I was the brightest, most untouchable red rose in New York’s mafia world.
I was beautiful enough to make men lose their nerve with a single glance. People said the men obsessed with me could line up from Manhattan all the way to Brooklyn, but I rarely bothered to look twice.
Then my best friend made a bet with me.
“Bella, if you can win over my godfather, Dominic Morello, you can pick any car you want from my underground garage.”
Dominic Morello was the head of the Morello family, one of the most powerful names in New York’s underworld. Cold, restrained, born to command. To the daughters of old money families and mafia clans alike, he was the kind of man no one dared reach for. Rumor had it no woman could get within arm’s length of him.
I smiled.
I had never failed to get something I wanted.
But plans rarely survive contact with reality.
On the very first day of the bet, I found Dominic drugged and barely holding on. I had already meant to get close to him. By sheer accident, I became the antidote he needed.
After that night, the ice around Dominic Morello seemed to crack.
For three years, he came back to me again and again. Against the floor-to-ceiling windows on the top floor of the family headquarters, in the bathroom of his private Gulfstream, in the dressing room of a private cigar club. We tangled together in places no one would have imagined.
And piece by piece, through all that intimacy, I lost my heart.
I thought this man, worshiped by everyone else like a god, had become mine too.
Until tonight.
After we had been together in the back seat of his car, I noticed one of his sapphire cufflinks had fallen off. I picked it up and went to return it.
At the end of the corridor, the door to a cigar room stood half-open. I was about to push it wider when laughter drifted out from inside.
“Dominic, did you just get out of her bed? Isabella is usually such a proud little wildcat. She looks down on everyone. But with you, she turns sweet enough to melt. When are you going to marry her?”
I stopped in my tracks.
Then I heard the cold voice I knew down to my bones.
“She’s just a bed partner. How could I marry her?”
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 29 After that, I stood. Without looking at him again, I turned and walked toward the door. “Bella…” Dominic used the last of his strength to call my name, his voice weak and broken with despair. My steps paused at the door. But I did not look back. I opened […]
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 29 Read Post »
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 28 Adrian held me tightly as I stared at the scene before me, stunned. My heart seemed to stop. I could see Dominic’s eyes in the instant he was thrown through the air. There was no fear. No regret. Only a complicated emotion that looked almost like relief, as if
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 28 Read Post »
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 27 The award results were announced. For my role in a literary film that explored the complexity of human nature, I won Best Actress. When my name was called, the audience rose in applause. Under the spotlight, I walked slowly onto the stage and accepted the heavy trophy from the
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 27 Read Post »
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 26 Late autumn came, and sycamore leaves covered the ground in gold. Wrapped in a soft cashmere shawl, I sat beside a sunlit floor-to-ceiling window, reading the newest film script delivered to me. Adrian sat cross-legged on the carpet with his laptop, handling business. Every now and then, he looked
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 26 Read Post »
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 25 Bitterness touched his voice. “After you left the United States, I followed you to Europe as soon as I could. Not because of anything else. Because I like you, Isabella. I’ve loved you since we were young.” The words flowed into my heart like something warm. I stared at
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 25 Read Post »
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 24 For several seconds, time seemed to stop. Dominic stared at me, alive and standing in front of him, and the terror that had hung over his heart for days finally dropped. Joy and grief crashed through him at once, nearly destroying his reason. Ignoring the wound in his arm
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 24 Read Post »
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 23 At the time, Dominic was chairing an important board meeting about the family’s strategy for the next decade. When his deputy leaned down and reported the news in a low voice, Dominic rose so suddenly from the head of the table that his face went white. He did not
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 23 Read Post »
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 22 Adrian appeared on the split screen beside me. He wore casual clothes, but there was still an effortless nobility and wildness about him that came from generations of power. He looked directly at the brand CEO, his tone turning serious. “Charlie, Bella’s image, professionalism, and market appeal are obvious
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 22 Read Post »
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 21 The cold rain soaked Dominic through, but it did nothing to extinguish the unwillingness and regret burning inside him. He returned home in a daze and locked himself in his room for several days. He saw no one. He handled no family business. He only sat facing the gray
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 21 Read Post »
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 20 “Bella.” His voice was hoarse from a sleepless night and raw with tension. “Let’s talk.” Isabella turned at the sound. When she saw him, her brows drew together at once. Her eyes were alert and distant, as if she were looking at an unwelcome intruder. “Mr. Morello? Why are
The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 20 Read Post »
