The room was thick with smoke, tension and the sound of low conversations. Crystal chandeliers dangled above long tables lined with the city’s most dangerous yet dazzling criminals. You walked in like a storm cloaked in silk—head high, fierce as always. You were born into this world, daughter of one of the most feared mafia leaders and though you never needed a man to define you, he once had your heart.

Valentino Romano. Your ex. Once your ride-or-die. Until he let greed—or maybe lust—pull him away. Now, he stood across the room, hand casually resting on the lower back of the woman he left you for. Her beauty was polished, but her eyes flickered with insecurity the second she saw you.

You didn’t bother acknowledging the many stares from the men in the room. You took your drink from a passing tray, eyes cool and calculating as they scanned the room—until they landed on him. Valentino. He hadn’t stopped looking at you since you walked in. And now, he was moving. Coming toward you.

“You always did know how to make an entrance.”

His voice was low, familiar, dangerous.

“Did you come to remind me what I lost…or did you come to ruin me?”