/1/102349/coverbig.jpg?v=708df978a11bc80bd38d7bd824caa5a5)
er man's diamond on my finger, naive enou
city's underworld
trinket" and introduced me to his own
en, Ellie," he sneered. "And you
eper. I found my mother's silver locket-the one he swor
rejected me; he
y a man I didn't love, just to esc
foreign apartment, burning with fever, while my fiancé
was going
up in a steri
ncé wa
vengeful god who had just burned do
ess, his eyes dark with a terri
nk you could run fr
t," I whispered, trem
You belong to me, Ellie. And
pte
ie
nother man's promise on my finger, naive enough to
r y
aly, breathing air that didn't reek
y hand trembled, not from the biting cold, but from the wei
hield. A d
fied orphan Marcus Thorn had taken in.
the doo
a heavy silence that smelled of lemo
e dropped the linen napkins she w
" she w
house that felt like home. She smelled of lavender and
my hand. The diamond caught the di
But instead of joy
know?"
e
The Don. The man who controlled the city's underwor
ounding stronger than I felt.
e child he saved, but as the woma
bered, stretching out like a dark throat. The portraits of dead
d for th
s El
t, a man whose face was as bl
a meeting. He can
ike ash. In every way that mattered, he was my fathe
ant said, his tone clipped. "He sai
hit me squar
nd I was still jus
om to wait, needing to escape
mantle. They didn't see m
e's actually doing
eddi
ught her that villa in the south of France just
od ran
lo
knife twisting
ied. He handed me to Marcus.
ver locket. He swore he would keep it safe
world. M
dy door
walke
m. He stood at six-three, a monument of lethal elegance
oked
re dark. Vo
," I br
anted to shove the ring in his face. I
ng married
dn't
ring. Then he l
," he
rd was
etting attention, Ellie? B
d out. "His name is
, humorless laugh. It
ildren, Ellie. And you are f
out of the st
lo
ry way. She placed a manicured hand o
d?" Chloe asked, her voice
he coldness in his eyes
et Chloe.
stopped
Marcus continued, his voice flat.
ed back
th your little games,
there.
r years suddenly made sense. Ther
didn'
d his ba
pped. It wasn't a loud break. It was th
asn't his priority. I was
walked towa
dn't
exactly the same. Preserved. Like
sun was setting over the d
," I whispere
to Italy. I was severing
that walking away wouldn't be enough. You can't walk aw

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