The Syndicate Heir Begs For My Love

“I loved Julian Falcone for eighteen years. He was the future Don of the Cosa Nostra-ruthless, calculating, and the only man who could dismantle an entire cartel with a single phone call. I was the daughter of his family's Consigliere, raised in his shadow, molded into the perfect mafia princess. When his mother announced our betrothal at a syndicate dinner, I held my breath and looked across the table at him. Julian turned his head. The look he fixed on me was one of profound, physical revulsion. He dragged me to a club that night-not for a dinner, but to use me as a human shield against his mother's surveillance. He ignored me for hours while his crew laughed and drank. He gave my most treasured possession to another woman. He left me standing alone on a curb after his convoy drove away without me. And on a mountain retreat, hidden behind the pines, I heard him tell his crew he was relieved to finally be rid of me. So I took a pen to my university applications. I scored out the life I'd planned around him until the paper tore beneath the pressure. I secretly enrolled at a local college-somewhere he would never set foot. Three years later, I had built a fortress around my broken heart. A new life. A new name in circles he didn't control. Then I discovered the truth. Julian Falcone never went to his prestigious university. He spent thirty-six months at the exact campus I had abandoned-waiting for a ghost. And now he's found me. ---”