Page 4

Chapter 4

Nova

Princess .

I despise that word. It's what my father molded me into, what he demanded I become.

It, along with my virginity, was to serve him to make an alliance fit for a king. Apparently, that alliance was to the French mafia and Julien Moreau.

But that's not what I'm focused on.

I'm focused on two things.

One, the vicious malice and menacing hate rolling off the huge man named Massimo.

And two, he said San Francisco.

I slot the pieces of information together. Massimo Santoro, Don of the family who controls California.

I knew my father would try to marry me off, so over the past few years, I'd secretly studied whatever I could find out about all the major players on the US criminal underworld chessboard. Such as Alessio Candreva, the strongest Italian family in New York; Volk Aleeksev, Bratva in New York; Rurik Frolov, Bratva in New Jersey, or the Irish mob prince, Riordan Byrne from Chicago. Those were my best bets, since the territories were closer and made more sense for aligning and expanding power. I never even considered my father could make an international alliance. His rule isn't as strong or influential as he likes to portray it to be .

Nor did I really think the Western US players were viable, but I still acquainted myself with who they were. I also know of the Santoro family because my father often spit vitriol about them, and how Tommaso Santoro would eventually pay for making him look like a fool.

I studied what I could find out about these people. Not because I was excited about the possibility of marrying any of them, but so I could better understand the monsters of this world in case they became my new one.

And Jesus Christ… Massimo Santoro .

I've heard stories of his gruesome kills. Where he wedges his hand into a wound and rips the complete insides of a man out. Where he has ripped out the throat of more than one man.

My eyes fall to his hand fisted on his thigh.

It's huge. That one hand alone would wrap more than halfway around my neck.

Massimo is huge. Powerful. And he hates me.

" Don't fight the monsters, princess. Because the monsters always win."

I may not be under my father's thumb right now, but I heed his lesson all the same. Because Massimo is a new threat sitting beside me, and one I need to navigate carefully.

I'll need to use every brutal lesson my father taught me in order to survive.

Massimo's dark brown eyes swirl with malicious darkness, and I feel like he's trying to peel me back, layer by layer, to see what's inside.

And I double down on the demureness, the meekest. The no-fight-ness.

"Massimo," Gemma says with a frown in her voice.

I don't lift my head; instead, I keep it bowed, with my shoulders curled forward. I stare at my hands, which are clenched so tight they're white.

"Gemma." Massimo's deep, rumbling voice makes me think of a mountain shifting. Ready to collapse and crush everything in its vicinity.

I shudder.

"Turn up the heat, Gabe," Gemma orders, making Massimo scoff. "Do it, Gabrielle Ricci."

My head lifts hearing that last name, and my brow pulls together .

Gemma looks back at me, biting her lip, and her cheeks turn pink.

Gabe sees us looking at each other when he adjusts the heat. "What?"

Massimo's eyes are drilling into the side of my face. I bow my head again, wanting to be away from his searing, hate-filled gaze more than anything.

"Um…" Gemma pauses and then laughs. "I used your last name when I met Nova, Gabe."

Based on his quiet inhalation, I'd say there's something up between Gemma and him. But I'm not here to be enthralled in the mafia-styled version of Days Of Our Lives.

I keep quiet as we drive. I want to study and watch where we're going, but I know there will be no way to escape—a man like Massimo would ensure that. The tiny spark of fire and fight I try to keep dim within me wants to flare up and push back, to at least try to find a way to escape, but I quickly smother it.

Because the lesson from my mother's experience when she tried to escape with me has scarred me too deeply. If my father did that to his wife, what would a monster like Massimo do to someone he hates?

Something far worse .

I try to suppress thinking about all the worse things that could be done to me that I haven't already lived through.

Given the size difference between Massimo and me, I wouldn't stand a chance against him physically.

Or rape…

Dear Lord …

Is Massimo that kind of monster?

I don't know, and I don't want to find out.

I must remember every lesson my father taught me through his years of psychological abuse and torment.

Don't speak unless spoken to.

Only eat when told to.

Look the part of the perfect princess, always.

Forget your wants and needs; you're only here to serve your master.

I continue going through the list of the horrible lessons in my head until the car slows. I open my eyes, not realizing I closed them. My nails are cutting into my palm and faint lines of blood are present when I open my hand. While I was forcing myself to re-live all my hard-learned lessons, it had taken a toll on me.

I swallow against the lump in my throat and steal a glance at Massimo. He's openly staring at me. The look is dark and menacing, but his brow is furrowed.

I quickly turn away and look out the window. We're pulling up to massive iron gates, set in a high stone wall that looks impenetrable.

My breath catches, and terror rises within me as I look at the guards.

Guards are a given in my world; and it's not them per se that is causing my terror. It's how they're dressed—like they're soldiers ready for combat, wearing fatigues with their weapons visible. My guards always wear suits and look like made men. It's guards like Massimo's that trigger me—because that's how the guards were dressed when they beat my mother to death.

I swallow down my terror and push the memories of my mother's screams away as the car pulls through the gates. A slamming of a prison door echoes in my mind. If I wasn't before, I'm fully inside Massimo's world and control now.

My father's words from his most potent lesson echo in an endless loop.

"Don't fight the monsters, princess. Because the monsters always win."