As the Principessa of the Moretti family, I was being forced to marry a common soldato.

All because Aidan Callahan, the man I grew up with, decided to call in a blood debt—one earned over three generations of his family taking bullets for mine. He leveraged that grim history to force a promise from my father that he couldn't break: my hand in marriage.

Furious, my father stormed the Callahan casino with a crew of his men, only to find Aidan at a card table, draping his jacket over a stripper named Isabelle.

Aidan turned his head and chuckled. "Don Moretti. After protecting her for twenty years, you must know I wouldn't want to see her truly suffer. This is just a way to move things along."

"All she has to do is swallow that pride of hers and accept that Isabelle is part of the picture now."

"Don't worry, Isabelle is a good girl I helped out of a jam. She's smart, knows her place. She'll show Seraphina the proper respect."

Isabelle was a stripper he’d bought off the stage, a woman who danced for any man with enough cash, yet he had the audacity to lie through his teeth and use this whole charade to try and break me.

But a Don's word is his bond. I couldn't let my father become an oath-breaker for my sake.

On my wedding day, Aidan had his Rolls-Royce parked squarely in front of our villa gate.

He smiled at me. "Seraphina, have you thought it through? It's not too late."

He expected me to surrender. Instead, right in front of him, I climbed into that soldato's beat-up Ford.

————————

1

"I would rather declare war on the Callahans than let you marry that man!" my father seethed.

I stood quietly before him. "Papa, this is my decision."

Everyone in the Chicago underworld knew me, Seraphina Moretti, as the Don's most prized possession, his Principessa.

I was supposed to be Aidan Callahan’s bride—we were childhood sweethearts, after all.

But just moments ago, Aidan had forced my father to promise me to a complete nobody, a soldato named Dante Falcone.

Only a month ago, Aidan had been in my bed, his fingers gently tracing the curve of my cheek.

"Seraphina, the moment I take over the Callahan family, we're getting married."

"I'll never touch another woman, Seraphina. Not as long as I live."

Trembling with rage, I drove straight to the Callahan's private club to find out what the hell was going on.

In the lavish private room, Aidan was lounging in the center of a sofa, a woman nestled in his arms.

The woman, poured into a tight minidress, playfully dangled a cherry over his lips.

When he saw me barge in, Aidan didn't push her away. Instead, he made a point of pulling her closer.

"Seraphina, perfect timing."

He looked at me with a mocking glint in his eyes. "Let me introduce you. This is Isabelle, a woman I helped out of a bad situation."

Isabelle rose from his lap with a flirtatious laugh and gave me a saccharine-sweet curtsy.

"Hello, Principessa. I'm Isabelle. I'll be sure to take very good care of our Aidan from now on."

My eyes narrowed, fixed on Aidan. "So, for this stripper, you're forcing me to marry a soldato?"

Aidan's expression hardened. "Watch your mouth. Isabelle is a good girl."

"Good girl?"

I sneered, "Aidan, do you take me for a fool?"

"She comes from a place like that, and you're telling me she's innocent?"

"Go ask her how many men she's been with."

Aidan stood up, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"She's innocent because I say she is."

He walked up to me, his voice a low growl.

"I know you're here about the arrangement."

"I don't actually want you to marry some nobody. This is just to get your attention. You're too proud to accept Isabelle, but if you can just look the other way, I'll go tell your father the arrangement is off."

"She won't take your place as Mrs. Callahan. She just wants to stay by my side."

I stared at him in disbelief. "Are you asking me to accept your mistress?"

I had once asked him, "If another woman tries to get close to you, what will you do?"

He had held me tight and said, "My heart is all yours, Seraphina. There's no room for anyone else."

And now?

Not only had he made room for someone else, he expected me to welcome her with open arms.

I scoffed. "I am the Principessa of the Moretti family. You want me to share a husband with a prostitute?"

At my words, impatience flashed in his eyes.

"Isabelle is not a prostitute! How many times do I have to tell you?"

"She's my woman now. As for you, if you don't agree, you'll be that soldato's wife."

"You'll become the laughingstock of the entire Chicago underworld. Seems to me you have no choice but to accept my terms."

He smiled, a cold, sharp thing that chilled me to the bone.

Isabelle chimed in with her cloying voice, "Principessa, I think it's a wonderful arrangement."

"I can help you take care of Aidan, so you won't have to wear yourself out."

"Besides, I grew up in places like that. I know how to please a man."

"If you want, I can even teach you a few things, to make Aidan like you even more."

As she spoke, she pointedly linked her arm with Aidan's, a clear challenge.

Watching them, I took a deep breath and pulled the engagement ring from my finger.

Aidan had given it to me on my eighteenth birthday—a ring he'd chosen himself.

He had personally engraved our initials on the inside, making it the only one of its kind.

