Neither of us were born into the Ashford Family. After a violent purge erased our past—our true bloodline scattered like ash in the wind—Don Ettore Ashford and his wife brought us into their household, gave us shelter, names, and a future within the Cosa Nostra. Yet from the very beginning, it was obvious who truly belonged.
Silvia.
She was the one praised at family dinners when the Capos gathered around tables heavy with wine and unspoken threats. She was the one trusted with secrets that could bring down empires, the one allowed to stand beside power instead of behind it. She had a face that disarmed soldiers and a voice that persuaded even the most hardened Made Men into willing allies. I was always the other one. The quiet girl. The obedient one. The shadow trailing behind her brilliance.
No matter how long I stayed loyal, no matter how much I sacrificed for the Family, I was never the chosen one.
Since that's the case, I'll set him free.
I.