Chapter 2
The heavy oak doors parted to reveal three-year-old Ava Caruso. The little girl looked like a porcelain doll amidst the hardened criminals and socialites. She wore an elegant, pale pink child’s dress with delicate lace trim and pristine white flats. Her fair, rosy cheeks were flushed, and her bright blue eyes scanned the massive, brilliantly lit room until they found her father at the head of the table.
"Ava?" Dante said, his deep, resonant voice instantly softening as he looked at his daughter. The terrifying Mafia boss melted away for a fraction of a second, replaced by a fiercely protective father. "What are you doing out of bed, sweetheart? The nanny was supposed to read you a story."
Ava did not answer immediately. She walked slowly into the family dinner, her tiny flats making soft, rhythmic sounds against the hardwood floor. Her small hands were clasped tightly together in front of her chest. As she drew closer to the bright lights of the dining table, the guests fell silent, charmed and curious about the sudden intrusion.
Celeste, however, did not look charmed. Her sharp eyes darted down to the little girl’s hands.
Clutched tightly in Ava’s small fingers was a heavy, square piece of polished gold. It was a man’s cufflink, intricately engraved with a geometric pattern.
The color drained entirely from Celeste’s fair, rosy face, leaving her looking sickly and pale under the bright chandelier. Panic, raw and unadulterated, flared in her eyes. Without a shred of her previous aristocratic elegance, Celeste suddenly shot out of her chair. Her sapphire gown knocked violently against the heavy mahogany table, causing several crystal wine glasses to rattle dangerously.
Celeste lunged forward and immediately grabbed Ava’s tiny wrist.
"Give that to me right now!" Celeste hissed, her voice a desperate, frantic whisper as she tried to rip the small piece of jewelry from the child's hand. Her diamond bracelets dug painfully into Ava's delicate skin.
Ava let out a startled cry, shrinking back from her stepmother's sudden aggression. The little girl pulled her hand back, refusing to surrender the shiny object. She looked past Celeste, her wide, tear-filled eyes locking directly onto her father.
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"Daddy…" Ava said, her tiny American accent cutting through the dead silence of the dining hall like a razor blade. She held her hand up, displaying the gold cufflink under the bright, vivid lights for everyone to see. She looked profoundly confused. "Daddy… why does Uncle Marcus keep leaving these beside Mommy’s bed?"
The words dropped into the room with the devastating kinetic force of a detonating bomb. The air in the grand dining hall was instantly sucked into a vacuum. Every capo, every bodyguard, and every family member froze perfectly in place, their breathing completely arrested.
