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CHAPTER ONE

Gianna

Song- We No Speak Americano, Yolanda Be Cool, Dcup

It’s almost as if the universe is mourning Fabio. Clouds fill the LA skies; the cemetery is silent, and yet, there isn’t a wet eye surrounding the coffin.

My brother. Fabio Milano. Older than me by three years, and didn’t I fucking know about that.

Traitor. Asshole. Not worth a single tear.

I cross my arms over my chest, already itching to get these lace sleeves off. My father instructed me to look presentable and hide my tattoos as my uncles flew in from Sicily for the funeral. Recently, they’ve spent more time in Los Angeles attending funerals than they have been in Italy.

And I agreed, because I always do. I learned that the hard way. The only way to survive in this family, the only way for me to lead the Milanos into the next generation, is to follow my father’s orders.

Dom, my youngest brother, my last surviving brother, shifts uncomfortably beside me as the dark wooden coffin is lowered. The priest begins to read a prayer, and I bite my lip to stop the smile that's threatening to appear.

Heaven. There is no way. I’ll be seeing my brother again one day, but it won’t be up there; I’ll join him in hell and find a way to kill that bastard all over again. He is responsible for the death of Max, my brother, and he will pay for that for eternity.

My father steps forward as we all get into a line. He takes the dirt, whispers something with his eyes closed, and throws it onto Fabio’s coffin. My uncles do the same.

When I stop in front of the priest, I look right into his soul, dig my fingers into the bowl of dirt, and step in front of the six-foot hole. I’m looking down on Fabio, which was always his nightmare… me becoming more powerful than him.

I smile. I can’t help myself. And I don’t care who sees it. I toss the dirt on him, followed by the single red rose, which has my blood on it from the thorns that have been digging into my fingers this past hour. Fab would hate that I outlived him. That a woman is going to come into power. I’ve fought for this my entire life. I was going to succeed my father, with Max and Dom by my side. But that will never happen because Fab took that away from me. My father is the one who branched out and took the Milano family to LA, but he’s doing it wrong. He’s going to get us all killed if he carries on with his dated views and ways.

“Sei morto proprio come hai vissuto, da piccolo stronzo,” I whisper. You died the same way you lived, like an asshole. My final words to Fabio.

My heels sink into the grass as I make my way over to my father. I notice his greying, slicked-back hair; he’s short for a man, but he’s built like a tank. Him standing next to my uncles is a true picture of the Italian mafia—the black suits, tanned skin, and gold watches you could sell to buy a house. My father glances at me for a second, then abruptly looks away, dismissing me. Tipping my chin up, I take another step forward and slip right beside him.

“Don’t look so pleased with yourself,” he mutters under his breath.

Dom is already next to me. Silent. Waiting to defuse the next bomb that I light.

“I did what I had to do to protect our name, Father.” I whisper with a sweet smile.

His jaw tenses as he pulls out a cigar and lights it, still not looking at me. He’s made it quite clear over the last few weeks that I am very much in trouble. He finally says, “You went against the Milano rule, Gianna. Daughter or not. I will be discussing your punishment with your uncles tonight.”

A shiver runs down my spine, but I don’t let him see my weakness; I simply nod. The rule is you don’t kill your familia. But another rule is you don’t betray them either. So I’d say Fabio and I are even now. He betrayed me, and he’s in the dirt after I stabbed him in the heart.

“I look forward to hearing about that. I’ve got work to do,” I tell him.

I politely say goodbye to my creepy ass uncles before turning and walking away with Dom following right beside me. Matteo, my bodyguard, opens up the driver's door to my Rolls-Royce.

“Thank you,” I say as I slip in behind the wheel and turn on the engine before Dom is even in the passenger seat.

“I need to get the fuck out of here, Dom,” I say, putting my foot to the floor.

His head slams back against the rest as he fumbles to put on his seatbelt. “You want to kill your last surviving brother, huh?”

I tap my hand on his arm. “Of course not, don’t be a pussy. Plus, if you die, then I’ve lost my last reason to live.”

His glare burns into the side of my head; I don’t care. Dominic is never really mad at me. He’s always been my favorite brother; he’s loyal to me. We’ve always been thick as thieves, even if my father has tried to shove him out of the family since we were kids. But it wasn’t Dom’s fault that my dad had an affair with his secretary and got her pregnant. He killed her after she gave birth and raised Dom with us. But he was never treated the same as the rest of us. Maybe that’s why I made sure to love him.

“G, what the hell did Dad mean? Are they going to punish you? You said it was all fixed? That he understood why you killed Fab.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. I may have slightly sweetened the truth here. Dom is protective of me, but he doesn’t understand that everything I do is to look out for him. He’s witnessed first hand what I’ve sacrificed to prove myself to my father. Hell, he’s been put through the wringer too.

“I took Dad’s silence as my punishment, Dom. I thought my marriage to a mafia boss dressed up as a cowboy might have been enough to keep Dad happy. I also thought the arrangement that got us in with Enzo was way more than enough to clear my name. Clearly, I was wrong.”