I bent down and picked up the wet garment bag. I unzipped it. Inside was a red dress.

It wasn't a dress. It was a cheap maid's costume. The kind you find in a sex shop. The neckline plunged to her navel and the skirt was a postage stamp. The polyester felt like sandpaper against my frozen skin.

Tommy grinned, his voice oozing superiority. "Boss says this is your last chance. Put this on, go to Gia’s send-off party for Paris Fashion Week tonight, and serve drinks. You do a good job, maybe your bank accounts get unfrozen tomorrow. He'll even save you a seat at the wedding, so you can watch from the audience."

He paused, a vicious glint in his eye. "It's a huge honor, Miss Oriana. Other girls would kill for this opportunity."

The blizzard whipped at my face, stinging like a thousand tiny knives. My body was shaking from the cold, but my back was ramrod straight.

My voice was a blade against the wind, sharp and clear. "You tell Maximo to go to hell."

Tommy's face darkened. "You ungrateful bitch!"

He waved his hand. Two massive bodyguards jumped out of the car. "You want to do this the hard way? Fine."

They grabbed my arms, twisting them behind my back.

"Let me go!"

I struggled, but after two hours in the snow, I was too weak.

Tommy shoved the muddy maid outfit into my arms. "Maximo's orders. You're wearing this one way or another."

He shoved me violently toward the car. "Get in!"

I was forced into the back seat. The door slammed shut like the lid of a coffin.

The Escalade sped through the blizzard. The driver had the AC blasting, turning the car into an icebox. I was soaked to the bone, my teeth chattering so hard my jaw ached. My lips were purple.

Tommy sat in the passenger seat, glancing back at me, his face smug. "Why make it so hard, Miss Oriana? A woman just has to be a little obedient in bed, and she can have anything. You go against the boss, and you're the only one who suffers."

I closed my eyes, refusing to engage with this scum.

One thought echoed in my mind: Maximo, you will pay for tonight.

Half an hour later, the car stopped behind a luxury casino hotel. The door was ripped open.

"Get out!"

I was shoved out of the car, nearly falling. Through the glass of the back entrance, I could see the glittering party inside.

In the main hall, Maximo was with Gia, laughing with the city's elite. Gia was wearing a priceless Chanel gown, and my "Heart of Sicily" ring sparkled on her hand under the lights. She clung to Maximo's arm, blooming like a flower. Maximo was in a custom Armani suit, handsome and charming.

They looked so perfect together. So happy. Like I never existed.

Maximo saw me being dragged in. He excused himself and strode toward me. He looked at the muddy maid outfit in my hands and frowned.

"Why do you look like such a mess?" He took off his own cashmere coat, trying to drape it over my shoulders, his voice full of that same fake concern. "Oriana, you're just too stubborn. If you'd just listen, I'd never let you suffer like this."

Nausea rose in my throat. I turned away from his touch. "Don't touch me."

Maximo's face went dark. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then cornered me.

"That's enough, Oriana." He grabbed my chin, squeezing so hard I could barely breathe. "Go change. Now. Be Gia's waitress. This is your last chance."

I struggled, but his grip was a vise. "I won't serve anyone. Especially not his whore."

A dangerous light flashed in Maximo's eyes. He reached into his suit jacket and pulled something out.

My heart stopped.

It was a gold cross necklace. Engraved with my family's crest. The only thing my mother ever gave me.

"Recognize this?" He dangled it in front of my face, like bait for a caged animal. "Your mother gave it to you. Right before she died. You never took it off. Not until I told you it was tacky."

He smirked, his fingers tracing the cross.

"Maximo! Give it back!" I lunged for it.

He held it high, his eyes cold.

"Be the waitress, and you get it back. Otherwise, I melt it down. Right now."

My mother's cross was the last piece of her I had in this world.

Maximo's fingers tightened around the chain. All he had to do was let go, and it would fall into the fire pit nearby.

"I'll count to three," he said, looming over me.

"Three."

"Two."

I was shaking, my nails digging into my palms, drawing blood.

"One."

"Stop!" The word tore from my throat. "I'll do it! I'll go change!"

Maximo smiled, satisfied. He put the cross back in his pocket. He reached out and patted my cheek, a gentle-seeming touch that was full of a victor's arrogance.

"That's my girl. Now hurry up. Gia is waiting for you to serve her."

The changing room was lit by a single, dim bulb. I looked at my pathetic reflection in the mirror. Hair plastered to my face, sweater clinging to my body, lips purple. A drowned rat.

Five years. I, the secret Queen of Chicago’s underworld, had paved his path to power. I thought I was raising a king. Instead, I’d raised a dog that was now biting the hand that fed it.

For every shred of humiliation you forced on me tonight, Maximo, I will burn the Gallo family to the ground.

I picked up the cheap red maid's outfit. I studied its revealing design, its shoddy fabric.

Then I threw it in the trash.

Enough. The game was over.

Still in my wet clothes, I pushed open the door and walked straight into the party.

The music screeched to a halt. Every head turned. I heard the whispers.

"My God, who is that?"

"Why is she dressed like that?"

The second Maximo saw me, his face turned to stone. He rushed over, hissing in a low, furious voice. "What the hell are you doing? I told you to wear the dress!"

Gia, clinging to his other arm, whined, "Maximo, she's ruining the party. The guests are all staring."

I ignored them and walked toward the exit.

"Grab her!" Maximo shouted, forgetting all decorum.

Two bodyguards rushed me. One of them kicked the back of my knee. A bolt of pain shot through my leg, and I collapsed onto the marble floor in front of everyone. I could feel the tearing pain, the warm blood soaking through my jeans.

The hall erupted in gasps.

Maximo walked over to me, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "My apologies, everyone." He shook his head with feigned regret. "This young lady is a... rather obsessed admirer of mine. She has delusional ideas about me and snuck in tonight to try and ruin things for me and Gia. She's a little unstable. Please, pay her no mind."

"Get her out of here," Maximo waved his hand. "Don't let her spoil the mood."

The room was buzzing. Hundreds of eyes watched me kneeling on the floor. He was trying to destroy my dignity.

The guards grabbed me roughly, dragging me toward the blizzard outside.

Maximo wrapped his arm around Gia's waist and looked down at me. "This is what happens when you don't listen, Oriana. Go sleep it off on the street."

I was thrown into a snowdrift outside the casino's back door. The snow landed on my hair and face, melting instantly. Through the glass, I could see Maximo and Gia accepting congratulations from their guests. She was radiant. He was the picture of success.

I pulled the burner phone from my jeans pocket, my fingers shaking as I dialed a number.

It was Raphael's private line.

Raphael. The true king of Chicago's mafia. The only partner who stood by my side as I built my underground financial empire. For five years, he had willingly stayed in the shadows, managing my vast network for me. Time and again, he had begged me to end what he called my 'game,' his eyes dark with a possessiveness I always pushed away. I always refused, stubbornly clinging to the idea of a normal, stable love.

Today, I finally saw the light. Some dogs don't deserve loyalty.

The call connected.

"It's me."

"The game's over. Cut all funds to the Gallo family. Freeze their accounts."

"And one more thing..." I closed my eyes, letting the cold snow hit my face. When I opened them again, there was only ice.

"Raphael, come get me. By tomorrow, I want Maximo and the Gallo family erased from Chicago."

There was a moment of silence. Then, a man's voice, deep and raw with long-suppressed pain and killing intent.

"Fifteen minutes. I’m coming. And Maximo will pay for touching what’s mine."

I hung up. From the lounge, I could still hear Maximo and Gia laughing, still thinking of new ways to grind me into the dirt.

They had no idea their world was about to end.