Chapter 2
TWO
ISABELLA
I sit behind my desk in my new apartment, the city stretched out behind me in steel and glass, and stare at the wall before me, not seeing anything but the troubles I seem to have inherited. From this height, New York gives a false sense of peaceful security.
It’s a lie.
Nothing about this city is peaceful or secure; not in my world, and no matter how powerful your family is.
My fingers rest on the open file in front of me, but I’m not reading it anymore.
I’ve already memorized every line. Every number.
Every financial loss. One of our best clients, and thanks to the Dragunoviks, now one of our past ones as well.
Bastards.
I pick up my pen and tap it against the desk once, twice, then force myself to stop. The sound is loud in the quiet office, grating on my nerves.
This is how it starts. The beginning of the end. I can feel it in my blood. Not that I could say I wasn’t looking forward to living a normal life once more. I miss my daughter. I hate that someone else is raising her while I deal with the family here in New York.
But it’s necessary. To keep her safe, and to keep my sanity. I’d never forgive myself if she were mixed up in all this crap. So I had to pretend to be someone I no longer was. I had to pretend I wasn’t a mother.
Instead, I had to act the part of the cousin of a mafia boss, as hard and cold as he had been, now that the family was looking at me for direction. A new direction. One time, I had been that woman, but I died the day I learned I couldn’t trust anyone but myself.
A knock sounds at the door, brisk and familiar, and I already know who it is before I answer. “Come in, Alex.”
The door swings open, and he steps inside like he belongs here, like this office is his domain.
Like I’m just sitting in it temporarily.
With any luck, it will be temporary, but Alex isn’t the right man to lead the family.
He’s volatile, doesn’t think straight, and certainly doesn’t think things through.
I don’t look away from the file immediately. I give myself a second to take a deep breath, and then, and only then, do I lift my gaze.
“You’re reading the reports, I see,” he says, skipping over any pretense of greeting.
“I’ve seen enough.” He doesn’t sit. He never sits when he’s trying to assert dominance. Instead, he moves through the room slowly, deliberately, his presence filling the space in a way that used to reassure me. Now it only irritates me.
“Rodin Dragunovik is in New York.”
I push the file away and lean back in my chair, studying my brother. “I assumed as much.” I pause. “He’s here to assert his dominance.”
“They’ve already taken one of our clients,” he continues, his voice tightening with controlled anger. “And they’re not going to stop there.”
No. They won’t. “They’re testing the waters,” I say. “Seeing what they can get away with. I can only assume the Morettis are feeling their presence also, even if they pretend otherwise.”
“They’re doing more than testing the waters, Isabella,” Alex snaps, stopping in front of my desk. “They’re pushing. Expanding. And we’re letting them.”
I hold his gaze, unflinching. “We’re observing. We’re not letting them get away with too much…yet.”
“We’re hesitating, and that makes us look weak.”
There’s the accusation. I feel it hit, piercing and deliberate, but I don’t let it show. I need to remain strong in the face of all the Romero men who want this top job. Alex one of them. At least until I find a replacement who is fair and reasonable, and not an all-out cunt, like my brother.
Some days, and perhaps I’m a terrible person for thinking such things, but I’m glad Matteo and Elio are dead. Two men who were cruel and unfair, no matter the circumstances. “Call it what you want.”
“I will.” His mouth tightens. “It’s a weakness.”
The word settles between us, heavy and dangerous.
I stand slowly, not because I need to, but because I refuse to have him looming over me.
“Be careful, Alex. I may be female, but that doesn't make me weak.” I try not to make rash decisions, but I will seek justice if needed.
Mafia justice when required. It merely means I look at all the facts first before jumping off a cliff blind, as so many of my family have in the past.
His eyes flash, but he doesn’t back down. He never backs down. “Or what?”
“Or I’ll have to remind you of who’s in charge.” Silence stretches between us. Then he exhales, a harsh sound that sets my nerves on end. He straightens, though the tension in his shoulders doesn’t ease.
