He Betrayed Me, Now He Begs

his every move. I was Dante Gallo's unofficial Consigliere, his partner in everything but na

onated my life. It was a photo from Dante, showing a platinum wedding ba

engraved initials 'D.I.' didn't stand for Dante and I. They stood for Dante and Isabella-his childh

unting me, sending a picture of them tangled in bedsheets with the cap

la's fiancé, a man far more dangerous than Dante. "Your fiancée is in Suite 8808 at the

pte

phin

er, and it held a truth the diamond couldn't hide: my seven-year love story

hose name was whispered with equal parts violence and power. His empire, built on blood and laundered through the legitimate front of Gallo Imports, was as much my creati

sal was sudden, less a proposal than an afterthought, with a ceremony planned for the Feast

humb from a man who'd grown careless enough to forget his tracks. But it lan

g. She's safe now.

platinum wedding band with a single diamond set flush against the me

slid onto my finger. It was the identical band, just small

.

ante

and Is

that stole the air from my lungs. He hadn't proposed out of love. He'd proposed because Isabella was being forced into an arranged marriage with another fami

a cold, brittle sound that shatt

off his coat. He saw me standing in the dark,

e laced with the impatience of a m

ought I saw there just this morning was gone, r

ing a petty argument. "Don't be dramatic, Sera." He mo

imself had taught me. I held the phone up, pushing

he recognized the message, the ring. Then, just as quickly, the

oice flat, devoid of the emotion tha

ger. He finally understood this wasn't a game. We stared at each ot

on his heel. The door slammed behind him

walked to the kitchen, my movements steady. I pulled out the stea

sizzle, the rich aroma filling the a

elebrate my freedo