Chapter 1

People had called me slow ever since I was little.

On my first trip to Europe for family business, the four mafia heirs I grew up with acted like they wanted to tie me to their belts.

Each of them spoke Italian, French, Spanish, and Russian fluently. In New York's underworld, they were the kind of young men people lowered their voices to talk about.

Even when my best friend, Nora Valenti, hit someone while driving without a license, they refused to let me get out of the car.

"We've got it," they said.

But when the French police arrived, the four of them took Nora, jumped on their motorcycles, and disappeared down the street.

They left me there alone to face the questioning.

I couldn't understand a word.

I tried to open a translation app, only to realize my phone didn't even have an international SIM card.

In the end, I had to pawn the gold Madonna pendant my mother left me just to get temporary bail.

When I rushed back to the hotel, I begged the four of them to help me get the pendant back.

They turned me down without a hint of guilt.

"Isabella, you're being ridiculous," Leon said. "Our visas and family travel papers expire today. We have to be back in New York this afternoon."

"It was just a car accident," Victor added. "You weren't even the one driving. Explain it and move on."

I told them I didn't speak the language and couldn't use my translation app, but Matteo cut me off impatiently.

"Are you stupid? You've been around us for years and you still can't manage one sentence in French?"

"Nora was right," someone said. "We spoiled you so badly you can't function without us."

"Handle it yourself. Nobody's bailing you out this time."

In the end, Adrian De Luca, my fiance, was the only one who softened. He promised he would help.

But when their plane took off, I was still being detained because the hit-and-run case hadn't been closed.

Worse, the ticket in my hand, the one I thought was taking me back to New York, turned out to be for Reykjavik.

Watching the five of them walk toward the gate together, I wiped my tears and called my family lawyer in Manhattan.

"Find me a lawyer in France," I said. "Someone who speaks French and understands cross-border criminal cases."

"And one more thing. That approval form I signed to make Nora permanent at my family's jewelry company? Cancel it."

...

The lawyer arrived quickly.

After proving I had nothing to do with the accident, I was released.

But when I asked for my gold Madonna pendant back, the police officer looked confused.

"Didn't your fiance already take it? He showed me a photo of the two of you and said it was very important to you."

The officer pulled out the release log.

The signature on it was Adrian De Luca's.

I called him.

He hung up.

I called again.

His phone was off.

Unwilling to give up, I called Leon, Victor, and Matteo.

Same result.

Three men. Three phones. All switched off, as if they'd planned it.

My lawyer walked over with concern in his eyes.

"Do you want me to file a claim? Handing over your property to a third party without authorization is a serious mistake on their part."

"But your fiance may be implicated too. He could even face jail time."

I didn't think it was that serious.

Maybe Adrian had taken the pendant and simply forgotten to return it.

The next second, Nora Valenti updated her social media.

[Back from Europe and already spoiled. Thank you to my four favorite people.]

In the photo, the gold bracelet on her wrist looked expensive.

The receipt she posted showed a weight of 19.99 grams.

Exactly the same as my mother's pendant.

My head buzzed.

I called Nora before I could stop myself.

"How could you melt down my mother's pendant into a bracelet?" I demanded. "You knew it was the only thing she left me."

Nora rushed to explain.

"Bella, you misunderstood. The four of them pooled their money to buy this for my graduation..."

I cut her off.

"A gift? Then why does it weigh exactly the same as my mother's pendant?"

"It wasn't enough that you made me take the blame for you and left me alone in France. You had to take the only thing I had left of my mother too?"

The other end of the line went quiet.

For a second, I thought they had finally realized they were wrong.

Then Adrian's voice came through.

"We bought the bracelet for Nora. Your pendant is with me."

"I know you're upset about being left in France, but we were trying to make you more independent."

"The fact that you were able to call us proves Nora's method worked. You should be thanking her, not slandering her."