Chapter 2

I went to the office and printed out the documents I needed to prepare.

By the time I got home, it was already the middle of the night.

I had barely reached my front door when I heard the grating sound of music and raucous laughter coming from inside.

The moment I pushed the door open, I froze.

Luca's friends were throwing a party in my apartment.

Champagne and beer had been splashed all over the floor. Pizza boxes, bottles, cigarette ash, and wrappers were scattered everywhere.

When they saw me come in, not a single person in the room looked the least bit sorry.

Grace staggered over, grabbed my arm, and said with a sloppy grin:

"Ava, you really are something else. Even while you were with Don Bennett, you made sure to keep a backup plan for yourself."

As she spoke, she pulled a charm out of her pocket and dangled it in front of my eyes.

It was a protective amulet Luca had gone to pray for the night before my surgery, years ago.

It had been pouring rain that night.

He drove for hours, hiked up a mountain in the storm, and then rushed back through the night.

By the time he got to the hospital, his clothes were soaked through, his shoes were caked with mud, and he looked like an absolute wreck.

But his eyes were impossibly bright.

He pressed the charm into my palm like a boy who was both foolish and devout.

"Ava, God promised me. Your surgery is going to go perfectly."

I had run my hand over his hair and laughed at how silly he was.

In the end, before I even got wheeled into the operating room, he collapsed from exhaustion.

After the breakup, I threw away everything connected to Luca.

This charm was the only thing I kept.

Not because I couldn't let go of him.

But because those bright eyes, on that night, had once made me believe that even in youth, someone could love with a ferocity and a sincerity that was real.

I snatched the charm back from Grace's hand, my chest heaving.

"Who gave you permission to come into my home?"

Luca's gaze landed on the charm, and a faint trace of a smile surfaced at the corner of his eye.

"I didn't expect you to still have it."

He was about to walk over when Grace hooked her arm through his.

She turned to the crowd and announced loudly:

"Friends, you want to know what a top-tier gold digger looks like? This is what a top-tier gold digger looks like. Always keeping a card up her sleeve. Incredible."

Then she looked at Luca, her voice dripping with exaggeration.

"Luca, doesn't seeing that little charm just make you want to cry?"

The softness that had started to creep into Luca's eyes turned cold in an instant.

The others seemed to catch on all at once, whistling and egging things on.

"You've got to hand it to Ava. If Don Bennett dumps her, she can turn right around and bring this to the Boss."

"And the Boss takes one look. Some worthless little trinket from his younger days, treasured by the woman he loved for all these years. He'd be an absolute wreck."

"Then they get married, and the small-town girl transforms into Mrs. Romano overnight. Brilliant."

One after another, they piled on, spinning a story out of thin air.

I walked to the window, tore the charm to pieces, and flung them out into the night.

The instant the fragments were swept away by the wind, Luca's face twisted into something terrible.

"Ava, what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

My hands clenched into fists as I spoke, every word deliberate.

"It means get out. Get out of my apartment."

Luca looked as though he wanted to say something.

But Grace beat him to it.

"Luca, this move is called playing hard to get. Want to bet that if you propose right now, she'll say yes on the spot?"

She gave a light laugh.

"On one condition, of course. You'd have to share everything the Romano family owns with her."

Luca's face darkened.

"Ava, don't push it. Whatever you want, I can give it to you. But I hate it when people play games with me."

Noah, who had been heckling along with the rest, chimed in.

"Ava, the Boss has already said his piece. Maybe it's time to quit while you're ahead."

I drew a deep breath, ready to call the police.

That was when several officers appeared at the door.

One of them knocked on the doorframe, his tone stern.

"We've received multiple noise complaints about disturbances late at night. We're going to need everyone here to cooperate with our investigation."