Chapter 1

“You are already a member of the family as my only daughter but on this day, I can now say something else that I have waited many long years to say. Welcome to the table, Gabriella. It is time for you to take your place at my side.”

Gabriella Santorini smiled as the room filled with polite applause, every eye on her.

It was the day she had been waiting for for so long, a day many had been looking forward to. After all, since having taken her place at her father’s side, therefore taking on the role of his heir, it meant things would change.

Because, for as much respect as every mobster in this room had for his wife, daughters, mother, and sister, she knew none would ever respect her as head of the family.

It was a man’s duty to provide stability and safety and a woman’s to politely clean his wounds and not ask about the crimson staining his clothes. Foolish men, thinking a woman couldn’t draw blood efficiently. A woman had far more experience with blood in more ways than one.

They would soon learn she was just as much her father’s daughter as they all hoped, but also far more ruthless than they could ever fear. They could think her father forcing her to marry one of their sons would give them power, but she and her father knew her selected Alpha would quickly be brought to heel. For a short while, her future husband could even be named the heir, but Gabriella would be in charge. It was just a matter of time.

“Thank you, Papa.” Turning her attention away, Gabriella rose up to her tiptoes, and kissed her father’s cheek.

While Renaldo Santorini was not tall, his daughter was shorter. Even in heels, she only just came up to his shoulder. That was alright. Her size made her blend into the rest of the room, appearing unassuming, simply another face, and no one would be the wiser. She would be an asset in the coming days, to not be a woman who stood out. At least not when she wanted to be hidden.

“More wine,” her father said, gesturing to the table. “No business tonight. I want you all to enjoy yourselves relaxing and meeting my daughter. You have all known her since she was a child but now, she stands before you all a grown woman. She has an education, beyond what any in this room can boast. She has seen the world. Please, drink, and relax, all of you. But no cards!”

Laughter filled the space, and she smiled at everyone graciously before forcing herself to look up at her father once more.

He was relaxed and enjoying himself, but he seemed so different, standing beside her. Two years away from him with only phone calls and video messages and the rarest of visits meant he felt like a stranger.

Before that, they had spent ages fighting during most of her undergrad years. They had argued over and over again once she knew what he did and who he was. And then, with her gap year, she could have been happy with him for allowing her out into the world, but she had still been distant.

Seven years prior, her father had always seemed larger than life. He was a man who commanded a room, a man who had all the answers. Yet as she stood beside him, she wanted to reach behind the mask and know the truth to all the secrets she would never dare to repeat.

At least hadn’t repeated since their big blowout her junior year of college.

And what they had discussed, what she had learned during her senior year, had been watered down. A mere blink at what her father could do. What he would do. What she could command.

She wanted to know the truth of things. How it all worked. How it was decided. And what her role would be.

“And so, it is done. I am introduced to the family once more,” Gabriella whispered as she linked her arm with her father’s.

“Not quite,” he murmured, patting her hand. “You can trust only half in this room and the other half, while loyal, cannot think for themselves. They all have their own hands to play. Tomorrow, you’ll meet the ones you can really trust.”

His enforcers. He meant his enforcers.

Because everyone in this room, while family, all had their own fingers in various cups and if they could fill them more, they all would. Every person benefited from peace and prosperity. Every family had benefitted from each connection her father made. Every single man in this room had to bow their heads and give coins for continued peace.

And at any point in time, any of them could turn their back on the family if they were stupid enough.

But enforcers?

Those were a different breed altogether.

“Where would you like to start?” she asked, looking around the space as each person moved about.

This wasn’t a true familial gathering, where wives and children would join. No, this was a meeting of the heads of the family, the decision makers or those who thought they were, along with a few lower ranking associates that were there due to loose association, including a few daughters.

That had been her decision, to involve the daughters. There had been push back—or, so her father had said but it was only those her own age and who wanted to be involved. The rest, she would receive, but that would be different.

That night was about making connections and finding new allies. She planned on bringing more women into the family dealings.

No one was more powerful than a woman who wasn’t afraid to draw blood.

“Wait for them to come to you,” her father urged instead and slowly withdrew his arm from hers. “They’re sizing you up.”

Whether that was a comment on her dress size, she wouldn’t respond to it nor acknowledge it. Whatever issue her father had with her waist, and her weight, he would have to shove it. She had never been a small girl and given her father’s waistline, and her mother’s ample size, there was never a question as to what hand genetics would play for her. Never would she be a slim woman. Why he was so shocked she had put on more inches during grad school, she had no idea. He had mentioned something about her heart at one point but the doctors had never said a single word about her weight adding to the issues with her heart. Yes, yes, unhealthy people and their weight and their bloodwork...

