Out Of Shadows: The Invisible Girl Shines

For three years, I was the secret lover of Julian, the ruthless Heir of the Moretti Mafia Family.

But at the Underworld's Loyalty Game, he publicly humiliated me to secure his crown.

He announced his betrothal to a powerful mafia princess, telling the laughing crowd that I was just a desperate, low-ranking soldier's daughter who meant nothing to him.

"A mere soldier's daughter is not my type, and she never will be."

He let his men mock me and vandalize my belongings with the word 'whore'.

He even snatched my umbrella in the freezing rain to shield his new queen, leaving me completely soaked and shivering.

When I tried to secretly escape, he intercepted my courier and tore my forged passport to pieces.

He arrogantly ordered me to stay in his territory as a lowly desk worker, promising to visit my bed only in the dark after he married his new wife.

My heart died completely. I finally understood that his vows of protection were just lies, and I was nothing more than a caged animal for his amusement.

So, on the night he publicly crowned his new queen, I bypassed his guards and fled the country forever.

Four years later, the now-terrifying Don tracked me down to Paris.

He dropped to his bloodied knees in the street, crying and begging me to come back.

I just looked at him calmly and walked away.

Chapter 1

Sienna POV:

As the heart rate monitor strapped to my wrist spiked to a dangerous 160 under the unblinking stare of the Moretti Family's Underboss, my burner phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a text from the man who had been secretly sharing my bed for three years:

"We are taking a two-month break, and if you show any weakness tonight and ruin my political game, I will personally put a bullet in your father's head."

The VIP room of the underground Syndicate club reeked of expensive cigars and the metallic tang of copper.

Julian Moretti sat directly across from me-a man who, with a twitch of his finger, could ensure no one in this quarter of Rome saw the morning sun.

At nineteen, he had slaughtered the entire Roman faction with his bare hands just to secure his title as Heir.

He owned this city. He owned the men who lurked in the thick haze of cigar smoke and the reek of cheap spirits. And for the last three years, behind locked doors and drawn blinds, he had owned me.

But tonight was the Loyalty Game, a twisted tradition the old Capos designed to test the younger generation.

They strapped monitors to our wrists. Anyone whose heart rate broke 150 under pressure was forced to enter a blood pact or a contracted betrothal to prove their absolute loyalty to the Family.

As the daughter of a common foot soldier, my first lesson in survival had been to melt into the peeling paint of the walls. I was supposed to be invisible. But they had put me in the chair across from Julian purely as a sick joke.

"Look at her sweat," an Associate sneered from the corner. "The invisible girl actually thinks she has a chance with the Heir."

My chest tightened. I looked at Julian, silently begging for just a fraction of the fierce protection he always gave me when we were alone.

His monitor read a flat, freezing eighty. His dark eyes swept over me without a flicker of recognition; he was looking at a complete stranger.

"Get her out of the chair," Julian ordered, his voice a low reverberation that vibrated through the floorboards and commanded instant obedience. "She is wasting my time."

Two guards seized my arms and hauled me out of the seat. I stumbled back into the shadows. The men laughed, their mocking words hitting me like physical blows.

I was just a desperate girl trying to climb into the Underboss's bed. That was my public identity, and Julian let them believe it to protect his untouchable image.

Then, Valentina Costa emerged from the throng near the bar. The daughter of an allied Capo, she was breathtaking and born for the crown.

She sat in the chair I had just vacated and smiled at Julian.

Julian leaned forward. The dead look in his eyes vanished, instantly replaced by a dangerous, hungry challenge.

A thick hush fell over the room as we all watched the large screen on the wall.

Valentina's heart rate climbed. 120. 150. 180.

Julian's monitor spiked right alongside hers. 140. 160. 185.

The Capos erupted into a deafening roar of approval. Men slammed their heavy glasses onto the tables.

A contracted power couple had just been born right in front of my eyes.

Julian did not look away from Valentina. He didn't even cast a glance at me standing in the dark corner.

I reached into my pocket, my fingers trembling against the cold plastic of my burner phone. I opened his threatening text message and looked at the words again.

I typed a single word in response.

Okay.

I pressed send, and turned my eyes toward the emergency exit door.