His Relentless Ruin (The Ruthless Circle #3)

Prologue

ISABELLA

The plane touches down in New York at midnight and I'm home for the first time in months.

Home.

I feel… different.

At least that's what I tell myself as I walk through the private terminal with my suitcases trailing behind me and my heart doing something complicated in my chest.

Matteo is waiting by the car.

He sees me and his whole face transforms, relief and joy and something that looks like he might actually cry, and then I'm running and he's catching me and we're holding each other in the middle of the terminal like we're the only two people in the world.

"You're home," he says into my hair. "You're actually home."

"I'm home," I confirm, and my voice is thick with tears I'm trying not to shed.

He pulls back and looks at me, really looks at me, taking inventory like he needs to confirm all the important pieces are still attached.

"You look good," he says finally. "Older. More—" He stops. "Just good."

"You look tired."

"I am tired." He picks up my suitcases. "Running this family is exhausting. Come on. Let's get you back to the house, Luca can’t wait to see you. We have a lot to talk about."

The drive through the city is quiet at first. I watch the familiar streets pass and try to reconcile the girl who left with the woman who came back, and somewhere in the silence Matteo starts talking.

"Things have changed since you left," he says carefully. "The situation with the O'Rourkes has gotten worse. Declan is making moves. Taking territory. Making threats. We've been holding him off but it's getting harder."

"I heard some of it from Alessia. The calls weren't always clear on details."

"I didn't want to worry you while you were away." He glances at me. "But now that you're back, you need to know everything. Including—" He stops.

"Including what?"

He's quiet for a long moment.

"We made an alliance," he says finally. "With the De Luca family. Salvatore De Luca. It's the only way to keep the O'Rourkes from destroying us."

Something cold settles in my stomach.

"What kind of alliance?"

"The permanent kind." His hands tighten on the steering wheel. "Isabella, I need you to understand that I didn't make this decision lightly. I explored every other option. But this is the only way to keep everyone safe. The only way to end the war before it starts."

"Matteo." My voice comes out steady even though my heart is racing. "What kind of alliance?"

He takes a breath.

"A marriage," he says quietly. "Between you and Vittorio De Luca. Salvatore's son."

The words hang in the air between us and I feel something crack in my chest, some small hope I didn't even know I was still carrying.

"What? When?" I ask.

"Two months. The wedding is already planned. Salvatore has been very—" He pauses. "Eager."

Two months.

I have two months before I marry a stranger to save my family.

"Have I met him?" I ask. "Vittorio?"

"Once. Years ago. You were children. He probably doesn't remember."

"Does he want this? The marriage?"

"He's a De Luca. He'll do what his father tells him to do. Same as—" He stops. "Same as what we all do."

Same as what I'm about to do.

Marry someone I don't love because it's what the family needs.

I should be angry. I should be screaming or crying or demanding another solution. But I'm not nineteen anymore and I understand how this world works, understand that sometimes duty matters more than happiness, that sometimes you sacrifice yourself to keep everyone else alive.

"Okay," I say quietly.

Matteo's head snaps toward me. "Okay?"

"Okay. I'll do it. I'll marry him."

"If you don’t want to—"

"I'm not a child anymore, Matteo. I understand what this family needs. I understand what's at stake." I look at him directly. "If marrying Vittorio De Luca keeps you safe, keeps everyone safe, then that's what I'll do."

"I'm so sorry." His voice cracks slightly. "If there was any other way—"

"I know." I reach over and squeeze his hand. "I know you wouldn't ask if there was another option. It's okay. I'm okay."

I'm lying.

I'm not okay. I'm heartbroken and terrified and grieving for a future I'll never have.

But he doesn't need to know that.

He needs me to be strong. He needs me to be the sister who understands, who accepts, who does her duty without complaint.

So that's who I'll be.

The house appears ahead, lit up against the dark sky, and it looks exactly the same as it did over a year ago, when I left.

But everything else has changed.

I'm different. Matteo is different. The world is different.

And in two months I'll marry a stranger and become someone else entirely.

Mrs. Vittorio De Luca.

The name feels wrong in my head but I'll get used to it. I'll have to get used to it.

We pull through the gates and park and Matteo helps me with my suitcases and we walk inside together.

"Get some sleep," he says at the bottom of the stairs. "Tomorrow we'll talk details. Introduce you to some people. Start preparing."

"Okay."

He hugs me again, tight and fierce.

"I love you," he says. "And I'm so glad you're home."

"I love you too."

I go upstairs to my old room and it's exactly as I left it, preserved like a museum, and I sit on the edge of my bed and stare at the wall.

Two months.

In two months my life changes forever.

In two months I become a wife to save my family.

And somewhere in the back of my mind, I think about a porch four years ago and a man who broke my heart and told me I was pathetic for loving him.

I wonder where he is now.

I wonder if he ever thinks about me.

I wonder if it would have mattered if he'd said yes instead of no, if we could have had something real, if my future could have been different.

But it doesn't matter.

That door closed four years ago.

And in two months, another one opens.

Whether I'm ready or not.