V I V I A N A 

My ears are ringing, and my body vibrates with rage, with shock, with betrayal. The applause for Victor is deafening, bouncing off and marble walls and rattling my skull. I am the only one frozen as the crowd surges around me, some moving forward to shake his hand, to kiss his cheek, to congratulate him as the new Don of the Costanzo famiglia.

My father's words hang thick like smoke, suffocating me, making my head spin, making me refuse to believe that this is real.

He's chosen Victor. My younger brother. Not me.

I feel the ground beneath me shifting, as if I am going to fall over. For years, I bled for this family. Trained until my muscles tore, till my knuckles bled, till my hands became calloused. I've killed at my father's command. Moulded myself into the perfect weapon he demanded I be. And now...? Now he hands everything to Victor, who has never lifted more than a wine glass in his life.

A bitter heat rises in my throat. My fists clench at my sides, digging into my palms, and finally, I speak up.

"Father." My voice cuts through the crowd, sharp and cold as ice. The applause slowly falters until the room is dead silent, every head now turned to me.

My father, still standing at the centre, swivels his gaze toward me, and for a second, his eyes are colder than the marble underfoot.

"This-... this must be some kind of mistake." My voice is shaky, but I stand straighter, forcing every ounce of control I can summon into my words. "I am your firstborn. I am your heir. You trained me for this. Everyone here knows it should be me." Gasps ripple through the crowd. No one speaks to Ettore Costanzo like this. But I can't stop. I won't stop.

I then narrow my eyes to my little brother, not being able to help the frown that forms on my face as I shake my head at him.

"Victor is weak," I say, my voice rising. "He has never earned anything. He hides behind your name, while I have fought for it. If anyone deserves to lead this family, it is me." 

Victor's smug grin stretches wide, delighted by the spectacle. While his mother, Lucia, tilts her head, her eyes gleaming with poisonous satisfaction.

And my father.... he does not smile. In fact... he looks furious.

He steps forward, and the air grows heavier with every stride. The crowd parts like water, afraid to be too close to his fury. When he stops before me, his shadow swallows mine whole.

"You dare question me, girl?" His voice is low, deadly, carrying across the room. "You embarrass me. Tonight was meant to be a celebration, and you made it a circus."

"I'm only asking for what's mine!" My voice cracks, but I press on, desperation clawing out of me. "For what you promised me. For what I bled for."

His hand whips across my face before I see it coming. The crack reverberates through the silent hall. My cheek stings, hot, my ears ringing again. He just slapped me... in front of everyone...

"You are nothing," he spits. "Do you hear me? Nothing. Nothing but a liability. Did you truly believe I would hand over this family to you? A woman? A disappointment?"

Each word cuts deeper than the slap, and the weight of his disgust destroys me, squeezing the air from my lungs.

Victor laughs softly behind him, and the sound makes me want to tear my own skin off.

"You were never the heir," my father continues, his voice booming now, cruel enough to echo into every corner. "Victor was always destined for this. He carries the Costanzo blood with pride. He is strong. He is a man. He will lead this family into glory while you..." He pauses, eyes narrowing. "...you will be erased from it."

The crowd stirs, whispers hissing through the room. My stomach drops as I stare back at him with confusion.

"What... what are you saying?" My voice is barely more than a whisper.

His next words destroy me.

"From this moment on, you are no longer my daughter. You are stripped of the Costanzo name, the wealth, the title. You are nothing but a burden I am finally rid of."

It's like the floor vanishes beneath me.

The Costanzo name. My blood. My identity. Gone with just a sentence.

I stumble back, the room spinning, and for a moment, I forget how to breathe. My whole life, I've carried the weight of being Costanzo, even when they treated me like an outcast; I bore it like armour. And now... stripped away in front of everyone, in front of men who once bowed at my presence and women who once whispered my name.

They will forget me. Worse, they will laugh at me.

Tears sting my eyes, but I blink them away. I won't give them the satisfaction.

"Don't look so broken, Viviana," my father says, his voice thick with contempt. "I have found a way for you to be useful, at last."

The silence is suffocating, and every eye is on us, every ear listening and waiting for the bomb my father is about to drop, and finally he does...

"You will be married off." He informs me.

My entire body locks. "What?"

"Yes," he says smoothly, like the decision was always this simple. "Your existence has been a stain on this family long enough. But your name still has value, even stripped of its honour. Your marriage will bind us to a power that exceeds even our own."

My nails dig into my palms until I feel the sting of blood. "You can't-..."

"I can. And I will. You will marry, and you will go quietly, or I will see you in the ground."

My breath comes shallow, my mind spiralling. Married. Sold. Shipped away like property. I thought losing the title was the end of me, but no-... this is the final nail.

Just when I think the humiliation can't get any worse, the double doors of the ballroom slam open.

