Prologue
Prologue
Rain lashed against the tall windows of Villa Bianchi.
Every flash of lightning briefly illuminated Francheco Bianchi’s office, where two men stood face to face, locked in a silence heavy with tension.
One was the most powerful man in Sicily.
The other was the man he trusted more than anyone.
“I’m not letting you send her away,” Alessandro Romano said, his voice steady, though his hands remained clenched into fists.
Francheco slowly lifted his gaze from the documents spread across his desk.
His expression was as cold as ever.
“I’m not asking you.”
“I’m ordering you.”
Silence settled between them once again.
On the other side of the door, unknown to either man, a young woman stood perfectly still.
Francheca Bianchi had just returned from university.
She had never intended to listen.
But the argument forced her to stop.
“If you send her to London, you’ll lose her,” Alessandro insisted.
“I’d rather lose my daughter than bury her.”
Those words pierced Francheca’s heart.
She knew only one thing:
Her father never spoke without a reason.
Alessandro took a step forward.
“Then send me with her.”
“I’ll protect her.”
Francheco slowly shook his head.
For the first time in many years, the most feared man in Sicily let a trace of exhaustion show on his face.
“That’s exactly the problem.”
Alessandro frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Francheco held his gaze for several long seconds.
When he finally spoke, every word fell like a sentence.
“As long as she stays close to you...”
“She will never be safe.”
Silence fell over the room.
Behind the door, Francheca felt as though the world had come to a stop.
She didn’t understand those words.
She didn’t understand why her father spoke about Alessandro that way.
She didn’t understand why, all of a sudden, she felt afraid.
Francheco lowered his gaze to the documents on his desk once more.
The decision had already been made.
“Tomorrow at dawn...”
“Francheca will leave for London.”
“And neither of you will ever speak of this again.”
“Never.”
Five Years Later...
The Sicilian sky was beginning to darken as the car passed through the grand iron gates of Villa Bianchi.
