Chapter One
Liliana
Snow flurries chased me into Stone Hall, the private fortress—because no one in Chicago’s Mafia, the Five Families, was going to stay in a dorm—on Central Elite University’s campus. I slammed the heavy steel door to the rear entrance behind me, shutting out the cold December air, glad to be done with classes for the day. My backpack slipped from my icy fingers and fell to the polished cement floor with a thud. I murmured a greeting to the guard posted by the door, nudged my bag to the side because I had no intention of doing homework, then flipped the lock.
Our luxury fortress, a massive two-story building, contained everything needed, including a shared gourmet kitchen, living room, loft, private bed- and bathrooms, bulletproof windows, and weapons room.
Snow had dusted my hair, and I shook out as much as possible then froze at the echo of loud voices from deeper within the building. A chill that wasn’t from the weather skated over my body. Quickly, I kicked off my boots, tossed my coat, hat, and scarf toward the hooks in the rear entryway, then followed the heated argument to the living room, where I found the source.
“Stop, Tony,” Marissa hissed. She turned her head back to glare at him. “I’m no one’s possession.”
I flinched at the anger in my roommate’s voice then shifted deeper into the living room. I stood in front of the stairs, which gave me a better angle to see what Tony had done this time. Most of us weren’t his biggest fan—only Marissa and my cousin Eva liked him. Even thinking about him made me scowl. We were not close. Eva’s judgment was faulty because she cared too much about partying. She rubbed me the wrong way, maybe because she was so extra and flirty, which made me wary and reserved around her.
I eased onto the balls of my feet, ready to step in if Marissa needed me. Then she shoved out from under his arm, her dark hair clinging with static to him before she jerked away another foot. I felt bad watching, but I couldn’t leave in case I needed to run interference.
She pivoted so they faced one another. He snorted, and his features twisted into a cruel mask as he leaned down and got into her face. “That’s not what your father said after I agreed to marry you.”
My stomach churned at the mention of marriage. I hated how tight our fathers kept our reins.
“I don’t care what he said.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared right back.
“You should.” Tony snaked an arm around her waist and drew her closer. “He told me to get control of you because you’re nothing but a disappointment.”
“Fuck you.” Marissa shoved off him again then headed to the second floor, yelling over her shoulder, “All you care about is power and what that’ll get you.”
I stepped aside, and Marissa stormed past me. I moved so that I blocked the way she’d gone. “Get out.” I held Tony’s dark stare.
He turned and strolled to the front door, grabbed his coat, and left with a resounding slam.
Screw him. I needed to check on Marissa.
I took the stairs at a jog, passed through the large loft at the top, then hung a right down the hallway to her room. As I rapped my knuckles on her door, another slammed downstairs, and Sofia’s and Emiliana’s laughing voices floated through the hallway.
“You guys here?” Sofia yelled.
“Upstairs!” I shouted as a muffled “go away” filtered through from the other side of the door.
Footsteps pounded on the stairs as a shriek and then a crash sounded behind Marissa’s door. I rattled the doorknob. “Come on, Marissa. Open the door!”
Sofia and Emiliana raced up the rest of the stairs, both with guns drawn. I rolled my eyes. “It’s only Marissa in there.”
“Oh,” Sofia said, tucking her gun into her purse.
Emiliana was slower to return her weapon. The hard gleam of the killer inside her was close to the surface, making retreat harder. She visibly shuddered then pounded on the door. “Marissa, it’s just us. Open the door.”
There was a click, and I twisted the knob then shoved the door wide. The three of us poured in to discover absolute chaos. Tears streaked Marissa’s face. Broken glass littered the floor. Clothes were everywhere, some still on hangers. She strode for the easel set up in the corner, her fingers stretching for the half-finished, Venetian-seascape oil painting as if to destroy it when Sofia lunged, grabbed it, then held it out of reach.
“What the hell happened?” Sofia’s eyes were wide as she whipped the canvas behind her back.
Marissa let out a frustrated scream then threw herself onto the bed and curled onto her side. A mass of long dark hair fanned across the pillow. She faced the wall, pulled her knees up, and wrapped her arms around them as silent, anguished sobs shook her thin frame.
I sat on the king-sized bed that dwarfed her then scooted so my back was to the wall and I could see a part of her tear-streaked face. Emiliana neared, and her gaze darkened with renewed fury.
“Hey,” Sofia said. “Talk to us.”
We exchanged glances, each of us as confused as the next about what to do. When Marissa didn’t answer, Emiliana and Sofia climbed onto the bed too.
Around us, Marissa would let her guard down and give in to her dramatic side. We were relatively safe in the fortress, where she could indulge her creative side. Her art gave her a way to voice to her emotions, and she was insanely talented at it. So was her sister, Camila—or she had been. Marissa’s father disapproved of everything she did. Back home, her mask would firmly snap back into place, and she would never let on that anything bothered her. I grabbed her hand, filled with unease. Our lives outside the university weren’t that different.
When Emiliana’s dark gaze swung my way, I mouthed “Tony” so she and Sofia both knew what sparked the crying jag.
“What did that fucker do?” Emiliana growled.
Sofia rested a hand on Marissa’s shoulder, flashing me a questioning look.
