Sophia POV
The heavy iron gates of the Falcone estate swung open with a low, metallic groan.
The black SUV rolled to a stop in the courtyard, the sound of gravel shifting beneath its tires.
I stepped out into the cool night air, my legs feeling like columns of lead.
Before I could close the door, a sound drifted from the marble steps of the main entrance. A girl's intimate, breathless giggles echoed through the quiet courtyard, displacing the stillness.
The heavy front doors stood ajar, and my breath caught as a petite, dark-haired girl ran down the steps.
Lila.
Dominic came around the SUV to meet her, and she launched herself into his arms. He caught her, one arm clamping possessively around her waist.
She pressed her face into his chest, a pantomime of a creature frightened by the night.
Then she looked up and saw me standing by the SUV.
Lila let out a small, calculated whimper and shrank back against Dominic.
"Dominic, is this truly our home?" she asked, her voice a carefully calibrated tremor.
Dominic tightened his grip on her waist, pulling her flush against his body.
He kissed the top of her head.
"Yes, little bird," he soothed, his tone dripping with a tenderness that had once belonged to me. "You are my lawful Mafia Queen."
He turned his gaze to me.
The warmth in his eyes vanished, replaced by the unforgiving authority of a Don.
"Sophia is here to pack her belongings."
The air was driven from my lungs, and for a moment all I could hear was the dry, rasping sound in my own throat.
"I want you relocated to the safehouse in the northern suburbs by morning," Dominic commanded.
I stared at the grand parlor windows behind him.
Three years ago, we stood in that exact parlor.
He had kissed my forehead and sworn on his life that this fortress would be our sanctuary.
"I will pack my things," I said hoarsely, my throat thick with something I refused to name.
I turned toward the servant's entrance, refusing him the sight of my tears.
"Stop," Dominic called out.
I paused, my spine rigid.
"There is a syndicate gathering in the banquet hall tonight," he said. "You will attend. You will carry Lila's train."
I turned back to look at him, disbelief a dull ache in my chest.
"We must maintain the Family's facade," he stated coldly, leaving no room for argument.
An hour later, I stood in the hallway outside my bedroom.
Lila had just walked out of my private vault.
She was wearing a priceless, custom-made heirloom gown that had been tailored to the exact dimensions of my body.
Around her neck rested the flawless diamond choker Dominic had gifted me for my twenty-fifth birthday.
She smiled at me, a sweet, triumphant curve of her lips that entirely betrayed her earlier performance.
At the gathering, the banquet hall was filled with dangerous men and a stagnant, white haze of cigar smoke.
I trailed behind Lila, my hands gripping the heavy silk of her train, a prisoner on display.
The Made Men and Capos parted for her, offering respectful nods to their new Queen.
When their eyes shifted to me, their expressions twisted into sneers.
I heard their whispers over the clinking of whiskey glasses.
"Look at her."
"A discarded rag."
"Not fit to warm a Soldier's bed now."
My chest felt tight, as if a band of iron were being cinched around my ribs.
I dropped the train and slipped away into the quiet corridor leading to the restrooms.
I pushed the heavy wooden door open slightly, seeking a moment of silence.
Voices drifted from the adjacent smoking lounge.
It was Dominic and his Consigliere.
"Is it wise to keep Sophia here?" the Consigliere asked, his tone laced with skepticism.
Dominic let out a low, arrogant laugh.
"She has been broken by me over ten years," he said, his words slicing through the heavy air. "She is a worn-out rag. She has nowhere else to go."
I heard the scrape of a match, followed by the sharp scent of sulfur.
"She will wait obediently in the shadows for my return," Dominic added.
My heart did not break. It simply stopped.
The ten years of loyalty, the Omerta of my love, dissolved into nothing.
I stepped away from the door.
I walked out of the restroom corridor, my mind clear and resolved to leave this place behind forever.
Lila was standing directly in my path, her timid facade replaced by a malicious glare.
Before I could speak, she raised her hand and slapped my face.
