Chapter 1 Chapter 1

Valentina

I had always told myself there would come a day when I would stand up to my father. A day I would marry someone I loved, someone who lives a normal life.

I held onto that hope for years, clinging to the foolish dream that I could choose my own path. But standing here now, suffocating in an elegant wedding dress I never chose, staring at a man three times my age, I knew that dream had died the moment my father uttered those words:

"You're getting married tomorrow."

He had said it so simply, as if my feelings had never mattered. And they never had.

"Ambrose Benedict is a good man. He will take care of you," My father added, as if I was supposed to blindly trust his judgment. As if those words were meant to reassure me instead of making me feel like a commodity being handed over in a business transaction.

I had heard the rumors about Ambrose Benedict. A man who ruled the underworld with an iron fist, a Don feared even within his own family. I had never seen him before because my father had always kept his distance. But now, he was forming an alliance with the Benedicti Famiglia, the most powerful mafia empire in the world using me as collateral. The realization made my stomach twist painfully.

The Sanderson Famiglia, my father's empire, had been his life's work. Outwardly, he was a respected businessman, running a high-end real estate company that developed luxury properties. But beneath that polished image lay his true empire one built on blood and power, where loyalty was currency, and betrayal meant death.

I had never wanted to be part of that world.

But being born into it meant I had no choice.

Even my twin sisters, Violeta and Viviana, had been kept from attending this wedding. They were my only source of warmth in a family that had none. Violeta, the free spirit, always spoke of running away, of living a life outside of our father's rules. Viviana, ever the realist, never entertained such ideas. "There's no escape, Valentina," she once told me. "Not for girls like us."

I had never wanted to believe her. Yet here I was, standing at the altar, marrying an older man.

The room was grand but eerily silent. A private ceremony, stripped of any joy, attended only by a select few. My parents. A handful of Ambrose's relatives with a bored expressions. No friends. No sisters. Just the sound of my own heartbeat hammering against my ribs.

And then my gaze locked onto him. Shivers ran down my spine as I met a pair of piercing grey eyes. Cold, calculating, predatory.

The man standing in the shadows had the same sharp features as Ambrose, but where the older man exuded power through presence, this one radiated danger. He had the kind of build that promised violence, his broad shoulders wrapped in a perfectly tailored black suit. A scar marked his left cheek, a small imperfection on an otherwise flawless face. Tattoos snaked up his muscular arm, peeking out from beneath the crisp white sleeve of his dress shirt.

I didn't need to be told who he was. The son of the man I was marrying. My soon-to-be stepson.

Heat licked up my spine as he stared at me. I told myself it was fear that made my body react this way. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the man I was about to vow myself to.

And yet... the thought of the stranger hands on me, his mouth claiming mine, sent something dark and wicked curling in my stomach.

"Do you, Valentina Gabriel, take Ambrose Benedict as your lawfully wedded husband?"

The priest's voice rang in my ears, but I couldn't move. Couldn't speak.

All eyes were on me. Most of all, my father's. His gaze was a silent warning, daring me to disobey, to shame him in front of the most powerful mafia family in the world.

In the end, my voice came out low. Empty.

"Yes, I do."

A satisfied smirk tugged at my father's lips. He had won. As Ambrose slid the ring onto my finger, sealing my fate, my gaze flickered back to my husband's son. He hadn't looked away. The expression on his face only made my heart pound harder.

"Welcome to the family, Valentina," Ambrose said, his voice as heavy as the chains he had just shackled me with.

I forced a smile, swallowing the lump in my throat. His hand around mine was soft, not crushing, but there was something in his touch that sent a chill down my spine.

"Congratulations, Father."

The deep, velvety voice came from my right. My body went rigid.

His presence was a shadow against my skin, dark and intimidating. When I turned my head, our eyes met again. My breath hitched.

There was something about him something more dangerous than his father's power, something more terrifying than the marriage I had just entered into. He was unreadable, yet in that moment, I felt as though he had already unraveled me.

Ambrose's voice cut through the haze. "Lucian, take Valentina home. I have business to attend to."

Home. That word no longer had meaning to me.

Lucian's gaze remained locked on mine as his father leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek. My hands clenched at my sides. It took everything in me not to recoil.

"See you later, wife."

The words sent ice down my spine.

I watched as Ambrose walked away, two men following closely behind him. And just like that, my parents turned their backs on me too, leaving without a second glance. Any lingering hope that they would at least pretend to care was shattered.

I was alone. Lucian shifted beside me. I could feel the heat radiating off his body, his presence too overwhelming, too consuming.

I turned to him, trying to muster up something anything to break the tension. "So... I'm Val—"

"I know."

His voice was deep, raw, sending an unexpected shiver down my spine. "I know a good girl when I see one. Let's skip the formalities. You have the rest of your life to get to know me. The car is waiting."

I didn't know if it was the way he said it, or the way his grey eyes pinned me in place, but something dark and foreboding curled in my stomach.

This new chapter of my life was just beginning. And I had the sinking feeling that nothing good would come from it.