Reborn into His Arms But My Devil Returned Too

I tried everything to get out of marrying Riccardo, but nothing worked.

Despair and pain were my constant companions.

The next morning, the butler handed me an invitation.

"Miss Liliana, an invitation to the grand opening of the Black Diamond Club."

I looked at the embossed skyscraper on the card, and a sharp pain shot through my chest.

That club. It was where Angelo and I had our first real date.

He told me he would buy the building one day, that he would give me the best of everything.

Now, it was built, but he wasn't the owner.

"I'm not going." I pushed the invitation back.

"Liliana," my father said, coming out of his study. "The Moretti family is one of the hosts. You will attend with Riccardo. You need to show everyone where the Falcone family stands."

I closed my eyes. "I understand."

The party was in a penthouse club at the top of a new Manhattan skyscraper.

The noise inside was suffocating, so I slipped out onto the observation deck.

You could see the entire New York City skyline, but the hundred-meter drop was terrifying.

"Liliana."

A familiar voice made me turn.

Angelo stood there in a dark grey, subtly patterned suit, looking sharp and cold against the glittering night.

But it was the woman next to him that made my heart stop.

Gia.

Poured into a champagne-colored dress, she clung to Angelo’s arm, a sickeningly sweet smile plastered on her face.

"Liliana," Gia said sweetly. "All alone in the cold? I heard you were a little short on cash lately. You tried to sell Mother's 'Heart of Eternity' sapphire, but Mr. Moretti bought it back at a high price. He must really love you."

Her words were a dagger to the heart.

That sapphire was my last resort. I was going to sell it and use the money to disappear.

Riccardo had cut off that escape route, too.

He bought the gem but put the money in an account he created for me.

I couldn't touch a single cent.

"Gia, it's windy. You'll catch a cold," Angelo's voice was soft.

He produced a pocket square and gently dabbed her lips, where a single drop of champagne lingered. The gesture was so casual, so intimate, it twisted the knife in my gut.

Then I saw the platinum cufflinks on Angelo's wrist.

I had given them to him. They were engraved with our initials.

As if feeling my gaze, Angelo frowned.

Without a word, he unfastened the cufflinks. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he tossed them into the fountain on the deck.

"Old things," he said, his voice flat. "They were never really mine."

The cufflinks sank to the bottom, just like our past.

I couldn't take it anymore. I turned to run.

Just then, a piercing fire alarm blared through the building.

The sprinkler system kicked on, causing instant chaos.

Guests screamed and scrambled for the fire exits.

"Liliana, this way!" Gia suddenly ran back and grabbed my hand. "I know a shortcut!"

Before I could question her, she was pulling me toward the other end of the hall, toward a bank of service elevators.

The door to one was eerily ajar, revealing a pitch-black shaft. The fire alarm had cut power to all the elevators.

"Gia, we can't go this way!" I tried to pull my hand free.

"Why not?" A twisted smile spread across Gia's face. "Isn't this perfect? The scene of a perfect accident."

My blood ran cold. "What did you do?"

"I just wanted you to disappear!" she screamed, shoving me with all her might toward the open elevator shaft.

I was ready for it. I grabbed the doorframe, but my heels slipped on the wet floor.

As I lost my balance, I lunged and grabbed Gia’s arm.

"If I go down," I snarled, "you're coming with me!"

We fell into darkness, her shrieks echoing above us.

Before the pain hit, I felt my body slam into a hard, metal surface.

We had landed on top of the elevator car.

I felt like my spine had snapped. I couldn't move.

Gia was just scraped up. She looked around in terror, then at me.

From above, I heard Angelo’s desperate shouts.

"Gia!"

A beam of light cut through the darkness. I saw his face, filled with fear and worry.

"Angelo! Help me!" Gia screamed first. "The elevator's going to fall! She... she tried to take me with her!"

I was in too much pain to speak. All I could do was weakly reach a hand toward him.

The elevator cables groaned, a sickening, high-pitched screech.

The car began to sway, ready to plunge into the abyss.

"Don't be afraid! I'm coming!" Without hesitating, Angelo used a fire hose to rappel down to the elevator car.

But he went to Gia first.

The moment Angelo lifted her, a chunk of concrete, loosened by the fire, fell from the ceiling above me. It crashed down onto my back.

I heard a sickening crack. My spine. The sound was absolute. Final.

"No!" Angelo roared in agony.

He secured Gia to a rescue line, sending her up first.

Only then, after she was safe, did he bark an order for his men to get me.

They pulled me up to safety.

But as I lost consciousness, I knew that my legs, and my life, had shattered with that one, final crack.