“Fine. You’re in charge.” His tone is laced with sarcasm, and I know he doesn’t believe those words. And had he not been mixed up with Elio last year, maybe the family would have chosen him instead to lead. “So make the right call, sis.”
I already know what he’s going to say, and I brace myself for more arguments.
“We align with the Dragunoviks and solve our problems.”
He smiles for the first time, and for a moment, I’m reminded of our childhood, when he was a sweet kid. Still, his words make my stomach turn. “No.”
Alex’s jaw tightens, frustration flashing across his face. “You didn’t even think about it.”
“I did, and I have,” I reply, stepping out from behind the desk.
“And I dismissed it just as quickly.” The Dragunoviks don’t want an alliance.
They want to take over and be the most powerful underworld family in New York.
I’m not sure what the Morettis will think of that, but we certainly don’t like it.
Still, if they wanted to join forces, they would have reached out when they first set foot in this city, and they did not. Instead, they undercut us and took one of our best clients off our list. That’s not classed in my book as friendly.
He lets out a short, disbelieving laugh. “Why? They’re strong. Organized. If we align with them now, we gain access to everything they bring with them. We strengthen ourselves. Possibly open up more contacts in Europe that we didn’t have before.”
“At what cost?” I counter, folding my arms. “You don’t align with families like that without losing something in return. Power. Control. Independence, everything we hold dear, unless I’m incorrect.”
“Better that than losing everything to the Morettis.”
There it is. The real reason. This has never been about the Dragunoviks. Not really. It’s about the Morettis. With my brother and my deceased cousins, it always is. A wave of tiredness comes over me at having to argue repeatedly about a family I’d rather forget.
“You’re not thinking clearly,” I say, my voice quieter now, trying to make him see reason.
“You’re reacting, which I’ve warned you about before.
” I shake my head, hoping to get through to him once and for all.
“The Dragunoviks would have reached out already if they wanted an alliance. They have not, and therefore I can safely assume they don’t want to. ”
“Maybe we reach out instead,” he shoots back. “Something you should be doing instead of sitting here pretending this will blow over. That there is room in New York for three underworld families.”
“I know it won’t blow over,” I snap. “But I’m also unsure what our next steps ought to be.
The Russians are untrustworthy, and I won’t align us with them, and certainly not after what they have done to us already.
” My mind races, mapping out what I should and should not do.
What I want and don’t want. If I even attempted to align with the Russians, the Morettis would retaliate.
Of course they would. Lucien Moretti doesn’t tolerate threats, not to his family, not to his empire.
Lines get drawn. Sides get chosen and then—war.
Real war. Not ordered. Not strategic. Just bloody, chaotic, and unpredictable.
I think of my darling girl before I can stop myself.
Dark curls. Soft laughter. Small hands gripping mine, and my chest tightens painfully.
She’s not here and never can she be. That’s the only reason she’s safe, but if this turns into what Alex wants, she could be placed in harm’s way.
If anyone ever finds out about her… I shudder at the thought of her being taken from me.
“An alliance with them is not the right way,” I say again, more firmly this time. “We are not having anything to do with the Dragunoviks.”
Alex studies me, something harsher creeping into his expression now. Suspicion perhaps. Frustration certainly, but there is something else there too. Something I don’t like, but can’t name.
“You’re afraid.”
The word slices clean through me. Not because it’s wrong.
But because he’s the last person I expect it from.
My own flesh and blood. My brother. “I’m cautious,” I correct, lifting my chin.
“There’s a difference, and perhaps if Matteo and Elio had acted with some of that caution, they may still be here. ”
“You’re hesitating,” he insists. “And that hesitation is going to cost us.”
“Or it’s going to keep us alive.”
He shakes his head, pacing again, restless energy pouring off him in waves. “You’re thinking too small.”
“And you’re thinking too recklessly.”
He stops, turning back to me, eyes burning. “We should be taking this opportunity to take down the Morettis.”
The words hang in the air, heavy and dangerous.
My pulse kicks harder, but I keep my expression neutral.
The Morettis are a large, aligned, powerful family.
