Chapter 4

After I left, Nico took Serena around the world and left the Family's affairs unattended.

Whenever his men called, he gave the same answer.

"Ask Elena."

Then he hung up.

When he finally returned, the Family was in chaos. Routes had gone unsecured. The old capos were circling. Payments had stalled. He tried to call me, but no matter how many times he dialed, the line never connected.

He went to the castle.

It was empty.

In his mind, I was angry. Nothing more. He was already considering what gift would placate me when the headline in the latest newspaper stopped him.

"Welcome Back, Elite Designer Elena Rossi: A Triumphant Return."

At the European International Arms Design Summit, I stood under the spotlight in a tailored suit, precision blueprints in hand, calm and steady in a way he had never allowed himself to see.

Nico traced the photograph with his fingers.

The exhaustion that had once marked my face was gone. In its place was a radiance he did not recognize.

Panic moved through him.

When had Elena decided to leave him?

Behind him, Serena was ordering men around in the room Nico had once arranged for me.

"Hurry up. Get this stuff out and replace everything with pink."

She hooked her arm through Nico's and pointed at a photograph of the two of us on the wall.

"Can we throw that away and put up one of us instead? My friends said we look perfect together."

Nico's head snapped up.

"Who said you could touch her things?"

Serena froze. She had never heard his voice so cold.

"What's wrong? Everyone says I'm going to be the lady of this house."

"When did I say I was going to marry you?" His words were ruthless. "I wanted the inheritance your father left you. Nothing else. There is only one lady of this house, and that is Elena."

Serena broke down.

"How could you do this to me? What was all that attention? All that devotion?"

Nico had no time for her sobs. He ordered his men to locate me and had a plane prepared that night.

The moment the order left his mouth, he went still.

Then he slapped himself across the face.

Because he finally understood what he had lost.

Not a servant. Not a logistics officer. Not the woman who would always clean up after him.

He had lost the woman who had bet her whole life on him, fought through hell beside him, and loved him more completely than anyone else ever would.

"Nico, where are you going?" Serena grabbed his pant leg. "She is done with you. Do you really think she will come back? Stay with me. Think of the weapons and treasures you'll have."

"She loves me," Nico said, kicking her away. "If I apologize and make it right, she'll come back."

He flew through the night. From the plane, he called my number again and again. Each time, the same automated message answered: the number was no longer in service.

He tried every channel he knew. No one answered.

At last, he called Mara.

The second she picked up, his composure shattered. "Where is Elena? Put her on the phone."

Mara laughed once, dry and sharp. "Well. If it isn't the Don who is about to get married. What made you remember our Lena?"

"Cut the crap. I need to see her."

"No," she said. "Without you dragging her down, she is doing well. If you have any decency left, stop harassing her."

The line went dead.

Nico stood frozen with the phone in his hand. Had I truly been unhappy all those years? Or was Mara lying to punish him?

He decided he had to see me himself.

He still believed I was jealous. Acting out. If he lowered himself and apologized, surely I would come back.