Chapter 2

Gianna's POV

"Gianna—" His voice cracked. "What are you...I can explain..."

Ashley rushed over and wrapped both arms around his, pressing herself against him. "Baby, you won't believe what this psycho did! She tried to steal the necklace you promised me, and then she threatened us—"

Everything inside me exploded.

I stormed across the store and slapped him so hard the sound echoed off the marble walls. My palm stung but I didn't care.

"Albert Sanchez! You're such a fucking asshole!"

"Gianna, wait!" He tried to reach for me, his face pale and panicked. "This isn't...I can explain!"

"Don't touch me!" I shoved him back hard enough that he stumbled, and Ashley had to catch him. "Don't you dare put your hands on me!"

"Please, just listen—" He was stuttering, stumbling over his words. "This isn't... it's not what..."

"Not what it looks like?" I laughed, and it came out harsh. "Your girlfriend just called you to come defend her! She's hanging all over you right now! What part of this isn't what it looks like?"

Ashley was staring at me with her mouth open, finally realizing who I was. "Wait, you're his..."

"Fiancée. I'm his fiancée. Or I was, anyway."

"Gianna, please!" Albert's voice was desperate. "I can fix this!"

"Get away from me." Tears were burning in my eyes but I refused to let them fall. "I don't want to hear another word from you. Not one fucking word."

I grabbed my purse from the counter and headed for the door, my vision blurring.

"Keep the necklace," I threw over my shoulder, my voice c

and flat. "Keep the lying bastard too. You two deserve each other."

I don't remember the drive home. One minute I was pulling out of the jewelry store parking lot with tears blurring my vision, and the next I was slamming my car door in front of our family estate.

How could he do this to me? How could he throw away our engagement, our future, for some trashy girl he probably met at a club?

The anger felt so much better than the hurt, so I held onto it as I stormed through the front entrance.

"Gianna?" Maria, our housekeeper, looked startled. "Your mother isn't home yet—"

"Fine." I headed straight for the main living room.

I shoved the door open.

And froze.

My father sat on the sofa. Next to him was a woman I'd never seen before, blonde, heavily made up, wearing a tight red dress.

Her hand rested possessively on his arm.

"Gianna." My father's voice held no surprise, no guilt, just mild annoyance at the interruption. "You're home early."

What the hell was happening to my life today?

"Who..." I couldn't even form a complete sentence. "What is this?"

The woman smiled at me, her lipstick too bright. "Vincent, darling, is this her?"

Darling? This stranger was calling my father darling in our house?

"Dad, what the fuck is going on?"

He actually had the audacity to look irritated with me. "Watch your language. Gianna, this is Natasha. My... companion."

"Your what?"

He stood up, straightening his jacket. "We need to have a family discussion. Natasha has a daughter, Ashley. She's eighteen, just like you. Your... sister."

"Are you insane?" I could barely breathe. "Mom...does Mom know about this?"

"Don't you dare use that tone with me." His voice went cold. "I'm still your father."

"You're a cheating bastard!" The words exploded out of me. "How could you do this to her? To us?"

"That's enough." He took a step toward me and I actually flinched. I'd never seen him look this angry before. "You don't know anything about my relationship with your mother. You're a child."

"Vincent, maybe we should—" Natasha started.

Footsteps on the stairs interrupted her.

I turned, and my entire body went cold.

It's her, the girl from the jewelry store.

Ashley.

Ashley was walking down the staircase of my family home like she owned the place.

"Oh, it's you." Ashley stopped halfway down, one hand on the railing, and her smile was pure venom. "Princess herself."

I couldn't speak or move, just stood there while my world collapsed piece by piece.

"Didn't expect to see me again so soon, did you?" She continued down the stairs slowly.

Wake up. This has to be a nightmare.

"Ashley, darling, come meet your sister." Natasha's voice cut through my shock.

"Is you?" The words finally exploded out of me. "You did this on purpose?!"

Ashley reached the bottom and walked right up to me, so close I could smell her perfume. "Did what on purpose? Run into you at the jewelry store?" She tilted her head with fake innocence dripping from every word. "Or steal your fiancé?"

"You bitch—"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic." She examined her nails casually. "Albert's not exactly hard to manipulate. I called and he came running like a puppy." Her eyes flicked up to meet mine. "Some mafia heir, right? More like a desperate little boy."

My hands clenched so hard my nails dug into my palms.

"How does it feel?" Ashley stepped even closer, invading my space. "Being the mafia princess with nothing? Your fancy title didn't keep your man, did it?"

"Shut up."

"What's wrong? Does the truth hurt?" Her voice was soaked with satisfaction. "Face it, Gianna."

I lunged at her without thinking.

"Gianna!" My father's hand caught my wrist and yanked me back so hard I stumbled.

"Let go of me!" I tried to pull free but his grip was crushing.

Ashley immediately burst into tears, the kind of fake theatrical crying that would've been laughable if it wasn't actually working on him.

"Daddy!" She ran to my father's other side and pressed against him. "Did you see? She tried to hit me! Just like at the jewelry store!"

"What?" I stared at her in disbelief. "You lying—"

"She attacked me over a necklace!" Ashley's voice rose to a wail. "I was just looking at jewelry and she started screaming at me and calling me names, and then she threatened me!"

"That's not what happened!"

"Isn't it?" Ashley's eyes met mine over my father's arm, and behind the tears she was smiling. "You slapped Albert right in front of everyone. You called us names and made a huge scene."

She's twisting everything.

"Dad, she's lying." My voice cracked. "She called Albert first. She was all over him. She knew exactly who I was and she—"

"Enough!" My father's voice boomed through the room and I froze because he'd never yelled at me like that before.

"I don't want to hear excuses." His face was red with veins standing out on his neck. "Ashley is your sister and you don't put your hands on family."

"She's not my family! She's some stranger's daughter! She's—"

The slap came out of nowhere and my head snapped to the side. Pain exploded across my cheek, hot and sharp, and my ears rang from the impact.

For a second I couldn't process what had just happened. My hand came up slowly and touched my face, and it was burning.

He hit me.

"You will show respect in this house." His voice was cold and distant.

I looked up at him through the tears blurring my vision. No regret on his face, no apology, just pure anger.

"Ashley is your sister and she's part of this family now." His tone was final. "You will treat her with respect or you'll answer to me. Do you understand?"

My throat had closed up completely and I couldn't get any words out.

"She started it! She provoked me at the jewelry store. She—"

"I said enough!" He raised his hand again and I flinched back automatically. "I don't want to hear your excuses. You're acting like a spoiled child."

"But I didn't—"

"As the daughter of this house, you should know better."

Ashley was crying even harder now, burying her face in Natasha's shoulder and playing the perfect victim.

"Vincent, darling, maybe we should all calm down." Natasha's hand rubbed Ashley's back in soothing circles. "Ashley's just sensitive. She's not used to this kind of environment."

Not used to this environment? She looks like she grew up in a dumpster.

"I understand completely." My father's voice softened immediately when he addressed them. "Ashley, I'm so sorry you had to deal with this. Gianna will apologize to you."

"What?" I stared at him. "No. I won't."

"You will, or—"

"Or what?" Tears were streaming down my face now and I didn't bother wiping them away. "You'll hit me again? Is that what you're going to do?"

Before he could answer, the front door opened and cold air rushed in.

My mother stood in the doorway.