Signora's Theatrical Revenge

My heart raced as I answered, hoping it was just a coincidence—until I heard his voice, spewing the same crap, word for word. Suddenly, it was like I was starting that nightmare all over again.

“Damn you, Adriana! Won’t you ever get out of our lives? If anything happens to Talia, I swear you’ll regret it!”

I stared at my phone in disbelief. Could it really just be a string of coincidences?

With my mind in a fog, I instinctively repeated the same words I had in the dream. "What the hell are you talking about?"

“Don’t play games with me, Adriana. You know what you did! Where did you hide Talia?” Dominic screamed, his response eerily identical.

I unconsciously laughed. Once or twice, I could brush it off as a coincidence, but three times? The universe was playing some weird joke on me.

That wasn’t a dream.

Dominic and I were heirs to the most powerful crime families in Viridian City and Ravensgate. While he was the obvious choice to lead the Russo family, I was far down the line of succession in mine. Yet, that didn't stop our paths from crossing.

As I clawed my way up the ranks with bloodied hands to become the Madame of the Salvatori family, our encounters grew increasingly frequent. One way or another, we would have ended up killing each other.

But fate has a twisted sense of humor. What began as heated clashes, fueled by generations of hatred and rivalry, soon ignited into something far more passionate. He and I became lovers.

For once, our families finally found some peace. But it all fell apart when I trusted Talia, who used to be a close friend of mine. I had no idea she was hiding deep-seated envy, so I believed the lies she fed me. She drove a wedge between Dominic and me. Then got me framed for sabotaging Russo's deal with the Russians. I was sure Dominic wouldn’t believe the accusations, but instead, he rallied his people and reignited the old war between our families.

That night, the streets of Viridian were soaked in blood. We both lost so many lives, and I had no choice but to pull all Salvatori operations back to Ravensgate. And the worst part? Talia used our rift to worm her way into Dominic’s life and marry him.

I felt betrayed and wanted revenge, but I couldn’t afford it. I had to swallow my pride and keep my family strong. Eventually, things cooled down as our families started avoiding each other. Years later, I moved on, found someone new, and got engaged. Life was never better—or so I thought.

“Adriana!” Dominic’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Listen, Mr. Russo, Salvatori isn’t a center for missing persons. We don’t care where your damn wife is, so try looking somewhere else,” I snapped, the words coming out like I was reading from a script.

“Damn you! I’ve put up with your crap for years, but this is the last straw! The world doesn’t revolve around you, Adriana!”

Dominic’s voice was full of rage, pressing hard on one of my peeves. I should be feeling hurt and mad from here and acting like an ass, but I felt nothing. My head was clear.

I was never the angel he wanted, and that was exactly why Talia had him under her thumb. She knew how high my pride was and played her cards well to get what she wanted.

But something was not clicking. I was too hot-headed to notice it before and missed such an important clue. Dominic was talking like I’d been meddling in their lives all this time when I hadn’t.

“Are you that bitter because I dumped you?” Dominic kept going.

I scoffed. “Get over yourself, Dominic. You’re not the only man in the world. Why would I waste my time on you?”

“Talia is pregnant, Adriana. You’d better bring my wife and child back safe, or I’ll burn everything you’ve built to the ground,” Dominic warned. “You’ve got less than twenty-four hours.”

And just like that, he hung up.

For whatever reason, my clock started ticking again. I don’t know who or what I owe this second chance to, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to waste it.

I hated that Dominic knew me so well because he was right—I was arrogant. He gave me that same warning once before, and I shrugged it off. I took pride in Salvatori’s security and power. The Russos could never breach our defenses. But he did, and he destroyed everything, just like he said he would. The only way that was possible was if he had help from the inside.

I got out of bed, scrolled through my contacts, and made a call.

“Hey, it’s me,” I said as soon as it connected. “I need your help with something.”

I swear to God, Dominic and I would be doing this dance again, and I’m going to do it better.