I woke up to find myself lying alone in the middle of a massive bed big enough for four people.

I reached out; the sheets on the other side were crisp and cool, as immaculately made as they had been last night.

I pushed myself up, my heavily bandaged wrists throbbing with a dull ache, and made my way downstairs.

The penthouse lobby was suffocatingly silent, broken only by the heavy footsteps of armed guards pacing the perimeter.

I found Caspian sitting at the head of a long dining table.

Flanked by silent enforcers, his deep, intense gaze was locked on a syndicate ledger.

He didn't look up at me when I walked in.

The estate's Capo, an older man in a crisp suit, stepped forward with a stiff, formal demeanor.

"Good morning, ma'am."

"Sit down and eat," Caspian ordered, his tone flat and authoritative.

I sat at the absolute furthest end of the table, putting as much distance between us as possible.

The Capo placed a heavy crystal bowl in front of me.

It was a specialty mango dessert, its sweet aroma so rich it was almost nauseating.

"Miss Elena had this sent over first thing this morning," the Capo announced, his voice sharp enough to carry across the room. "It is Miss Elena's favorite."

The smell, coupled with the nakedly insulting gesture, sent a wave of nausea through me.

I shoved the crystal bowl away, the glass screeching harshly against the tabletop.

"Take it away."

Caspian finally looked up from his ledger.

His deep eyes narrowed, his gaze so piercing it felt as if he were trying to pin me to my chair.

"Know your place, Sienna. Eat your food."

I met his murderous glare without flinching, my resolve only hardening.

"I have no right to eat the leftovers of another woman's favorite dessert in my own home."

I didn't know what my relationship with Caspian was like during the five years I couldn't remember. But we were supposedly husband and wife, yet he didn't even know I was allergic to mangoes.

The guards around the room shifted uneasily, the rising tension in the air becoming almost thick enough to choke on.

Caspian slammed his pen down, the sharp crack echoing like breaking bone.

"Throwing this ridiculous, childish tantrum over a gift—stop embarrassing yourself."

Before I could answer, the heavy double doors of the dining room were pushed open.

The guards immediately parted, bowing their heads slightly in a show of deep respect.

Elena glided into the room.

She wore a designer dress that perfectly accentuated her figure, her smile stiff and insincere.

The Capo rushed forward, hurriedly pulling out a chair and placing it right next to Caspian.

"Good morning, Miss Elena."

Elena rested a slender hand on Caspian's broad shoulder before looking across the table at me.

Her gaze slowly drifted down to my bandaged wrists.

"Sienna, I was so worried. How are your little scratches healing?"

I didn't lower my head, nor did I cry.

I leaned back in my chair and looked at her.

"Did you come all this way just to show off? Or do you always enjoy crashing a married couple's breakfast uninvited?"

Elena's fake smile vanished, replaced by a look of outright hostility.

An angry flush crept up her neck.

She instantly turned to Caspian, her eyes widening to look incredibly vulnerable.

"Caspian, I just came to check on her. I don't know why she's being so cruel to me."

Caspian slammed his hand against the table.

The sound echoed in the high-ceilinged room like a gunshot.

"Enough."

At the Don's command, the entire room fell dead silent.

He glared at me, his face radiating absolute, unquestionable authority.

"Sienna, your unreasonableness is exhausting. Elena is my guest and is under my protection. You will treat her with respect."

I looked at the man who was supposed to be my husband.

He was actively protecting the woman who had openly humiliated me in my own dining room.

Elena appeared exceedingly gentle: "Don't be angry, Caspian. I came specifically to invite you to my celebration banquet..."

After saying that, she seemed to suddenly realize I was standing right there, and it would look bad not to invite me. She had no choice but to say to me, "Will Miss Sienna be joining us as well?"

I originally had no desire to attend, but seeing the smug triumph in Elena's eyes, I changed my mind.

A rebellious sneer graced my lips.

I stood up, pushing my chair back with a harsh scrape of wood against stone.

"Of course. I will respect her immensely. I assume we're all attending her Syndicate's dinner tonight? I wouldn't miss it for the world."

The syndicate gala was held at a sprawling estate, a grand affair where the air was thick with the scent of expensive cigars.

I walked in with my arm linked through Caspian's.

The moment we stepped into the VIP lounge, the whispers rolled in like a tide.

Capos and their underlings stood in small clusters, their gazes sweeping over me with thinly veiled contempt.

"Look at her, the fragile outsider." A voice drifted from a corner.

"She probably threatened to jump off a roof to force him to bring her tonight."

Caspian ignored the muttered insults, leading me toward the inner circle seating.

He walked straight to the center of a deep blue velvet sofa and sat down.

Elena was already there, settling in on his right side, a crystal champagne flute held casually in her hand.

There was no seat left for me.

I stood in front of the low coffee table, watching Elena's loyal sycophants sneer at each other.

A high-ranking soldier leaned back and, with clear intent, blew a thick cloud of smoke in my direction.

"You look tired, Sienna. Maybe the mafia life is too tough for a civilian."

In the past, I would have silently begged Caspian to protect me.

Tonight, I looked the soldier dead in the eye.

"And you look like a man overcompensating for his lack of power by insulting women," I replied calmly.

"Does your Boss know you sit around gossiping all day like a bored housewife?"

The soldier's face darkened with rage, turning a purplish red.

The lounge fell dead silent.

Caspian gripped the armrest of the sofa, his knuckles turning white.

"Drop it, Sienna," he warned in a low voice.

I let out a short, dry laugh.

I turned my back on the most dangerous men in New York.

"I'll leave you to your real family, Don Caspian."

