He Didn't Know Whose Ring I Was Wearing

"No! I am getting married in five days too!"

Lorenzo's face darkened like ink. "Adriana, are you done yet? When did I ever say I wanted to marry you?"

I furrowed my brows slightly. "Lorenzo, don't get ahead of yourself. The man I'm bound to is not you!"

He sneered, low and repeated, the way a made man sneers when he thinks the code has already settled in his favor. "After eight years promised to me, who else would take you, a soiled woman? A girl should know her own worth. Don't foolishly ruin what little future you have left!"

He stepped forward and roughly yanked the diamond ring off my finger, not caring as my finger scraped and the skin tore.

He was full of joy as he tried to slide the ring onto Vittoria's finger, only to find it too small.

"I'll take this ring. Have it resized. How much?"

The jeweler quietly named the figure, and both Lorenzo and Vittoria went pale.

"Adriana, even if you don't want me to marry Lorenzo, there's no need to be so despicable. Bribing the man to raise the price to cheat us?" Her hand fluttered to her throat, to the jewels that weren't hers, a half-second too fast in her denial.

Lorenzo shook his head at me in disappointment. "Adriana, I never thought you'd be this vicious."

They had tried to take my ring, couldn't cover the cost, and then turned to lay the blame at my feet.

The two of them left in a temper, and my phone rang. Dante.

"Do you like the diamond ring? Don't forget, tesoro, you're to try on the gown later."

"Yes. I really like it."

I drove to the atelier Dante had named, a discreet place with no sign on the door, the kind of front the families used for arrangements that were never spoken aloud. The moment I stepped inside, I saw Vittoria running her fingers along a one-shoulder gown.

"Miss Bruno, I'm sorry, but that gown has already been reserved."

"I want this one. Call whoever reserved it. I'll pay ten percent above the price."

When the seamstress saw me enter, her eyes lit with relief.

"The rightful customer is here now. Why don't you take it up with her, Miss Bruno?"

When she saw me, something ugly flashed across Vittoria's face, resentment and anger both.

"Adriana, why do you always haunt me, always set yourself against me? You stole my ring, and now you come for my gown too."

Beside her, Lorenzo's frown cut deep. "Adriana, you said you wanted to break the pact with me, yet here you are forcing marriage on me with a ring and a gown. You have no shame."

"Even if you came crawling to my wedding, I wouldn't spare you a glance. The gown and the ring both go to Vittoria."

I laughed softly. "Who told you buying a ring and a gown means I intend to marry you? You are not the only man breathing in this world."

"You can't afford the ring or the gown, and now you expect me to hand them over for nothing?"

Lorenzo's face shifted between pale and red, and Vittoria, seeing it, covered her face and fled the room.

"Lorenzo, since you've already settled on the ring and the gown, I'm not needed here. I'll go."

"Adriana!" In a fit of rage, Lorenzo snatched the shears from the cutting table and began slashing at the gown, heedless. Behind me, the seamstress went still, the way people go still in a room where the temperature has just dropped. "I'll teach you to stop forcing marriage and breaking Vittoria's heart! You want to get married, do you? Let's see what you'll wear now that the dress is gone."

That gown had been commissioned by Dante himself, top designers kept awake through the night to finish it. A Salvatore order was not something anyone refused.

I rushed forward to stop him, but he shoved me to the floor, and the sharp shears bit into my other hand.

Lorenzo seemed to have lost his mind, tearing the flawless gown into ribbons.

Not satisfied, he ground it under his heel. "Adriana, dreaming of marrying me? Keep dreaming. If you dare ruin my wedding five days from now, your end will look just like this dress."

With that he didn't spare me another glance, hurrying out after Vittoria.

Beside me the seamstress had gone white, and she reached for the phone with shaking hands.

In the fog of it, my thumb pressed hard against the base of my bare ring finger, where the diamond had been. Dante called. "Are you hurt? Don't trouble yourself over the gown. I'll have my consigliere see to the matter."

"I'm sorry..."