Chapter 5

Before I could reach it, Bianca hurled the relic at the ground with all her strength.

A sharp crack split the air. The sacred pendant shattered into pieces, fragments of jade scattering across the marble like teeth knocked loose.

"No!"

My mother's relic. The one she'd bought with her own blood, dragging herself up that mountain on her knees. 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 Bianca across the face as hard as I could.

"You bitch!" Bianca 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. Bianca's hangers-on lit up at the sound of that kind of tribute, and they descended on me in a frenzy of fists and kicks.

"You actually laid a hand on Bianca? She's about to be the wife of the Don who runs this whole territory. Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Seriously, it was just an old 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 her? You must have a death wish."

They beat me to the ground. 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! Bianca's man runs the Falcone name in this district. What are you? Nobody. You think you can make us regret anything?"

"You're nothing but some bottom-feeder who threw herself at a boss. You already sell your body for cash, and now you're threatening us?"

"A whore should know her place. You take your beating and stand there and take it."

They pinned me to the marble, mocking and humiliating me without a shred of restraint.

Surrounded by her cheering entourage, Bianca grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head up. She tossed it back with a laugh that ran a beat too long, her face twisted with vicious triumph.

"Regret? I've never regretted a single thing in my entire life." She leaned closer. "Go ahead. Show me what a worthless piece of trash like you can do to make me regret."

My fingers had already found the empty place at my throat where the pendant should have been. There was nothing left there to hold me back.

The words had barely left her mouth when the roar of engines filled the air. One armored family car after another came tearing up the drive, pulling to a stop in front of the estate, and the laughter in the room died all at once.