The music has long since stopped, but the silence now is deafening. All heads swivel toward the entrance... all the attention landing on who has just walked in...

A man...

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Every step he takes is dangerously slow and lethal. His suit is pitch black, the cut sharp, the fabric clinging to a body built like steel. Behind him, an entourage of men in matching dark suits follows, their presence radiating nothing but danger.

But it is the man himself who commands the entire room. His aura is powerful, filling every corner of the ballroom with quiet menace. His eyes... dark, unblinking... sweep across the crowd before settling on me. For a moment, I feel stripped bare under his gaze, as though he can see every thought, every fracture in me.

My father smiles for the first time tonight.

"Viviana," he says, his voice dripping with satisfaction. "Allow me to introduce your future husband."

The man steps closer, his presence consuming the space between us.

"Don Dante Accardi."

The name crashes into me like ice water.

The Accardis... the family whispered about in boardrooms and back alleys alike, feared for their ruthlessness. A name that makes enemies vanish, fortunes crumble, and empires bow.

And this is their heir. Their Don.

The man I am to be chained to.

Dante stops only a few feet from me, and the silence thickens, becoming unbearable. His gaze does not shift, his expression carved from stone. Around him, his men stand like shadows, their hands clasped, their faces stern and focused.

I can't move. Can't think.

Stripped of my name, disowned, and now... sold to the devil himself.

The room seems to close in, the walls pressing tighter. My father's satisfaction, Victor's grin, Lucia's excitement, the crowd's whispers... they all fade into a blur. And now all I see is him.

Don Dante Accardi. The man I am supposed to marry...

V I V I A N A

I am unable to tear my eyes away from him.

Dante Accardi.

For a moment, it feels like he and I are the only people in the room, and the entire world has come to a halt. The air around us is heavy with dread and humiliation as I try to take in what is happening to me. The fact that my own father has just disowned me, and now he wants to marry me off to a complete stranger, but not just anyone... an Accardi, for that matter.

The Accardi family is even more ruthless and feared than my own. Dante has been a Don for 6 years now, and he has ruled his syndicate with an iron fist. It's either you fear him, or you don't, and if you don't, then you certainly have a death wish.

Dante stares back at me, completely silent. He doesn't need to say a word. His presence is enough to silence the entire room and leave everyone on edge, making them shrink back as if his presence alone were a dagger pressed against their throats. He radiates authority, violence, danger and... inevitability.

And me, I am simply suffocating, crumbling beneath his dark gaze.

"No..." I whisper, choking up on my own words as I shake my head, my voice raw and hoarse. "No... I won't." I declare.

Dante's eyes narrow at me, dark grey orbs that meet my blue ones as he steps closer, the polished leather of his shoes barely making a sound against the marble. My heart thunders in my chest and my pulse stutters, but still I stand my ground. I can't let him see how terrified I am, but I'm afraid it might already be too late for that.

"Yes, you will." My father's voice cuts in sharply, making my head snap towards him. He doesn't even bother to look at me; instead, his gaze is focused solely on Dante, a sinister, sadistic smile printed on his lips, as I he is handing over a gift. Like I'm already gone.

Disbelief claws out of me as I continue to shake my head. "Father, please... You can not do this." I find myself begging. I don't know why. I am better than this. But for some reason, I can not stand the thought of being wed to a stranger, to such an evil and cruel man. If there's a way I can get out of this, then I'll try whatever I can.

He finally looks at me then, but his expression is devoid of compassion. "You lost the privilege of choices the moment you opened your mouth tonight. Consider yourself lucky I don't bury you instead." His words are like a venom seeping through my entire body, slowly paralysing me.

"Besides... your future husband has already paid for you in full." My father says with a bright grin.

"$15 million, up front." He declares instead of outrage, the crowd erupts into a burst of applause and subtle cheers, leaving me frowning in confusion and betrayal. I look around the room, and everyone seems completely impressed, especially Lucia and my brother, Victor.

"You sold me off?" I let out in pure disbelief, right before my eyes focus on Dante, seeing that he doesn't even bother smiling, making me even more terrified than I was before.

"Yes. Don Accardi is quite convincing." He says, and the cruelty in his voice guts me more than any blade ever could.

The pain slowly turns to anger as pure rage surges through my body.

"I'd rather die than go with him," I spit out, surprising even myself with the venom in my tone. My eyes cut toward Dante as I face him. "I don't care how much you paid my father; I don't want you. I don't need you. I will never belong to you." I snap at him.

The crowd stirs, whispers darting like vipers through the air. A woman daring to speak to him like that... It's unthinkable.

For the first time, Dante's lips twitch. Not into a smile, but instead, into something much colder, darker... amusement laced with threat.

