Chapter 1

When the avalanche hit, Kai Rainer gripped my hand.

But I ripped it away, shoving my stepsister, Liora, into the last seat of the evacuation chopper.

In my past life, taking that seat cost me everything.

Kai had saved me, but he spent our twenty-year marriage punishing me for Liora's death, freezing me out until depression finally killed me.

Given a second chance, I gladly left them to each other.

I expected to die on that mountain.

Instead, Draven Hale—the most feared Don on the East Coast—pulled me from the ice.

I took his hand, stepped into his dark world, and over the next three years, became his Donna.

Tonight, with Draven finishing up syndicate business tonight, his guards escorted me to the airfield ahead of him. I didn't expect my past to be waiting in the VIP lounge.

Spotting me, Kai's shock quickly shifted to an arrogant smirk. "I knew you survived! Liora is my wife now, but considering our history... I'm willing to let you be my mistress."

...

"Is that—wait. Renna? Kai, holy shit, she's actually alive!"

The shocked voice of Torin Cross, Kai Rainer's underboss, shattered the quiet tension of the lounge.

Kai snapped his head toward me.

For a split second, something like genuine relief flashed in his eyes, but it was instantly buried under arrogance.

"I knew it," he muttered, taking a confident step forward. "I knew you'd find a way to crawl back."

He reached out, preparing to pull me into that embrace I used to crave in my past life. But he froze the second Liora Shay shifted into his peripheral vision.

My stepsister's eyes were dead and cold, though her lips curved into a brittle, practiced smile.

"Renna," she said. "If you managed to survive all this time, why on earth didn't you call us?"

She didn't wait for an answer, exhaling a theatrical sigh.

"Look, it's a miracle you're breathing, but Kai is expecting a highly important guest today. He really doesn't have the time to deal with you right now."

Right on cue, Kai's foot soldiers started snickering behind them.

"Talk about perfect timing," one of the grunts muttered. "The second Kai is set to take over as Don of the Rainer family, she miraculously rises from the dead to secure her bag."

Another scoffed, eyeing me up and down.

"She's not even trying to blend in. Look at that dress. Looks like a thrift store knockoff. Fucking tragic."

I glanced down at the sleek, obsidian-black fabric clinging to my curves.

It appeared understated, sure. But it was a bespoke Italian silk piece Draven Hale had commissioned exclusively for me.

There wasn't another one like it on the entire East Coast, let alone the world.

These street-level thugs wouldn't know true wealth if it choked them. As I looked at their smug faces, the irony hit me: they had absolutely no idea I was the VIP they were sweating over.

Torin shifted uncomfortably, trying to play peacemaker. "Look, the point is she made it. Kai never stopped looking for—"

"Enough," Kai cut in, holding up a hand.

He adjusted his tailored suit jacket, looking down his nose at me.

"Since you're here, you can come back to the estate. We have history, Renna. I'm willing to overlook your absence and let you be my mistress."

I stared at him.

Three years. Three years since that blizzard in the mountains, and Kai Rainer was still the exact same self-obsessed narcissist.

He genuinely believed my universe revolved around him—that he could just snap his fingers and I'd fall to my knees.

I was seconds away from dropping the bomb. Draven was waiting for me, and I was done with this pathetic reunion.

But Liora stepped up, her voice dripping with fake pity.

"Renna, I know it hurts to hear that. But you've been MIA for three years. Who knows what kind of men have been passing you around in the gutter?"

She placed a hand over the slight bump of her stomach, a triumphant gleam in her eyes.

"Even if Kai wanted to put a ring on your finger, it's impossible now. I'm the one carrying the Rainer heir."

"But we're family. I'm not a monster. There's a vacant room in the staff quarters back at the compound. You can sleep there. It beats turning tricks on the street."

My stomach churned. A whole new life, and Liora was still playing the victim-saint.

Kai mistook my silence for devastating jealousy. His chest puffed out.

"Liora is right. You need to learn your place, Renna. Keep your head down, do as you're told, and I'll make sure you're taken care of."

"Yeah, Renna," a guard sneered. "Kai's throwing you a bone. You love him too much to walk away from a deal like that."

"I'll make sure the maids treat her well," Liora added.

Kai scowled, waving her off.

"Don't baby her, Liora. She's the one who threw a hysterical fit three years ago and refused to get on the chopper. If she almost froze to death, it's her own damn fault. You're too soft on her."

A sharp laugh escaped my throat.

A hysterical fit.

That's what he called it. He thought I was just being a stubborn, jealous girl.

He didn't know that I had already died on that mountain once, abandoned and broken. He didn't know that in this second chance at life, pushing them away was the most calculated move I'd ever made.

I was fine leaving him to Liora's toxic web. Because while they were playing house in the Rainer family shadows, I had clawed my way to the top.

I was the Donna of the Hale family, and every single person in this room was already beneath me.