Chapter 4

The blood-bound gown Lorenzo had carried into the safe house ended up draped over the trash like a rag on a hook.

I didn't spare it a glance. I went straight to the pillow, digging for the gold bracelets Nonna had left me.

The little brown cloth pouch was still there, folded twice the way she always folded it, soft with handling. Empty.

My mind went blank with a loud ringing in my ears.

I was trying to think. Maybe they'd slipped free somewhere. Then Ambra's sickly sweet voice drifted in from the next room. "Mamma said since I lost the necklace, she wanted to make it up to me, so she gave me this pair of gold bracelets."

"Lorenzo," she said, playful, coaxing. "I'll give you one. Can you go talk to my mamma for me?"

Lorenzo's low laugh carried through the wall. "You little schemer. You think I don't see what you're doing? You just want us wearing matching gold, don't you?"

"Oh, come on." A pout in her voice, the sound of her leaning into him. "I know you're bound to the Rossi girl. But we grew up in the same house. You're like a big brother to me. Just because you're getting married doesn't mean I stop being your little sister, does it?"

She'd nestled into his chest. He'd pulled her close. Their wrists lay side by side, each of them wearing one of Nonna's matching gold bracelets.

My heart split open in an instant.

I stormed into the room and yanked Ambra's arm away. "Give it back. You're not worthy to touch that."

I barely used any force. She went down anyway, dropping to the floor with a theatrical thud that echoed off the bare walls.

Ambra turned to Lorenzo at once, eyes wet on command. "Lorenzo, I was only trying to share the bracelet with you. She's being so cruel." A catch in her breath, perfectly timed. "And it's from my mamma. I already lost my necklace, and now she wants to take this from me too?"

Lorenzo's face went cold, the way the room goes cold when a made man loses patience. "Gianna. Apologize. I let it slide this morning. Now you're just being vicious. Apologize to Ambra."

I stared at him, my voice flat. "Apologize for what? That bracelet was my grandmother's. She left it to me. For our union."

He blinked. He hadn't expected that. Then a scoff escaped him. "Stop lying. Your grandmother was a poor country woman. If she could afford gold, why would she steal a necklace? Apologize."

I was done arguing.

I caught Ambra's wrist and worked to pull the bracelet free. She bit down on my hand.

The bracelet slipped from both our grips and struck the floor with a metallic clang that hung in the silence too long. Before I could bend for it, Ambra brought her heel down and snapped it clean in half.

In that moment it felt like she'd shattered the last thread of hope I'd been holding.

I nearly blacked out. My hands were shaking as I reached for the broken pieces. "Ambra. That was the only thing I had left of my grandmother."

Ambra answered without a beat. "You still won't admit you were wrong? No wonder you're her blood. Your grandmother stole my necklace, and now you're trying to steal my bracelet."

She clutched her untouched ankle as though it were broken, and began threatening to bring in the Feds. In this world, that alone was an obscenity, a threat to shatter omertà itself, and she knew it would land.

I didn't hear a word of it. All I could think about was going for her, tearing that smug look off her face.

The moment I got to my feet, Lorenzo slapped me. Hard.

He looked at me as if I'd just destroyed every illusion he'd built. "Gianna. I thought you were different. I see now you're as petty and greedy as the rest. You can't even leave Ambra's bracelet alone."

"Fine. This is your last chance." His voice dropped to that measured register the Vitale men used right before something ended. "One week. Repair the bracelet. Bring it, and your grandmother's apology, to Ambra's hospital room. A public apology, on record, where everyone can see it."

"If I don't see sincerity, there's no union." He lifted Ambra into his arms and walked out without looking back.

I knelt on the floor, shaking, gathering the broken pieces into my hands. My thumb pressed hard against the warm gold, the only sign I gave that something inside me had just gone still and hard.

And I cried without a sound.

That night I signed for a delivery, packed my things, and boarded a southbound flight with nothing but the ticket in my hand. Beyond the reach of the Family. Where no one was supposed to be able to go.

At the hospital, Lorenzo waited until the last day of the week. I never came to kneel to Ambra. She lay easy in the hospital bed, lazily eating grapes he fed her by hand.

"Lorenzo, do you think she's run? Maybe you should just marry me tomorrow instead," she said.

Lorenzo felt a sharp jolt in his chest. He glanced at his phone. It hadn't buzzed once all week. He resisted the panic climbing his throat and forced himself calm.

"She won't bail. Gianna's blunt, no tact, but she wouldn't walk away from the union."

His thumb moved along the edge of his signet ring, once, then faster, as he drafted a message and edited it several times before he sent it: You don't need to make anything public. Just return the repaired bracelet and the union goes ahead as planned.

The message took a long time to send. In the end, a red exclamation mark appeared.