From Costello's Shadow to Volkov's Queen

My fiancé, Miguel Costello, was the Don of the Chicago Costello crime family, the most feared name in the underworld.

But to me, he was as cold as forged steel, never showing me a sliver of warmth.

It wasn't until I was shot by our enemies, bleeding out on the cold, unforgiving floor, that I caught him gazing at a photograph of my younger sister, Isla Marino, his eyes burning with a raw, desperate obsession.

It was only then that I finally understood. Miguel had never seen me as his wife. His heart had always belonged to Isla.

Marrying me was just his way of securing his place as my father’s successor.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at our engagement dinner.

In front of everyone, Miguel ruthlessly tore our marriage contract to shreds. Then, amid a chorus of congratulations, he took Isla’s hand and announced their engagement.

And I walked over to my father, the Don of the Costello family.

"Papa, I've made up my mind. I'm willing to take Isla's place and marry into the Volkov Syndicate in New York."

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1

"This engagement is over. The woman I love is Isla. It will never be you!"

At the engagement party, Miguel Costello, impeccable in a custom-tailored black suit, roared those words at me in front of all our guests, his face a mask of rage.

A single, chilling thought cut through the chaos: He’s been reborn, too.

I lowered my gaze in silent acknowledgment.

Looking at his face, still so young yet painfully familiar, I felt a dizzying sense of unreality.

I trusted my intuition completely. In my past life, after ten years as Miguel's wife, he had never once truly seen me.

In that life, my father, the Don of the Costello family, had given the young Miguel an ultimatum.

If he wanted to become the next Don, he had to marry me.

Miguel, ambitious and determined to push the family's power to new heights, had gritted his teeth and agreed.

Meanwhile, my younger sister, Isla Marino, was to be married into the Volkov Syndicate in New York. Unwilling to go, she cried and begged me to take her place, even threatening suicide.

And I, blinded by my secret love for Miguel, refused without a second thought.

I thought marriage would bring me the love I craved.

But reality was a cruel awakening.

Even after becoming the new Don, Miguel never regarded me as his wife, though I was, in name, the Donna.

For a decade, I dirtied my hands running his vast gray-market empire, yet I never received so much as a kind word in return.

I had told myself over and over that perhaps Miguel was just too focused on expanding the family's influence to have time for romance.

That illusion shattered in the last moments of my life.

In the last moments of my life, I saw him open a hidden safe in his study.

It was filled to the brim with Isla's private photographs and love letters.

Miguel gently caressed the letters, his eyes shining with a love and longing he had never shown me.

In that instant, my world shattered.

It wasn't that Miguel couldn't love; he just didn't love me.

Ten years of devotion had earned me neither the family's respect nor the love I had begged for.

Before I could even process the colossal betrayal, a bullet from an enemy tore through my chest.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at my engagement party.

Watching Miguel erupt in the middle of the ballroom as stunned guests looked on, I strode over to my father.

"Papa, I'm willing to take Isla's place and marry into the Volkov Syndicate in New York."

"Are you sure?"

Hearing my father's voice after so long, I had to fight back tears.

"Yes, I've thought it through. Isla and Miguel are in love. I won't be the villain who keeps them apart. From what I hear, the new Don of the Volkov Syndicate is a capable man. I'll be fine."

Having said my piece, I glanced toward the center of the ballroom.

Miguel had his arm wrapped around Isla’s waist, his face alight with the thrill of a young man in love, nothing like the jaded forty-year-old he had become.

I said nothing more and turned to leave the ballroom.

This time, I would let them have each other.

I would not repeat my past mistakes.