Vincent stared out the window, his reflection ghostly in the darkening glass. Personally, he didn't like the direction things were going with Gianna. Not at all. He'd come into this arrangement with a plan—win her trust, then her affection, eventually her heart. Build something real from a foundation of convenience.But the love he was intent on cultivating seemed to refuse to take root. Every time he thought they were making progress, something yanked them three steps backward.Still, he couldn't leave her. Not now. Not with Pablo prowling out there somewhere, hunting for weaknesses to exploit. Not with Stephani circling like a viper, poisoning everything she touched. And certainly not after what Antonio had revealed about the plot surrounding Nonna Elisabetta's inheritance.Vincent had dealt with Antonio—sent the old man scurrying into exile—but the threat remained. Kevin was still in the city, cut off and desperate. Giovanni and Rocco were still plotting, still dangerous. And now t

Giovanni raised his hands in mock surrender. "As you wish." He returned to his seat, leaning back with the air of someone holding all the cards. "If Vincent is staying because he loves Gianna—or thinks he does—then we don't need to convince him to leave. We need to break his heart."Stephani set down her glass, her full attention now on Giovanni. "How?""By making him believe that Gianna doesn't love him back. That she never did. That he was always just a tool to her." Giovanni's smile was cold. "We make her rejection so brutal, so public, so absolute that Vincent has no choice but to accept it's over.""Gianna already wants to divorce him.""Wanting to and actually doing it are two different things." Giovanni leaned forward. "Right now, there's still ambiguity. Still room for Vincent to believe he can change her mind, protect her, win her over. We need to eliminate that hope completely.""How do you propose we do that?""We make Gianna the villain." Giovanni's eyes gleamed with calcu

Giovanni sat in his study, a glass of aged scotch in hand, contemplating his next move. Getting in good with Stephani Palazzo was proving to be the opportunity of a lifetime. The woman had connections that spanned continents, resources that could elevate the Benedetti family to heights even his father had never imagined.But first, he needed to deliver results. And the most pressing task was getting Vincent out of the Moretti family as soon as possible.Giovanni didn't trust Gianna to handle this herself. The woman was too emotional, too conflicted. She'd already walked away from Stephani's meeting without signing, which showed weakness. No, this required a man's touch. A calculated approach.He picked up his phone and made a call. "Kevin. I need to see you. Tonight."Kevin Romano arrived within the hour, practically vibrating with eagerness. He'd been cut off from his family, excommunicated and abandoned, nursing his wounded pride and burning desire for revenge."You said you had a w

Gianna was walking out of the café, her mind still churning with questions about Vincent's mysteriously clean background, when she nearly collided with someone on the sidewalk."Gianna! I'm so sorry, I wasn't—" Kevin Romano steadied her by the shoulders, his expression shifting from surprise to something almost rehearsed. "Are you alright?""I'm fine." Gianna stepped back, putting distance between them. Then she remembered Rocco's words about Vincent kidnapping Antonio. Her eyes narrowed as she studied Kevin's face. "Actually, Kevin, can I ask you something?""Of course. Anything.""Is it true that Vincent kidnapped your father?"Kevin's face crumpled with what looked like genuine pain. "So you've heard about that.""Rocco mentioned it. I didn't believe him at first, but—""It's true." Kevin's voice was heavy. "Vincent and his men stormed our home. Took my father at gunpoint right in front of my mother and sister. I've never felt so helpless in my life."Gianna's breath caught. Hearin

The kiss barely had time to register before Kevin was yanked backward with brutal force. One moment his lips were on Gianna's, the next he was being hauled out of his chair by an iron grip on the back of his neck.Vincent's hand clamped down like a vice, his fingers digging into the pressure points with surgical precision. Kevin gasped, his entire body going rigid as pain shot through his nervous system.Vincent leaned in close, his mouth at Kevin's ear, his voice a deadly whisper. "If you try to kiss my wife again, it will be the last thing you ever do."The words weren't a threat. They were a promise. A statement of absolute fact delivered with the cold certainty of someone who'd ended lives before and wouldn't lose sleep over doing it again.Kevin's blood turned to ice water. Suddenly he was back in his family home, watching his father get dragged away at gunpoint. The same monster who'd terrorized the Romano family was now holding him by the neck, and Kevin could feel the barely l