I walked out of the lounge, ignoring the renewed whispers of men predicting I'd come crawling back in tears.

I needed fresh air.

I wandered through the estate's manicured gardens until I found the magnificent swimming pool, its water glowing with a deep, artificial blue beneath the night sky.

The sharp click of heels against stone sounded behind me.

Elena stepped out of the shadows, her fake sweetness instantly gone.

"You're pathetic, Sienna," she sneered in a low voice.

"You think a few sharp words will change anything? You have no power here."

I turned to face her, a wave of exhaustion washing over me.

"Then why don't you make him break his oath? Make him divorce me and take him. I don't want him."

Elena aggressively invaded my personal space, her eyes flashing. "This family belongs to my bloodline. You are a stain on his reign."

"Let's see how much he really cares about you."

"I don't want to see—" Before I could react, her hands slammed hard against my chest.

She shoved me backward.

My heels slipped on the wet stone edge.

I crashed heavily into the water, the freezing cold rushing instantly into my nose and mouth.

The water burned my bandaged wrists, a searing pain tearing through the deep, unhealed wounds. The newly stitched veins groaned in agony from the irritation, and the gauze was instantly soaked with fresh blood.

I couldn't swim!

Panic gripped my chest as I thrashed beneath the surface.

My heavy, waterlogged gown dragged me down into the deep end like a stone.

Through the distorted, churning surface of the water, I saw figures rushing toward the edge.

Then I saw Caspian dive in.

But as I sank toward the bottom of the pool, I watched his dark silhouette slice through the water.

He swam right past me.

He reached for Elena—who had jumped in to play the victim and cover her tracks—and pulled her toward the surface.

A sharp pang of pain pierced my heart.

The very last shred of love I had for him drowned in that suffocating water.

Another pair of arms grabbed me from behind, hauling me upward with all their might.

I broke the surface, gasping for air, coughing violently as I spat pool water onto the rough flagstones.

My savior was a man I didn't recognize. He knelt beside me, his hands on my trembling shoulders to steady me.

A moment later, Caspian walked over, water dripping steadily from his ruined, expensive suit.

"Are you hurt?" he asked with a frown, his tone flat.

A cold, crystal-clear fury flooded my exhausted muscles.

I stumbled to my feet, soaking wet and shivering.

I didn't lunge at him or cry about my grievances.

Instead, using every last ounce of my remaining strength, I raised my arm and swung.

My palm struck the Don's face hard, the sharp crack echoing over the water.

The deadliest men in the syndicate gasped in shock, the sound of weapons being drawn from holsters slicing through the air around the pool.

Caspian didn't move. He took the blow head-on, his head turning slightly from the impact, before raising a hand to halt his guards.

"I want a divorce," I said, my voice trembling with rage.

"Consider that slap my parting gift."

The atmosphere at the gala turned freezing cold.

Dozens of armed men stood frozen in place, watching helplessly as their autocratic ruler was viciously slapped by his civilian wife.

Caspian slowly turned his head to face me, every movement deliberate and terrifying.

He closed in on me with pure, predatory intent.

I flinched, a look of revulsion curling the corner of my mouth.

My reaction made his expression turn ferocious.

"That was your severance pay," I repeated, my voice shaking but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Caspian remained silent.

He reached out a massive hand, his grip clamping down on my forearm like an iron band, carefully avoiding the bleeding bandages.

He yanked me toward him, preparing to drag me out of the estate.

Just then, the man who had saved me marched right up to him and grabbed my other hand.

"Let her go, Caspian. She just demanded you break your oath in front of your entire syndicate."

Caspian stopped.

The lethal aura radiating from him was so thick it was suffocating.

"This is none of your business, Luca." He stared at Luca's hand on my skin, the muscles in his jaw ticking slightly.

Luca held his ground, leveraging his position as a partner.

"While you were busy saving someone else, I just pulled your wife off the bottom of the pool. You owe me."

Caspian's jaw worked.

He looked at Luca with dead, hollow eyes.

"The West Side Port operations are yours. Take it over, and stay out of my sight."

The remaining mobsters murmured in shock.

The Boss had just given up a massive, highly profitable territory just to buy Luca off and keep him away from me.

Caspian didn't wait for a reply.

He dragged me out of the estate, his unrelenting grip bruising my skin.

He shoved me into the backseat of his armored SUV. The ride was bumpy, the city lights blurring through the tinted glass in suffocating silence.

We didn't go to the penthouse.

Instead, he dragged me into a heavily guarded suite in a downtown hotel.

He pulled me straight into the massive marble bathroom.

"Get in," he ordered, pointing at the empty bathtub.

"Screw you!" I snarled.

"No."

He reached over and turned on the warm water.

Before I could escape, he grabbed me by the waist, hoisted me up effortlessly, and forced me into the filling tub, fully clothed.

He stepped in with me, his expensive shoes submerging in the rising water. The warm water soaked my ruined dress and splashed over my arms, sending an immediate, searing sting through the deep cuts on my wrists.

I gasped, the pain almost blinding.

He pressed my back against his chest, his thick arms wrapping tightly around me, locking me firmly in place.

His possessiveness flared like wild fire, heavy and dark, pressing down on me like a boulder.

He buried his face in my soaking wet hair.

"Sienna, thank God you're alive."

His voice was a deep, suppressed whisper in my ear.

Unable to break free from his embrace, I could only stare blankly at the marble wall ahead.

"Drop the act, Caspian."

I knew the truth.

He had saved his precious Mafia Princess first.

I figured this sudden show of intimacy was nothing more than a twisted sense of territoriality, triggered by another man touching his "property."