Chapter One

Mia

The call from my father comes late at night, waking me from a dead sleep.

"I need you to come to the house. Quickly."That was all he said before hanging up on me and leaving me wondering just what the hell was going on.

Arriving at my childhood home—if a giant castle-sized estate could be called that—I was left with a strange feeling of foreboding.

My father's meeting was being held in what I liked to call as a kid the ‘situation room' with not only himself and my mother, but his inner circle consisting of his underboss, consigliere and caporegime.

"What's going on?" I asked as soon as the door was closed behind me.

"We have a situation," Ian, my father's caporegime, said.

"Yeah, I gathered that." Grabbing a seat at the table, I lowered myself slowly into it.

There wasn't much that could rattle my family like this. Most of the other syndicates within the city respected the O'Neil family, as our reputation had been built over the decades of my father being at the helm.

So whatever was going on had to be bad. Really bad.

"I need you to step in for your sister's wedding." My father leaned over the table, his brows pulled together tightly.

What?

Instantly, my palms began to sweat. "What happened to Amanda? Where is she?"

"She's…" He trailed off.

She'd been at her bachelorette party in Cancun for the past two days with an entire crew of soldiers there to make sure she was safe. What the hell could've happened in less than a weekend?

"Abraham," my mother said. "Tell her. She needs to know."

My gaze darted between them, fear striking deep inside my heart.

While I didn't necessarily see eye to eye with my twin sister, who is a mere 43 minutes older than me, that didn't mean I didn't care about her safety. If something happened to her while she was away, on the one vacation I'd decided not to go on, then I was never going to forgive myself.

"She's missing." It was the most dreaded sentence my father could've uttered. "She managed to slip past our soldiers and sneak out last night at some point. She hasn't been seen since."

Oh god.

I leaned over the table to blink a few times, willing my tears not to fall.

"She's been using her credit cards, so we know she's safe. She's just been one step in front of her guards. All of her friends have been cooperating in helping us track her down."

"Why would she do this?" I lifted my head back up to ask. "This—"

My words died instantly on my tongue. I couldn't exactly say this wasn't like her, because based on her track record, it absolutely was. My sister was a flight risk and always had been.

No amount of responsibility given to her from our parents was ever going to be enough to stop her from doing stupid shit.

That was why I was so surprised when she agreed to this arranged marriage our parents had set up. I couldn't for the life of me imagine her settling down and popping out a few kids. Not when her party days were clearly long from being behind her.

"Her friends admitted to encouraging her to meet up with a local college boy," my mother went on, sighing. "They helped her give our soldiers the slip."

Of course they did.

"So, what does that mean for the wedding?" I asked.

"Like I said, I need you to step in for her for the time being. We can't risk making the King family feel like we are not able to follow through on our promise. He won't know that it's you and not your sister." My father moved away from the table, nodding to Ian.

My gaze narrowed. "Wait, so… what's going to happen with the Kings?"

"They're not going to know. You and your sister are identical enough that a temporary switch won't be too noticeable."

My mouth opened to argue but he was probably right. Amanda and I had subtle differences only because we carried ourselves differently. If we were to meet someone in person, they probably wouldn't be able to tell us apart at first glance.

Not to mention, the jitters of a wedding and the alcohol involved would have everyone turning a blind eye.

"I just can't understand why she'd do this." My father sighed again, shaking his head. "After all those letters she sent back and forth with Xavier King… I just can't understand it. I really thought she was ready to settle down."

At that, my father unfolded a piece of paper from his pocket and set it down on top of the table.

My face grew hot as I glanced over at the single piece of paper. I wouldn't even have to read it to know what the contents contained. You see, this marriage is an arrangement between the families to broker a cease fire. The ruthless King family has grown a reputation for taking out any and all competition. The only way my father knew to secure the safety of his beloved daughters was to offer one of them as a sign of good faith. So that the families would be united and co-exist. This would also be a lucrative venture as they would be able to combine not only their territories, but also their supply chains.

"I'll do it." My voice was firm as I spoke. "Don't worry. I'll marry Xavier while you search for Amanda. We can't let this alliance with them slip through our fingers. You've worked too damn hard for it."

My father's eyes shifted towards me, taking on an uncharacteristically watery sheen.

He was never one for showing his emotions like that, but I'm sure the stress of not being able to locate my sister, along with this alliance with the King family hanging in the balance, was enough to throw him off his game.

If my sister had one consistent quality, it was her unyielding knack to send our father into a goddamn spiral.

"Thank you, Mia. I promise it won't be for long. We'll switch you two out the moment I get her ass back here."

I plastered a smile on my face, ignoring the slowly rising worry in my gut.

"No problem. And give her a good ass kicking for me when you do."

"Of course."