Maybe if her father cared so much about weight and diet, he should’ve worried about his own.

She rather liked the way her wrap dress hugged her curves and the way her backside looked in a dress, and heels. If he didn’t want her to be so plump, he should have included a dietician with the long list of doctors he insisted on seeing to her care. She was well, with her heart giving her no new issues and the stress migraines had all faded. She was in excellent health and so what if her butt was big?

A knock came from the side door and with her father, Gabriella turned to look at it.

It was not the same as the entryway. The large doors to the space were guarded by enforcers, all guns kept out of their meeting.

This side door, however...

“Stay here,” he reminded her. “Force their hand.”

“Yes, Papa.” She lifted her glass to her lips and took a sip.

Her eyes followed him.

He cracked open the door, as an older gentleman approached, offering her his hand to kiss the back of hers.

The brief gesture gave her a moment to think, to run through her mind and remember the details that pertained to this man.

Marco Antorelli. Her father’s right hand. Preferred to not water down his liquor with ice cubes. Wife deceased. One nephew. Terrible at cards. Somehow good at dice. A terrible shot. Good at handling the police.

None of these things told her what he wanted as he looked up at her, a gleam in his eye that spoke more of playing dice than cards. Whatever game it was he planned to play, Gabriella would have to be better.

“Your father said you had grown up beautifully but I do not think any of us anticipated exactly who you would become,” Marco hummed, leaning in far too close.

She had known him since childhood, but this level of familiarity was one she did not approve of. Of course, he was better than his nephew, who had always been a pain in her ass and, generally, one step behind his uncle.

“Yes, well, it has been years,” Gabriella answered, smiling.

It would be best to keep smiling, to let Antorelli think she was interested and charming. After all, he did have a voice within the family, not that her father couldn’t silence it if need be.

He would not continue to hold any position once she was in charge. He was supposed to advise her father, but all he was to her was a man who played with dice and whores and nothing more—or at least, so her father complained. Why he tolerated the man still, she had no idea.

“Tell me, was your education satisfactory? Teach you things you can’t learn here with your family?”

Gabriella hummed slightly as the door croaked behind her, admitting her father once more. There was another presence with him, and she longed to turn and look but could not. She had to maintain her position and looking over her shoulder would be a sign of weakness. Not unless her father called for her.

“It has taught me a great many things, which my father agrees will be most useful with continuing my family’s prospects.” She struggled to avoid emphasizing my but it was there all the same. The man might be her senior in age, but she was the heir, not him. “And I find, now that I am returned, that separation will allow those around me to forget the girl I once was and instead acknowledge the woman I have become.”

“Ahh, yes. No one could miss how much like your mother you are. With age, you have become much like her. You have her beauty and thank goodness for that. Better than looking like your father.” Marco laughed to himself, only for his laugh to lead into a cough, allowing Gabriella to pull away as the man stepped back.

Space was good.

“Gabriella, you cannot speak to only one gentleman all evening,” her father said as he stepped into the space. “Come and let me introduce you.”

Thank goodness for that. Although, she had to wonder why her father was separating them. This was, after all, his closest advisor.

Her father looped her arm through his own, giving her no room to protest, not that she would in public. She knew her role, of course, as the dutiful daughter but his actions were confusing.

“He wants his nephew for you,” her father murmured into her ear. “I will shoot him before he puts a hand on you.”

Ahh and there it was. Marco was vying for his nephew to take a place beside her.

Well, then, at least she, and her father were on the same page.

“I would shoot him myself,” Gabriella whispered and smiled at her father—or at least tried to.

Instead, her focus shifted behind her father, toward a figure who stood still as stone. She looked upward, her eyes tracing him, tracing the muscles hidden beneath his well-fitted black suit.

He was large, so large, in fact, he would easily be a hand above every other man in the room if he stepped into it. He was one who commanded a presence, demanded attention.

Well, he certainly had hers.

But, as her gaze reached his face, she froze, unable to mask her emotions and thoughts. Something about him was familiar, eerily so, as though she had seen it in dreams or perhaps nightmares. His eyes, most of all, they screamed at her, screamed of something she couldn’t recall. She knew this man, knew him in a way that spoke to her soul, yet she couldn’t place him. For as much as she could remember, they had never met, yet she knew, without thought, she would know his touch above all others.

