Queen of Shadows

. Tonight it felt foreign-a monument to a life she was slowly realizing was no longer hers. She could feel eyes on her

. Alessa had always known she would be his successor. He'd trained her, made her into the heir

ation with a polite smile. Enzo had been a fixture in her life, but there was something different about him tonight

prying eyes. Once the door shut behind them, his tone shifted to something blunt and unforgiving. "

unease creep up her spi

le position, and the men... they need assurance. Stabili

want to marry me off to Luca DeLuca." It wasn't a quest

. "It's what's bes

r father's heir. But years of training held her back, and she met his cold stare with a steely o

tying, though the glint in his eyes betrayed his satisfaction

remembered the countless nights they'd spent here, her father teaching her the intricacies of the family business, entrusting her wit

ere, watching her with a look she couldn't quite read. "You leave for the DeLuca estate in the morn

t have been forced into a marriage meant to control her, but she was far from defeated. In that moment, Alessa made a vow

dangerous than a woman