I'd been in an unsanctioned affair with my brother's blood-sworn ally for eight years.
Every time I brought up being acknowledged before the Family, he'd coax me out of it: "Just a little longer. If your brother finds out, he'll kill me."
So I listened. Every time we were around other people, I kept my distance like a good girl.
Until a round of public dares at a Family banquet landed on Luca Russo.
The crowd egged him on, daring him to kiss one of the women in the room.
His gaze drifted toward me, soft and warm. My pulse spiked. I felt my cheeks flush as I braced myself.
But that gaze swept right past me.
And settled on his old flame from the Bellini family.
"I pick Adriana."
While I sat frozen in disbelief, Luca didn't spare me so much as a glance. He walked straight to Adriana Bellini and slid his arm around her waist.
She tipped up on her toes, shy and smiling. He leaned down, and his lips met hers in a kiss so tender, so lingering, that neither of them seemed to remember anyone else was in the room.
The crowd roared. She buried her face against his chest, all coy sweetness.
He didn't pull away. He just laughed softly and steadied her by the waist.
In that moment, I finally saw the truth for what it was.
The secret I'd waited eight years for was over.
——
The cheering around me only got louder.
"Oh, we are EATING tonight! Luca and Adriana making out right in front of us? Get a room!"
Everyone was teasing them about their history.
"It's been eight years and you're both still unattached. If that doesn't prove you two are endgame, I don't know what does."
More voices piled on.
"Get together! Get together!"
"Kiss her again!"
It was June, but my hands and feet had gone ice-cold, as though I'd been plunged into the dead of winter.
Two hours ago, everything had still been fine.
When Luca drove me to the banquet, he'd unbuckled my seatbelt for me, then pressed a kiss to my forehead.
"Don't drink too much tonight," he'd said. "If your brother and the crew get me wasted, I'll need my girl to drive me home."
Eight years, and he'd never once told anyone we were together. Not a captain, not a soldier, not a single soul who mattered.
But hearing words like that, I still felt something warm bloom in my chest.
Until—
Ten minutes after the banquet started.
The door to the private room swung open, and every conversation died for a beat. The kind of silence that only came when someone with blood worth mentioning walked in.
It was Adriana Bellini. Luca's old public flame. A Bellini mob princess who'd spent the last few years abroad and whose name still carried weight at every table in the syndicate.
She stood in the doorway in a black dress that hugged every curve, wearing a polished smile.
"Heard you were all getting together. Hope you don't mind me crashing."
"Not at all!"
The crew kicked into gear immediately. "Adriana, sit next to Luca!"
But the person sitting next to Luca was me.
Before I could even process it, his associates were already jumping in. "Bianca, what are you doing hanging around here anyway? Go sit by your brother."
I looked at Luca instinctively.
Hoping he'd say something. Just one word in my defense.
When I'd agreed to come tonight, the only thing I'd asked for was the seat beside him. He'd ruffled my hair, all indulgent affection. "The spot next to me is always yours."
But now.
Luca wasn't even looking at me.
From the second Adriana walked through that door, his eyes had been locked on her and hadn't moved. The silver lighter he always carried sat still in his hand, forgotten.
"Bianca, hello? You just gonna sit there like a deer in headlights?"
"This is Family business talk, kid. Stay out of it!"
The voices urging me to move grew louder.
They all assumed I was just tagging along with my brother. The Don's quiet daughter, seated where she didn't belong.
My fingers went to the hollow at my throat, pressing once against the skin there. Then my hand dropped away.
I lowered my head and moved to the seat next to my brother.
"Thanks so much, Bianca."
Adriana settled into the spot beside Luca with an easy smile, set her clutch down on the white tablecloth, and tilted her head to greet him.