Her heart skipped a beat in her chest and a flash of heat ran through her, making her shudder. Her eyes closed involuntarily as she breathed through her nose, forcing herself to calm down. Not now. Please, of all the times... She had taken her meds, had been sleeping well and had been taking care of herself. Why would she suddenly become ill now?

“Are you alright, my dear?” a voice asked, pulling Gabriella’s attention toward two men who had just approached her father.

She smiled at the one who had spoken, an older gentleman.

“It is the Alpha pheromones,” her father murmured in her ear, then nodded to the younger man, who was a step behind the elder. “You will grow used to it.”

Right. An Alpha. They were, of course, off-putting with their scent to the average Beta, not that Gabriella had ever really noticed it. She was still young, though, and often wore her own perfumes. The room was hazy with other scents as well, so the combination had to be screwing with her head. Of course an Alpha’s scent would be making her jittery. It wasn’t her heart at all nor was it the man who loomed against the wall.

“Gabriella, this is a close associate of mine, Jannick Morcan, and his son—”

“Darius Morcan.” The younger man had stepped forward, offering his hand, which she took.

It was a rare man who dared to speak over her father but as he let go of her arm, she realized what this was. A set up. This was an Alpha he wanted her to consider. Someone who was not close to the family but still knew their world.

Something vibrated within her, warm and deep, as Darius pressed his lips to her knuckles. But it was not coming from Darius. Instead, it snaked from behind her, from the looming presence, making her ache to turn around. She knew she should not, that every eye in the place was on her, including her father’s, but she wanted to know why the man behind her was growling .

As Darius stiffened, she knew she was not the only one who could sense it.

“Jannick is my best weapons supplier,” her father explained, seemingly not aware of the danger. “My only one, in fact. Seems to have put everyone else out of business.”

“It means I’m good at my job,” Jannick Morcan added with a chuckle.

Something about it, she didn’t quite like.

“Does that mean you also supply our rivals with weapons, Mr. Morcan?” Gabriella asked politely as she smiled. Darius, thankfully, let her hand go as he stepped back. “If there are no others in business, then surely, our enemies must get their weapons from you.”

Her father looked stunned she would dare to ask such a thing but Jannick Morcan only appeared amused.

“Business is business, Ms. Santorini.”

A hum escaped her lips as she looked from Jannick toward her father, avoiding looking at Darius at all. If this was the best her father could do, she was set for failure. How big and dumb was this guy? Very well, then.

“Of course. Business.”

Her father, thankfully, saved her from trying to find anything else to say as he pulled her to his side. “We shall speak more on business later, Jannick. Darius.”

“Mr. Santorini,” Darius replied with a bow of his head, although his eyes did not leave her.

No. Definitely not. Not happening. She would tell her father as much.

But as they stepped away, Gabriella waited for her father to tighten his hold, only for him to loosen it as he led her back to the head of the table, where their cups sat, untouched.

He picked up his own and Gabriella did the same, trying to keep her eyes on her father, not drifting toward the wall.

The presence was still there, although no longer growling.

“Not Darius, then,” her father murmured. “Another one. There are more.”

Gabriella smiled to herself as she lifted her cup to her lips, pleased. Well then. Her father really did mean for her to make her own choice.

“How many more?” She glanced down, then toward the Alpha at the wall.

He was staring at her. Staring straight at her, and she couldn’t bring herself to look away.

“Ahh, and here approaches another one. He has two sons so you will have to suffer—”

Her father’s movement forced her attention away, and she shifted the cup to her other hand, offering it in greeting. A man with two sons to offer to her, both as dull behind the eyes as Petyr Antorelli, who stood beside his uncle across the room, staring at her. How fortunate, to have so many options.

“Damn Rafael for the cards,” her father muttered, pulling away. “Just a moment, my dear.”

Gabriella bit back a whine as her father stepped away, leaving her to have to wrack her brain and place a name with the face before her.

Sons, two sons, close to her in age, so she had two options to guess from.

“Mr. Calvet, how lovely to see you again,” Gabriella fumbled but the nod told her she was correct. “And your sons. I’m so sorry because I can’t remember...”

The names and faces and men all flew by her rapidly, one after another, back-to-back. Some, she could remember, while others were a stretch beyond anything other than what her father had filled her in with since her return. Each man was worse than the last, most behaving like utter buffoons. All tried to tell her of what they did for the family and of their own importance, most propping themselves up as far loftier than they truly were.

It was boring beyond all belief. What her father had expected her to gain from this evening, she had no idea but all she knew, as she sipped from a wine cup she had twice refilled, was that most of the men working for her father were clueless, while the rest, she could never trust.

