Chapter 1

The moment I discovered that my husband, Don Lucian DeLuca, was keeping a mistress, I poisoned him.

The poison bound him to an antidote only I controlled. If he went more than fifteen minutes without a dose, the toxin would enter his bloodstream and send his organs into rapid failure.

That left Lucian with no choice but to remain at my side day and night.

He seemed to have forgotten that before I became Donna Vivienne DeLuca, I had been a daughter of the Valenti family.

New York's crime families whispered that Donna Vivienne DeLuca was ruthless, a woman who would never tolerate a mistress beside Don Lucian.

Even my parents condemned me for my jealousy. They said I had damaged the reputations of every other Valenti daughter waiting to secure a marriage alliance.

But as long as I could keep Lucian and force him to honor our marriage again, I did not care what anyone thought of me.

Then Bianca Bellini's personal maid came pounding on the gates of the DeLuca compound.

She was sobbing as she begged Lucian to see Bianca one last time before she died in childbirth.

Lucian tore out of the compound like a man possessed and did not return all night.

The next day, he came back carrying Bianca's cold body in his arms.

With bloodshot eyes, he raised his gun and shot me in the throat.

“If you hadn't kept pushing me, Bianca and I never would have ended up like this.”

“You're going to pay for her death, Vivienne.”

Lucian ordered that Bianca be buried under the name Donna Bianca DeLuca.

Then he turned the gun on himself. In his final instructions, he ordered his men to place them together in the same crypt inside the DeLuca family mausoleum.

My body was dumped on an abandoned stretch of land and left unclaimed.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day I first discovered Lucian's mistress.

I glanced at the lace lingerie spread across the table and smiled calmly.

“If Don Lucian cares for her that much, bring her into the compound.”

***

Lucian's face lit up the moment he heard me.

Before noon, he had arranged a convoy of black SUVs.

Every vehicle was loaded with jewelry, custom couture, and expensive gifts for Bianca.

Lucian even opened the DeLuca family vault and removed the heirloom diamond set reserved for the Donna beside each successive Don.

He hired the most sought-after stylists in New York and assigned the DeLuca family's most trusted soldiers to escort her.

With the entire family watching, Lucian brought Bianca into the compound.

My personal bodyguard, Mara Quinn, trembled with anger on my behalf.

“If you and the Valenti family hadn't supported him, Lucian would still be a second-rate capo on the edge of the DeLuca organization, kept under the underboss's thumb.”

“Back then, his crew was close to being disbanded, and every business under his name was losing money.”

When the previous DeLuca Don died, he left no son and named no successor.

The family's underboss stepped in as acting Don, but several capos refused to accept his authority.

They went to war over the vacant position.

At the time, Lucian was the weakest capo among them.

It was my father, Don Valenti, who gave him money, gunmen, intelligence, and the support of allied families.

With the strength of the Valenti family behind him, Lucian eliminated the acting Don and his other rivals, eventually claiming the title for himself.

If I had not chosen him, he never would have become Don Lucian DeLuca.

Lucian had once saved me from drowning after a yachting accident. He performed CPR himself until I began breathing again.

That was how our relationship started.

To earn my father's approval, Lucian waited outside the Valenti estate for seven days.

He swore he would remain faithful to one woman for the rest of his life and that there would never be a mistress in our marriage.

Only then did my father approve the alliance.

Before the wedding, however, my father made Lucian sign a prenuptial agreement and a divorce settlement prepared in advance.

The terms were clear.

If Lucian ever betrayed me, the Valenti family would withdraw everything it had given the DeLucas, including its capital, port access, union connections, and political protection.

For years, worried that I might be mistreated inside the DeLuca family, my father had allowed the premarital trust under my control to cover the growing deficits in the DeLuca accounts.

As the convoy rolled into the compound, I opened the safe and removed the divorce papers Lucian had already signed.

“Mara, take these to my lawyer. Tell him to begin the formal proceedings.”

“Once I've settled every debt from my last life, we're going home to the Valentis.”

Mara's eyes brightened immediately.

As if afraid I might change my mind, she grabbed the folder and hurried out.

She had barely left the room when she ran into Lucian and Bianca.

Lucian had brought Bianca to me so he could formally place her under his protection and publicly recognize her as his mistress.

Mara gave them a cold glance without offering either of them a greeting.

Bianca frowned and tightened her hold on Lucian's arm.

“Lucian, how can someone serving the Donna show you such disrespect?”

“A woman who refuses to follow the rules should be thrown out of the compound.”

Mara did not flinch. She barely looked at Bianca.

“The Valenti family sent me here to protect Donna Vivienne. I am not a DeLuca soldier.”

“Don Lucian has no authority over me.”

She paused before turning her gaze fully on Bianca.

“As for you, you're nothing more than the Don's kept woman.”

The color immediately drained from Bianca's face.

She swayed and leaned against Lucian, her eyes filling with tears.

My attention shifted to the diamond necklace resting against her collarbone.

Lucian had once placed that heirloom set in my hands himself.

I had kept it locked inside the vault and had never worn it in public.

Now it hung around Bianca's neck.

Lucian gently wiped away the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes before turning on me.

“Vivienne, keeping someone so disrespectful at your side will eventually cause a conflict between our families.”

I set down my coffee and gave him a quiet laugh.

“Mara only answers to my father. There is nothing I can do about her.”

Lucian's expression darkened, but he could not argue.

My father was not only the man who had placed him in the Don's seat. He was also the one ally the DeLuca family still did not dare offend.

Bringing a mistress into the compound was already a public insult to the Valenti name.

If Lucian laid a hand on the woman my father had sent to protect me, he would risk starting a war between our families.

Mara gave Bianca one last cold look and turned to leave.

Then Lucian noticed the folder in her hand.

“Give me that.”