But right now?
I’m not sitting across from my brother. I’m staring down my Don.
And I really,reallydon’t want to go.
Yeah, I’m a grown-ass woman, damn near forty, and I’m sitting here with my arms crossed and my bottom lip halfwaybetween a pout and a snarl. Am I being dramatic? Possibly. Am I ashamed? Not for one second.
Because this?Thiswasn’t supposed to happen. Not today. Not this soon. Not ever, if I had my way.
I’m not ready—not for that place. Not forhim.
Seventeen years. That’s how long it’s been since I walked away and slammed the door on that whole twisted chapter of my life. Seventeen years of keeping that pain locked away so deep, I almost convinced myself it didn’t still bleed.
And now Sammy wants me to walk right back into the fire like it didn’t nearly burn me alive last time. Like the scars don’t still itch. Like I didn’t spend years building a fortress around those memories—layer by layer, steel and stone, silence and survival. I did a damn good job keeping it all sealed. I worked hard to become untouchable. Unreachable. Unshakable.
And now?
He wants me to crack it all open. Smile pretty and march into hell with my head high like I’m not terrified of who I’ll become if I do.
My gaze shifts around the room, trying to escape the pressure building in my chest. These four walls haven’t changed. It’s the same office where our father held court, where empire-shaping decisions were made between sips of espresso and loaded silence.
My eyes fall to the floor, and the rug catches my attention, and my mind fills with memories. Memories of being a little girl sprawled on that rug, sketching on paper while men talked in low, heavy voices around me. I knew better than to listen, but I did. I always did.
And now? I’d give anything to hear his voice again. Just once. To see those deep, assessing eyes turn toward me with approval. Or disappointment. Hell, I’d take either. Anything but this empty ache that’s been lodged in my chest since the day we buried him.
I blink against the burn at the back of my eyes and clench my fists in my lap.
Damn it, that still hurts.
We’ve done what we could since our father passed. Rebuilt. Rebalanced. Reclaimed power that vultures tried to swoop in and snatch while we grieved. It’s been bloody and brutal, but we survived.
Sammy took the throne earlier than expected, wearing it with more weight than he showed. And me? I became his consigliere. The advisor. The strategist. The woman behind the man behind the empire. Not everyone liked that. Plenty of pricks in this business don’t believe a woman should have a seat at the table, let alone at the right hand of the Don. But most respected my father’s decision. And the ones who didn’t? Let’s say they learned fast what happens when you underestimate me.
The Barone name still commands power. Still inspires fear. And we’ve worked too damn hard to let anyone threaten that. But this contract… this old tie... It’s the one knot we’ve never untangled. Luca’s handled it until now—quietly, efficiently. He never complained, but I’ve always known the day would come when I’d have to pick it up. Now with the expansion, the restructuring, the shifting alliances—it’s time.
It was always going to be me.
But that doesn’t mean I’m ready.
Not forhim.
Not for what I left behind.
Not for the pieces of me I buried the second I walked away.
My family, the Barones, have ruled this territory for generations through blood, grit, strategy, and fear. And we’re not done. We’re building something bigger, stronger, and sharper. We’ve cleaned house, tightened our ranks, and reinforced the foundation my father laid in stone and sacrifice.
No one questions our place anymore. We made sure of that.
But this contract? This contract has been the thorn under our empire’s skin for the last ten years. Always lingering. Always waiting. A shadow at the edge of every deal, every meeting, every whispered warning.
Luca’s been handling it. Quietly. Efficiently. Like everything else he does. But now? His plate’s overflowing. He's stretched thin between the expansion on the East, bleeding out the Russians in the North, and trying to get a handle on all this new blood pushing for relevance.
And me? I’m next up.
I always knew it would come to me eventually. As consigliere, I’m the one who picks up what no one else can carry. I’m the closer, the cleaner, the calm storm at the center of our chaos. But just because I knew this day would come doesn’t mean I have to like it.
And Idon’t.