"You are do belong to me, dollface." He says, and his voice does something unexpected to me. It is smooth, like velvet, rolling over me like smooth. It is deep and hoarse, his accent rich, American-Sicilian, and it immediately sends a series of chills running across my skin.

I am unable to say a word, and our eyes lock, his calm against my fire, and the tension between us only rises into something no one else in the room can ignore.

My father chuckles darkly, breaking the silence. "Take her, Accardi. Do whatever you please with her. She's no longer my problem." My father speaks out, and his words slice me open, leaving my heart bleeding.

Dante doesn't hesitate. He nods and lifts his hand, and three of his men step forward instantly. Their movements are silent, efficient, like predators closing in on prey. They surround me, giving me nowhere to run to, and before I know it, strong hands clamp down on my arms, gripping hard enough to bruise. I thrash against them, kicking wildly, my nails clawing at their sleeves. "Don't fucking touch me, let me go! Get your hands off me!" I scream and fight, but it is futile, and I have no chance against their matched strength.

"Father, you can't do this! I won't go! I won't! I SAID FUCKING LET GO OF ME OR ELSE I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!" I scream at them, continuing to fight them. One of my arms breaks free, and immediately it does, I am able to scratch one of the men across the face, and as soon a she is distracted, I drive my foot right up his nether-regions, making him yell out in pain and crumble to the ground.

The crowd gasps and watches me take on 3 grown men, none of them bothering to help.

Dante doesn't move at first. He stands still, watching me fight, his expression... somewhat impressed. But then, before I realise it, he closes the distance between us in two strides, his shadow falling over me as he stands almost an entire foot taller than me. All my movements cease, as if my body is simply paralysed from his gaze as I stare up at him. He crouches slightly, his face inches from mine, his eyes dark and alluring...

"Enough," he murmurs, his voice barely above a whisper. But the command sends an entire low wave of fear through my body.

I am, if only for a moment, my body trembling against the hold restraining me.

"You have spirit," he says softly, his gaze tracing my face with something sharp, like a predator studying prey. "That will make this interesting. But do not mistake spirit for power. You are leaving here tonight. With me. Whether you walk or whether you are dragged..." his eyes flick to the men gripping me, "...makes no difference."

His breath ghosts against my cheek, sending a chill racing down my spine.

I force myself to meet his gaze, my voice trembling but fierce. "Then drag me. Because I will never go willingly."

His jaw tightens, but his eyes... God, his eyes.... glitter with something extremely dangerous. Admiration, or perhaps amusement? Whatever it is, I can't tell.

He straightens then, giving a sharp nod to his men. And just like that, I'm hauled forward, my heels scraping the marble, the crowd parting in silence as if witnessing an execution. They pin my wrists behind my back, bowing me out like a criminal and begin leading me out of the room.

My voice shatters the stillness. "I hate you! Do you hear me? I hate all of you!" I thrash harder, my cries echoing through the hall. "Mark my word, you are going to pay this!" I continue to scream at them until I am completely out of the room.

They may have gotten rid of me now, but this won't be the last time they hear of me. They've taken everything from me, and I will make sure I take it back... I will make them pay...

V I V I A N A

The moment I am dragged through the doors of the ballroom, the noise behind me vanishes, swallowed by thick walls and distance, and all that remains is the sound of my own voice tearing itself apart as I scream, curse, threaten, beg, anything to keep myself from disappearing into the night like this, like a body being removed from a crime scene.

Hands are locked around my arms, fingers digging deep and forcing me forward through corridors I know better than my own reflection. This house has watched me grow, watched me bleed, watched me train until my body shook, and now it watches me be ripped out of it without protest. Servants press themselves against the walls as we pass, their eyes lowered and their mouths shut tight. No one intervenes, no one even flinches, and that makes me fight even harder.

My heels scrape against the marble, my dress tangling around my legs as I snarl like a feral animal, twisting, biting, kicking wherever I can reach. That's when one of my elbows slams backwards and connects with a rib, followed by a grunt from one of the guards holding onto me. I feel the grip around my right arm loosen for half a second, and that's all the time I need. I rip my arm free long enough to slam my palm into a throat, making the man choke and stumble, eventually letting me go as well. Now, there's no one holding onto me, and the moment I'm free, I feel something wild ignite inside my chest.

Now's my chance.

And there's no way in hell I am leaving quietly.

But before I know it, I feel someone yank my hair, pain spreading across my scalp immediately and causing rage to take over completely, cancelling out fear and thought and leaving only instinct. I hold onto the wrist of the person holding my hair and twist sharply, ducking low before driving my knee up hard towards his stomach. I feel it connect, then hear the man grunt out loud, the air leaving him completely, just as he finally lets go of my hair. Another man lunges, and I immediately grab his wrist, bending it the wrong way and soon hearing a sharp crack, right before he screams. I am breathing hard, my lungs burning, blood roaring in my ears, and the world narrowed to movement and survival.