When he’d placed it on my finger, he had vowed, "Seraphina, I will always love you. I will never betray you."

But now, his promise was worthless.

I threw the ring on the coffee table. "Take it back."

Aidan's expression shifted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," I met his gaze, speaking each word with cold precision, "Aidan Callahan, I don't want your love anymore."

"I'll marry anyone in this world but you."

"Seraphina Moretti, who could you possibly marry besides me?"

"Are you actually going to marry that Dante Falcone?"

He sneered, "You, a Don's daughter, throwing your life away on some two-bit soldier who smells of gunpowder and cheap whiskey?"

"Is your pride worth all that?"

"Seraphina, you've been like this since you were a kid, blowing every little thing out of proportion."

"But this is our marriage, Seraphina. It's not like that toy pistol I replaced for you when you were a kid."

When I was little, another kid lost my favorite Browning pistol, and I cried for days.

Aidan scoured every black market in Chicago and spent three months' allowance to buy me an identical one.

Back then, he'd knelt before me and said, "Seraphina, I'd do anything to make you happy."

And now?

Now he was telling me I was throwing a tantrum.

Isabelle chimed in with that syrupy voice of hers, "Principessa, don't be mad at Aidan."

"He's just trying to do what's best for everyone."

"I promise, I'll never overstep. I know my place."

As she spoke, she deliberately snaked her arm through Aidan's, a defiant gesture right in front of me.

Aidan didn't just let her; he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Isabelle's right, Seraphina. You're overthinking this."

He suddenly softened his tone, trying to coax me, but it only made my stomach turn.

"You see? Isabelle is so understanding. The two of you will get along just fine."

"She won't compete with you. I'll set you both up in different residences, so she'll be out of your sight."

"She'll handle my daily needs, and you'll be the elegant face of the family at formal events. A perfect division of labor, don't you think?"

He said it as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world. I stared at him, incredulous.

"Aidan Callahan, do you even hear yourself?"

He frowned. "Seraphina, I just need you to be reasonable."

"A man has needs, you understand."

"Better to have Isabelle by my side than for me to find other women out there. At least she's clean and she knows the rules."

"Aidan."

I said his name, my voice calmer than I'd ever heard it.

"You disgust me."

Displeasure flashed in his eyes. "I disgust you?"

"Seraphina Moretti, I'm thinking about our future here. We grew up together; you know how I feel about you. But feelings are one thing, reality is another. Isabelle was an accident, but she's my responsibility now."

"If you really loved me, you'd understand and support me, not throw a tantrum."

A tantrum.

"Fine. Perfect."

I felt a strange weight lift from my chest.

"Aidan Callahan, thank you for showing me who you really are."

I turned to leave, but he grabbed my wrist. "Where are you going?"

"Home. To prepare for my wedding."

I wrenched my hand from his. "Since you want me to marry Dante Falcone so badly, then fine. You've got it."

Back home, I pushed open the door to my father's study.

"Papa, arrange the wedding."

My father's face went pale. "Do you have any idea what you're saying?"

"I know exactly what I'm saying."

"Papa, Aidan Callahan isn't fit to be my husband. He wants me to accept his mistress."

"But I am Seraphina Moretti. I would rather marry a common soldato than suffer that humiliation."

My father was silent for a long time before he finally sighed.

"Seraphina, I know you've been wronged."

"But this Dante... can he make you happy?"

"Papa, happiness isn't something someone gives you. It's something you fight for."

I took my father's hand. "You have to trust me."

"I am the heir to the Moretti family. I can't let our name be tarnished by a broken promise."

"No matter who I marry, I'll still be your daughter. And I will make myself happy."

Just then, my mother walked in. She exchanged a look with my father. "Alright. Since you've decided, we will support you. The women of the Moretti family are not cowards."

The next morning, as I was taking inventory of my personal assets, I heard the roar of an engine downstairs.

The butler rushed upstairs in a panic. "Principessa! Mr. Callahan is here! He looks furious and is demanding to see you!"

I didn't even look up. "Tell him we have nothing to discuss."

Aidan stormed into my room anyway, his eyes blazing with anger.

"Seraphina Moretti! Where is Isabelle? What did you do to her?"

I was stunned. "Missing? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Still playing innocent?"

He grabbed my arm, his grip bruising.

"Isabelle went out this morning and never came back. Her phone is off. No one can reach her."

"Who else would do this to her but you?"

I tore my arm from his grasp. "Aidan Callahan, are you out of your mind?"

"Why would I do anything to her?"

"Because you're jealous! Because you can't stand that she's with me now!"

"Is that really what you think of me, Aidan? That I'm capable of something so cruel?"

He didn't answer, just glared at me with cold accusation.

"If anything happens to Isabelle, I will make you pay."

Suddenly, his phone rang.

Whatever the person on the other end said made his face turn grim. He grabbed me and dragged me out of the house.