Against all odds, I woke up.
But my mother never recovered.
On her deathbed, she pressed the necklace into my palm and made me swear to keep it safe.
I had treasured it beyond measure ever since, carrying it with me every single day of my life.
It was the thing my mother traded her life for. It was sacred. Untouchable. No debt in this world could buy it, and no debt in this world could pay for its loss.
I would never let anyone destroy it.
"The more you want it back," Gemma said, a cruel grin spreading across her face, "the more I want to smash it to pieces."
Before I could reach it, Gemma hurled the pendant at the marble with all her strength.
A sharp crack split the air. The jade shattered into pieces, fragments scattering across the floor of the estate.
"No!"
My mother's pendant. The one she'd climbed a mountain on her knees to earn, the one she'd traded her life for. Gone. Just like that.
The pain in my chest was so sharp I couldn't breathe.
"You're an animal!"
Something inside me snapped. I swung my hand and slapped Gemma across the face as hard as I could.
"You bitch!" Gemma shrieked, clutching her cheek. "Beat this slut within an inch of her life!"
Her voice pitched higher, eyes wild with fury. "Whoever does the best job gets a million dollars!"
The words hit like a starting pistol. Gemma's hangers-on lit up at the sound of that number, and they descended on me in a frenzy of fists and kicks.
"You actually hit Gemma? She's about to be the wife of the capo who runs half the Valente holdings. Who the hell do you think you are?"
"Seriously, it was just a trinket. You probably earned it on your back anyway. Go service a few more men and buy another one. What's the big deal?"
"Shameless whore. You seduce another woman's man and then have the nerve to hit his girl? You must have a death wish."
They beat me to the floor. My whole body shook with rage. I gritted my teeth and forced out the words:
"You're going to regret this."
The room erupted in laughter, every one of them throwing their heads back like I'd told the funniest joke they'd ever heard.
"Oh, that's rich! Gemma's man answers to the Family. What are you? Nobody. You think you can make anyone here regret a thing?"
"You're nothing but some bottom-feeding hanger-on who threw herself at a made man. You already sell your body for cash, and now you're threatening us?"
"A whore should know her place. You take your beating and you stand there and take it."
They pinned me to the ground, mocking and humiliating me without a shred of restraint.
Surrounded by her cheering entourage, Gemma grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head up. Her face twisted with vicious triumph.
"Regret? I've never regretted a single thing in my entire life." She leaned closer, her breath hot against my ear. "Go ahead. Show me what a worthless piece of trash like you can do to make me regret."
The words had barely left her mouth when the roar of engines filled the air. One armored car after another came tearing up the long gravel drive, headlights sweeping the walls of the estate as they pulled to a stop in a hard line outside the door.
