSE IN HANDCUFFS!” THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE HUMILIATED HIS 26-YEAR-OLD MAID IN FRONT OF FIFTY GUESTS—BUT WHEN HIS DEAF NINE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER SIGNED FOUR WORDS FROM THE STAIRCASE, ADRIANO FALCONE ORDERED EVERY GATE LOCKED.
Chapter 1 – The Woman in the Monitor
The security monitor cast a pale blue glow across Adriano’s face as he stared at the screen. Fifty wealthy guests in the ballroom behind us held their collective …
“GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF MY SON! YOU’RE A MAID, NOT HIS MOTHER!” THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE SLAPPED HIS 24-YEAR-OLD HOUSEMAID IN FRONT OF SIXTY DINNER GUESTS—BUT WHEN HIS SIX-YEAR-OLD SON PULLED A BLOODSTAINED LETTER FROM HIS TEDDY BEAR AND WHISPERED FIVE WORDS, MATTEO RICCI ORDERED THE ENTIRE MANSION SEALED.
Chapter 1 – THE BOY WHO REMEMBERED EVERYTHING
“Did you honestly think wearing his dead mother’s necklace would make you part of this family?”
Serena DeLuca grabbed the silver chain around my neck.
…
TAKE THAT OLD WOMAN BACK TO THE KITCHEN! SHE DOESN’T BELONG AT MY THANKSGIVING TABLE!” THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE HUMILIATED HIS 27-YEAR-OLD MAID IN FRONT OF FORTY GUESTS—BUT WHEN HIS EIGHT-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER PICKED UP HER PLATE AND SAID, “THEN I’LL EAT WITH GRANDMA,” ANTHONY MARINO PUSHED BACK HIS CHAIR.
Chapter 1 – The Cost of Silence
Victoria stepped back into the dining room.
The heavy oak doors swung shut behind her with a dull, final thud.
The forty guests sitting around the grand Thanksgiving…
My mafia boss husband had just admitted that someone in our house ordered my mother’s murder.
Chapter 1 – THE SISTER I NEVER REALLY KNEW
My mafia boss husband had just admitted that someone in our house ordered my mother’s murder.
Then his 29-year-old mistress looked me straight in the eyes …
THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME PICK UP HIS TEN-YEAR-OLD NIECE’S BROKEN HEARING AID FROM BENEATH THE ENGAGEMENT TABLE—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SAID, “SHE SMASHED IT FOR ATTENTION,” BEFORE HE EVEN ASKED WHY THE LITTLE GIRL HAD STOPPED RESPONDING TO HIS VOICE.
Chapter 1 – THE SILVER LOCKET ON THE FLOOR
Vanessa backed away from the dining table.
Her chair scraped loudly against the hardwood floor.
The crystal chandeliers above seemed to dim as Luca stood …
THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME TRY TO BREAK THE LOCK ON HIS SEVENTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD FATHER’S BEDROOM DOOR DURING HIS ENGAGEMENT PARTY—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SAID, “HE LOCKED HIMSELF IN BECAUSE HE’S CONFUSED,” BEFORE HE EVEN ASKED WHY THE ONLY KEY WAS HANGING AROUND HER NECK.
Chapter 1 – THE SILVER LOCKET NEVER LIES
Luca didn’t drop the phone.
He didn’t yell.
He simply lowered the device and looked at the woman he was supposed to marry in less than forty-eight hours.
V…
My pregnant sister looked me in the eyes and said, “Your seventeen-year-old son won’t survive the night unless you give me what I want.”
Chapter 1 – THE SILVER BRACELET
The voice in the dark belonged to a woman whose grip was like iron.
She pulled me hard to the left, away from the spot where I had just been standing.
Another gunsho…
GET THAT FILTHY OLD BEGGAR OUT OF MY HOUSE! AND YOU, LITTLE MAID, CAN LEAVE WITH HER!” THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE HUMILIATED HIS 26-YEAR-OLD HOUSEMAID IN FRONT OF SIXTY WEALTHY GUESTS—BUT WHEN THE ELDERLY WOMAN PULLED A FADED SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPH FROM HER PURSE AND CALLED HIM “MY LITTLE NICKY,” NICHOLAS VALENTINO DROPPED HIS GLA
Chapter 1 – THE BULLDOZERS AT MIDNIGHT
Nicholas stared at the empty chair where Rebecca had just been sitting.
The crystal chandeliers of the dining room seemed to dim as the weight of his mother’s …