Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Watching my reaction. Waiting to see an emotional breakdown. But I refused to give them the spectacle they wanted.
I was poised and graceful. Calm and collected.
Dressed in a black Alexander McQueen coat dress, paired with black velvet Gianvito Rossi stiletto heels and a black hat with a veil, I was the perfect image of elegance.
As they laid my mother into the cold ground, in her pretty casket, I waited for the emotions, the terrible feeling of loss and anguish to hit me, but I felt nothing.
Maybe something was wrong with me.
Or maybe I was just a bit resentful toward this dead woman.
Caterina Morelli was a stone-faced, heartless mother. Her assassination wasn’t as distressing as it should have been, but I was resentful, nonetheless. Because her death brought me back here, home to men who wanted to control me.
Once my father’s friends and associates started to crowd him to offer their condolences, I slowly backed away from the sea of people.
My job here was done.
I stood gracefully by my father and brother as they laid my mother to rest: the perfect daughter of the Morelli family.
And now, I could make my escape from all this facade.
I quietly made my way up the hills of the cemetery where I knew I’d find the perfect hiding spot, away from everyone’s prying eyes.
At the bend of a small stream stood a graceful gazebo, its six carved pillars spiraling upward as though shaped by an artist’s hand. The white stones of the pillars were pale and cool, contrasting with the warm terracotta tiles that formed the gentle slope of its roof. Flowers and perfectly carved bushes wrapped around its white marble base, making the gazebo look like a peaceful retreat hidden on this tragic landscape—where the wind of death lingered.
I sat on the cold, stony bench under the gazebo. Chicago's weather in March was highly unpredictable, and today’s breeze was surprisingly cool but not freezing.
So, this was my life now.
Back in Chicago, where I needed to be. I had escaped this part of my life for far too long. I had a role here to play, a wife to be… a perfect pawn in this dirty game for the rich and corrupted men. My life was given to a complete stranger to end the bloodshed, and now it was time for the Salvatores to collect.
I never consented to it… but nothing has ever been fair to me.
I never had motherly love. And with my father, I felt warmth and tenderness from him before but even that didn’t last long. It was taken from me and then I was sent away from everything I had known. I had to start anew, and the friends I made… even those were not real.
Even though I had lost too much… I still had more to lose. So I had to be careful and guarded. It had been a desolated and forsaken life. A loneliness my scarred soul wanted to escape, but I couldn’t.
I craved for something more, something deeper, something real. Except a love story like that was never written for a woman like me.
But I wasn’t going to resign myself to an empty, tragic life. I had a purpose, something more significant than what Santino Morelli had planned for me, and whatever the cost of it, I was going to fulfill that purpose.
“A pretty lady like you should never be sitting alone, looking so pitiful.” An unfamiliar voice brushed against my back, quiet but unexpected, and surprise fluttered in my chest. It startled me from my stillness and I looked over my shoulder in confusion.
Who would dare to approach me, let alone speak to me? I am the only daughter of Santino Morelli and the future Salvatore bride… My name was only spoken in hushed whispers, a presence you were never meant to approach.
Serafina Morelli was forbidden territory that no one had ever been brave enough to cross. It was a simple fact.
My gaze landed on him and my breath fluttered with a silent gasp. Oh my, he was a mountain of a man—tall, powerfully built, imposing; the kind of man who made everyone else fall silent.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
His strong, chiseled jaw twitched and my attention was drawn to the cut on his left upper lip when he gave me a devious half-smirk.
God—he was undeniably attractive. Handsome in a rugged, dangerous way.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
He was too close. I didn’t like that.
His presence filled the space and my lungs expanded as I forced myself to take an unsteady breath. There was something all-consuming about him. I can’t breathe.
The man standing over me was a complete stranger.
Mysterious.
Someone I didn’t recognize, so I knew he wasn’t one of my father’s men. Who would be bold enough to approach me if they knew how reckless it was…?
Unless—
This mysterious man was the one I was meant to meet today.