Chapter Five: The Bargain

“One night, Lucia.”

His thumb brushed her lower lip.

The gesture strangely intimate.

“Give me this one night, and your brother’s medical bills disappear permanently.”

Her blood froze.

“How do you know about my brother?”

“I know everything about the people who enter my home.”

He offered his arm.

“Do we have an agreement?”

She should have been terrified.

She was terrified.

But beneath the fear lay something else.

A dangerous curiosity about the man behind the monster.

“We have an agreement.”

“Good.”

He smiled.

“Remember, you’re mine tonight. Play your part well.”

She took his arm.

The sapphires heavy around her throat.

And stepped into a world she never should have entered.

A beautiful, treacherous world where Vincenzo Russo reigned supreme.

And she was nothing but a songbird in a gilded cage.

What she couldn’t have known then was that the cage door would soon close behind her.

Trapping her in a game where music was merely the opening move.

And her heart would become the ultimate prize.

The ballroom fell silent when she began to sing.

Standing beside a grand piano. Jewels she didn’t own adorning her throat.

She closed her eyes and let her grandmother’s songs fill the cavernous space.

The first notes trembled. Betraying her nerves.

But then something strange happened.

The music carried her away from the watching eyes. The evaluating whispers. The heavy presence of Vincenzo Russo observing from the front row.

She sang of the sea and the mountains of Sicily.

Of love lost and found.

Of a homeland remembered only in stories.

When she finished the third song, the silence hung for a heartbeat.

Then applause erupted.

Polite. Appreciative. Surprised.

Vincenzo appeared at her side immediately.

His hand settling at the small of her back.

Fingers splayed possessively.

“You exceeded expectations,” he murmured, guiding her through the crowd.

Guests parted before him like water breaking around stone.

“Who is your charming companion, Vincenzo?”

A silver-haired man stepped forward.

His smile not reaching his calculating eyes.

“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.”

“Lucia Marino,” Vincenzo answered smoothly. “A family connection recently returned from abroad.”

The lie rolled off his tongue so easily.

It made her wonder how many others he’d told.

The older man’s eyes narrowed slightly. Evaluating her with newfound interest.

“Marino. From Palermo, perhaps.”

Before she could answer, Vincenzo’s grip tightened imperceptibly against her back.

“Lucia doesn’t discuss family matters. Salvatore, surely you understand.”

The warning in his tone was unmistakable.

Salvatore inclined his head slightly.

A gesture of deference that seemed at odds with the challenge in his eyes.

“Of course. Family is everything.”

He kissed her hand.

Holding it a moment longer than necessary.

“Your voice is a gift, Miss Marino. Perhaps you might sing for my gathering next month.”

“Lucia’s schedule is quite full.”

Vincenzo’s voice was ice.

“If you’ll excuse us.”

He steered her away.

His posture rigid.

Once they were safely across the room, he leaned close.

Lips brushing her ear.

“You don’t speak to Salvatore Catalano. Ever. Do you understand?”

She nodded.

Trembling slightly at the intensity in his voice.

“Who is he?”

“A business associate.”

His answer revealed nothing.

“Someone who would use anything or anyone to gain advantage.”

“Use me how?”

His dark eyes studied her face.

“You really have no idea who your grandmother was, do you?”

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