They may pretend to be legit, but their quiet cleaning up of problems that cross their paths tells another story.
My cousins Matteo and Elio were two who crossed a line and didn’t live long enough to repair their mistakes.
“We’re not as strong as we used to be. There are few of us left, and you want me to go up against the Morettis? I don’t have a death wish, Alex, even if you do.”
“Don’t be feeble.”
I hear the word female beneath his reply, and I glare at him. His lack of hesitation scares me. He was always decisive, ruthless, and certain of his actions, always thinking he’s right even if he’s not. But what he wants our family to do now is wrong and could get those of us left killed.
“You don’t understand what that would start,” I say quietly.
“We would be better off aligning ourselves with the Morettis than the Dragunoviks.” The words hurt to say, but they’re the truth.
The Morettis, no matter what they’d done to our family, were at least the more reliable and trustworthy of the two options.
Alex’s mouth curves up into a disgusted snarl. “Align ourselves with the Morettis?” he counters. “How the fuck could you be thinking that?”
I hold his gaze, searching for something to reason with, anything to say he could see two sides, but there’s nothing there. He’s not going to listen, not to reason or common sense. He’s lost to this world, and there is no coming back from it.
“You’ve changed,” he says after a moment, his tone assessing.
I almost laugh. If he only knew. “Good,” I reply. “Maybe I’ll stay alive longer than our cousins.” Before he can push further, a knock sounds at the door. The tension in the room snaps, just enough to let me breathe. “Come in,” I call.
The door opens, and Richard steps inside. I feel the ease his presence brings run through my veins. Almost feels out of place here. He takes in the scene in a single glance. Me standing, Alex rigid, the air thick with unspoken threats.
“Bad time?” he asks.
“Yes,” Alex answers immediately.
“No,” I say at the same time. Richard’s mouth curves in amusement. “I’ll go with her answer.”
I don’t miss the way Alex looks at him. Dismissive. Calculating. A problem to be dealt with later.
“We’re done here,” I say, not taking my eyes off my brother. Richard doesn’t know my family or what we’re capable of, and I’d prefer to keep it that way. Not that we’ve been dating long. It was nothing serious yet, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t turn into something more.
“We’re not,” Alex replies.
“We are for now.” Another beat of silence, and I hold my brother’s glare with one of my own. He had better not say anything that could make Richard ask questions later. I don’t need more issues to deal with in my life. I’ve had enough.
Then he exhales, stepping back. “We’ll continue this discussion later. Think about what I’ve said.”
“I already have, and the answer is no.”
“Then think harder.” He turns and leaves without another word, the door closing behind him with a quiet click that echoes louder than it should.
Richard steps closer, watching me carefully now. “You okay?”
I let out a slow breath, some of the tension bleeding from my shoulders. “No.”
His expression doesn’t change. He doesn’t push, and it’s one of the things I like most about him.
“But I will be,” I add.
He nods once, accepting it without question. “You ready to get out of here?”
For a moment, I hesitate. Work calls to me. Plans. Precautions. Control. But I know where that path leads. I’ve walked it before. It ends in exhaustion and mistakes, and I can’t afford either.
“Give me five minutes.”
Richard smiles. “I’ll wait in the lounge.”
He walks back into my apartment, giving me space, as I clean up my desk before moving to my bedroom to freshen up for dinner.
As I check my makeup and put on a little lip gloss, my mind wanders.
Rodin Dragunovik is in my city. My brother wants war and an alliance with the enemy.
The balance we’ve maintained for years is starting to crack.
I reach for my coat and slip it on. I need to sort the Romeros and be done with my family once and for all. I need to keep my daughter safe. I force my expression into something composed, not a reflection of the turmoil coursing through me and head out.
I will protect her. No matter the cost.
“Ready?” I ask Richard, offering a small smile that almost feels real.
“For you…always.”
I take his arm and pretend I’m living another life. That when I step outside this building, I’ll not be Isabella Romero, but just an ordinary woman in an extraordinary city.
A lie. But it’s one I’ve learned to live with.
For now.