They did not expect this.

I rip free again, stumbling but upright, and my gaze snaps to the holster at one man's hip... A gun... so close it feels like destiny reaching out a hand...

And so, I move before anyone can stop me. My fingers wrap around the grip, the feeling all too familiar, as I tear it free and spin, raising it with both hands, and pointing it right at the man who's behind all of this...

Don Dante Accardi...

The very same man who watched me take down his men single-handedly.

My arms tremble, but my aim is true, and my training takes over. Years of drills, years of muscle memory have all led me to this moment. To face the man that's trying to kidnap me...

He stands at arm's reach, watching me carefully, his gaze momentarily shifting from the gun, then to me.

He doesn't move a muscle, and looks far from a man afraid of being shot. His gaze is locked on me, dark with intent, and something in his eyes tells me he already knows how this ends.

Without thinking, I fire.

The sound rips through the night, sharp and muffled through the silencer fitted at the tip of the gun, and at the exact same moment, hands clamp around my wrists and wrench them upward. The shot tears into the open sky, sparks flaring somewhere above, and the recoil jolts through my arms uselessly as the gun is forced from my grip.

My breath leaves me in a broken sound as I stare at him in disbelief. I have never seen someone with such reflections...

As he holds onto my wrists, forcing my arms high until my shoulders scream, he tugs me towards him until my body collides with his, forcing me to look up at him, our faces only inches apart. My pulse hammers so hard it feels like my chest might split open. I quickly snap out of it, realising that no matter how handsome he is, this is the same man who is trying to kidnap me and force me into a marriage I never asked for. And so I begin to thrash, trying to bring my knee up, trying to bite, trying to do anything to free myself, but he shifts with me, close enough that I can smell him, clean, dark and dangerous, close enough that his presence crowds every thought out of my head.

"That's enough, dollface," he says quietly and smoothly, as if stating a fact that has always been true.

"Fuck you." I hiss at him, just as I stop fighting him, realising that I'm only wasting my energy. My wrists twist painfully, and that's when he reaches up to my hands and takes the gun away. That's when he spins me around and pins my hands to my back instead, forcing my back to his chest.

"It's gonna take a little more than that for you to be free of me..." He whispers into my ear, his face moving towards my neck where his breath would lightly fan my skin. For a moment, I shut my eyes, trying my best not to let him get to me. I know he is simply toying with me, and I refuse to give him the satisfaction of knowing... he is starting to get to me.

Before I can even react, he spins me around, this time so I'm facing him again, and bends slightly, hauling me up in one smooth motion and throwing me over his shoulder.

The world tilts violently, and the blood immediately rushes to my head just as I yell out in surprise, trying my best to keep my head up.

"No!" I scream, pounding my fists uselessly against his back, my voice cracking, shredding itself apart. "Put me down! You bastard, put me down!" I continue, but he doesn't care.

His arm hooks around my thighs, locking me in place, his other hand still pinning my wrists together, preventing me from striking or clawing. I twist and scream, my rage spilling out of me in ugly, broken sounds. He began walking, carrying me down the steps, through the front doors gates and toward the waiting car.

I see the mansion upside down as we pass it, lights glowing warmly behind the windows, my home standing tall and indifferent as I am carried away from it like trash being taken to the curb.

This is it.

This is how I leave.

The car door opens, and the cool air hits my face. causing my throat to tighten as my chest seizes, and suddenly the fight drains out of me all at once, leaving only something far worse behind.

Grief.

It crashes into me without warning, violent and uncontrollable, and my body betrays me completely. Tears spill from my eyes, hot and furious, blurring everything as my hands curl into fists against his shoulder.

"I hate you," I choke, the words torn from somewhere deep and wounded. "I hate him. I hate all of you."

Dante pauses for half a second before lowering me into the back seat. He does not drop me or toss me aside. Instead, he sets me down carefully, still holding my wrists until I am seated, until I am contained, until escape is no longer an option.

Then he releases me and doesn't say a word to me. Instead, he lets out a sigh and steps back, the door shutting behind him.

I face forward, my hands shaking as sobs rip out of me, and I press my forehead to my knees, my entire body trembling with fury and loss and humiliation. I cry not because I am weak, but because everything I was has been ripped out of me in one night, because my father erased me with his voice. After all, my name has been stripped from my bones, because no matter how hard I fought, I was still taken.

That's when the car begins to move, and somewhere deep beneath the tears, beneath the pain, beneath the rage, a burning feeling forms... a taste for vengeance that needs to be satisfied...

All I know... they think this is the end of me... but they haven't heard the last of...

Every last one of the Costanzo family...