Marissa swiped at her face then pushed herself into a sitting position, drawing her knees up and looping her arms around them. Then she held out her left hand, and our eyes dropped to a large diamond ring.
Dread hit me hard. “So it’s official, then. You’re engaged to Tony.”
“Yep.” She dragged in a stuttered breath then met our gazes with red-rimmed brown eyes and flushed cheeks. “Seems Dad didn’t want to wait to marry me off. It’s the same thing that happened to Camila.”
“Why?” I didn’t get it. Her dad had also married her sister to the enemy before she graduated college, but it wasn’t the same, not really. Camila had it so much worse.
Sofia furrowed her brows, glancing at Emiliana and me. “But to Tony Caruso, right? Not someone in the Russian Bratva?”
I tensed. That’s what had happened to her sister. And there were rumors that one of the Bratva had been spotted in Chicago. I sank my teeth into my lip. At least she wasn’t promised to one of the Russians.
Marissa let her head fall back, and some of the emotion was doused. “Ah—no. Not a Russian.”
“Tony’s an asshole.” Emiliana frowned. “What can we do?”
“Nothing.” Marissa’s lip trembled.
“How long do you have?”
She snorted. “The ironic part is that Tony said—and I don’t believe him—that he tried to convince our parents to let me graduate first.”
“He probably wants the freedom.” I couldn’t help it. Tony wasn’t exactly a saint. Tying himself to one woman had to be as much of a jail sentence to him as marrying him was for her.
“Yeah. I’m sure he does.” Marissa curled her shoulders in a little more. “Dad refused. We’re getting married over winter break. Tony said I can finish my senior year and graduate, but I have to live in their house.”
“With Antonio Caruso?” Emilana’s face drained of color.
Huge tears fell from Marissa’s eyes, following the tracks from earlier as she nodded. “He’s so creepy. I don’t want to be anywhere near him.”
“At least Nicole will be there.” I tried to smile but failed. Marissa’s eye roll only confirmed that.
“Will she be much help?” Sofia frowned. “Antonio has a puppet-master kind of grip with how he controls his wife and son.”
“Maybe you can convince Tony to get his own place? That way, you wouldn’t have to live under the same roof as the Caruso boss.” It was a long shot. I knew that, but the alternative was going from her father’s home to Tony’s father’s residence—from one abusive, controlling household to another. At least if they had their own place, she would have some semblance of peace.
A spark of hope flashed in Marissa’s eyes, and she straightened slightly. “I could try to push him to do that.”
“Play up the freedom angle,” Sofia said. “You and Tony enjoy going to clubs. I mean, you guys are friends, at least sort of.”
Emiliana snorted. She had no love lost for Tony. I understood—he’d always been a jerk, and after what Emiliana had gone through, I couldn’t blame her for not giving him even an ounce of the benefit of the doubt. Men triggered her if they touched her after the abduction, at least all except the one who’d saved her—Stefano Rossi, Marissa’s brother and the underboss to their father, Frank—another monster in power within the Five Families.
Honestly, we were all screwed up. My head thumped against the wall, and I closed my eyes briefly. “We were supposed to have the rest of our senior year until our fathers messed with our lives.”
Marissa squeezed my hand, her voice subdued. “I know.”
“At least you’re marrying someone you might be able to control.” I tried to find the positive.
Marissa snorted. “I don’t know about that. I mean, he’s a friend, but he’ll change as my husband. I already see it in the power he’s wielding that he thinks he has over me. And… I’m not attracted to him, not that way.”
Emiliana continued to scowl.
It had to suck for her, not being attracted to her future husband. I worried about that too. I squeezed Marissa’s arm. “That might change. At least you have friendship to use as a base.”
“I guess.” She didn’t sound convinced.
Sofia’s lips curved into a crooked grin. “If you do like Lil said and convince Tony to get a house of your own, you could have more freedom. He likes to go to clubs, and I’m sure his father thinks what he does is frivolous. Having a place of your own should appeal to him.”
I hoped at least one of us could make something of our looming arranged marriages work in our favor because it was very doubtful that it would for me. “My father will probably marry me to a toad twice my age, all in the name of what it’ll get him.” Inside, I cringed from guilt at my first thought, grateful I hadn’t been promised to Tony.
Emiliana got off the bed and disappeared only to return with a few bottles of wine and four glasses. We each took one, and she opened the first bottle, pouring generous amounts for everyone.
“To us.” She raised her glass.
“True friends,” I added. “Sisters.” We didn’t have the same parents, but the blood we shared was rich, deadly, and meant there was no escape—we were Five Families Mafia princesses.
“No matter what, we’ll be there for each other.” Sofia clinked her glass with each of ours.
“To the bitter end,” Marissa added.
I rested my head against Sofia, not wanting our time here to end. I loved this place. Sofia, Emiliana, Marissa, and I were the only ones staying in the family-owned building on campus. Everyone’s brothers and Tony were older and had already graduated.
“We need to make the most of the next few weeks.”
They murmured their agreement, and I knew that if Marissa had her way—to which we would acquiesce, considering everything—it would be one party after another.
I couldn’t believe it was our senior year. Just thinking about being two weeks from winter break could have catapulted me into a panic attack. This place was my escape, and I wasn’t the only one who thought that way.