Oh and every daughter she had spoken to was far more aware of the family and its dealings than she suspected her father could ever imagine.

At least there was that bit of usefulness but even with the few connections she had made, it far outweighed that she was currently losing her mind.

Because every person who came to her glanced toward her left, looking at the presence, and she refused to look. If she were to look, she would’ve approached him, demanded to know his name and demanded to know what was so familiar to her.

She knew the names of every man in this room, knew their background, their duties, their families. Absurd things, like their favorite drink and their card game of choice. She knew how to bend each to her will and could easily guess what game they would try to play with her.

But this Alpha?

She didn’t know who he was or who his family was. Knowing he was an Alpha didn’t tell her much and given his presence in the room, her father trusted him.

There was more and more people and with every single one, she kept her back turned, keeping the man away from even her peripheral vision. If she would’ve looked, every man in the room would know that she had done so, starting with her father, given she hadn’t graced a single man a second glance yet, which would be a clear sign of interest.

Her eyes needed to be kept anywhere except on him, and she did well with every step.

When she greeted her godfather, however, who was a welcomed face, she lost control. A late arrival, she had quickly dropped the hand of the man she was being introduced to and moved to hug her Uncle Toto extra tight, who was, in truth, her mother’s uncle. She helped him find a drink, then turned to see her father standing with the very man she had been avoiding.

Pausing for only a breath, a very deep one, Gabriella looked at the man who was staring at her, despite her father speaking to him.

“Gabriella, come,” her father called out, interrupting her haze. “There is one more you must meet this evening.”

Making her way toward the forbidden corner, she allowed herself to finally take in the man.

Anyone else would think she was looking at her father, of course, who was turned away from her, speaking once more in hushed tones. The man, the Alpha , was nodding as though listening but his focus was wholly on her, their eyes locked.

Her heart skipped another beat, a reminder of how much wine she had imbibed and of her doctor’s warning to not drink too much with her medication. She clenched her hand, reminding herself to not flinch or fidget. If she would’ve touched her chest—or worse, her neck—everyone would glean she was feeling awkward and somehow, she just knew. Everyone would know that her skin was growing heated and that her stomach was flipping and that she was staring.

This man, he was beautiful and so big. With every step, that was all she could process as she took him in. His jaw was big. His shoulders were big. His suit had to have been custom made. His stature, his eyes, his hands, every part of him that she could allow herself to take in, were... big .

Big and beautiful, although massive was a better word. In his presence, she felt tiny, as though he could pick her up with one hand. It was something no man alive should be able to do, yet she knew, without question, he could do it, and toss her over his shoulder as well.

What was worse, she wanted him to. Wanted him to pick her up and toss her over his shoulder and carry her out, away from the idiots she had suffered all evening. She wanted to know if every inch of him was as big and beautiful as she could see, if his touch would make her heart continue to skip, and she wanted to learn his name, to scream it.

That was enough wine for her for one evening. Because, apparently, wine made her lose her entire mind.

“Matty, my boy, this is...”

Her mind drifted.

Matty .

Something about it didn’t quite fit him. It had to be short for something, like Matthew. That name fit him much better. Alpha Matthew, the enforcer. Her father’s enforcer. Soon, her enforcer.

Hers.

“Matty will be escorting us to our meeting tomorrow. There is none I trust like him.”

Her father’s words of approval were quite surprising. Her father trusted no one—not even Marco on the worst of days. So, for him to bellow it meant something.

“He must be quite trustworthy, then,” she said to her father, unable to find the words to speak to him , her Alpha Matthew the enforcer. “And quite reliable and dependable. Do you think I’ll be able to trust him, Papa?”

It was a game, her words, a teasing show to discover who she could trust but also a question for him. If he was so devoted to her father that he had a place of honor in this room, was he an option? Her father was introducing her to him, after all, and if she had to pick an Alpha, she would only want the best.

He had won all the points in the physical category. She wouldn’t mind sizing him up and discovering just how much more of him was big .

“It would be my pleasure to serve you, Miss Santorini.”

His voice was warm, soothing, even, wrapping around her like a cozy cloak.

Savoring the sound, she closed her eyes, then allowed herself to look at him, to look him in the eyes.

She could lose herself in him so easily.

Raising her glass to her lips, Gabriella smiled softly, not enough to show teeth but enough that she knew her eyes sparkled with mischief.

One more sip, if only to cool her, to give her a moment to think. If he was ready to serve her, she would gladly put him to the test.

“We’ll certainly see, won’t we?”