- 7 hours ago
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00:02Eight years ago, my own brother dropped Rohypnol into my champagne, so Damien could put his
00:08ring on my sister at the altar, instead of mine.
00:11I woke up cuffed to a motel bed in New Mexico, Boyd's filthy hands on my throat.
00:19I broke a whiskey bottle on his skull.
00:24Walked 20 miles barefoot across the Mojave before sunrise.
00:29Eight years later, my brother Rowan finally tracked me down at a dust-blown desert town
00:34outside Vegas.
00:36He found me and I'm a wreck, mud on my skirt, beef jerky between my teeth, eight feral kids
00:41tearing around my legs, the look on his face.
00:45So funny.
00:48Eva.
00:49Rowan's eyes went red.
00:50You, you hated kids.
00:52You were gonna be the first female underlord in Marchetti history.
00:55What the hell happened to you?
00:57I kept chewing, bent down, yanked two muddy toddlers out of the dirt, whistled for the rest.
01:04Inside now.
01:07Then Serena stepped in front of me, tears already brimming right on cue.
01:13Eva.
01:14It was Rowan who talked father and mother into the Ro-Hop-A-Fan that night.
01:19It was Damien who switched us at the altar.
01:22Damien Marchetti just stood there, holding her hand, calm, waiting for me to fall apart.
01:27But I didn't.
01:28Rowan's voice turned cold.
01:31Boyd was ugly.
01:32So what?
01:33He took Serena in when she had nothing.
01:35He wasn't a bad guy, Eva.
01:37You had a rough patch.
01:39Don't make a scene about it now.
01:41A rough patch.
01:43Eight years ago, Serena had shown up at the Ashford estate, claimed to be the real daughter,
01:48said I was the fake, said I'd locked her out at the gate.
01:51My family believed her.
01:52These eight years had been my lesson.
01:53Eva.
01:54Boyd is dead now.
01:56We're here to take you home.
01:57Serena's voice was soft, almost kind.
02:00Then her nose wrinkled at the kids.
02:02But these little strays are filthy.
02:04Low blood.
02:04You can't bring them if they've made you suffer this much.
02:07Let's just get rid of them.
02:11My head snapped up.
02:12Get rid of them?
02:13The girl swinging from the rafters?
02:16Consigliere DeLuca's only daughter?
02:18The one glaring daggers?
02:19Dawn Harlan's daughter?
02:21The boys throwing dice in the corner?
02:23The Volkov family's two heirs?
02:26These kids weren't strays.
02:28They were the future of every empire that mattered between the East River and the Pacific.
02:33You'd be relieved to be rid of them.
02:35Wouldn't you, Eva?
02:36Serena smiled.
02:38Dabbed at her tears.
02:39Then her bodyguards raised their guns and formed a ring around us.
02:43I pulled the farthest child into my arms.
02:46Let out a long breath.
02:48This one I couldn't let get her.
02:50Dawn Calder's only daughter.
02:51Fifth generation single heir.
02:54The whole Calder family were unhinged madmen.
02:58They would burn the world down for her.
03:03What?
03:04You don't want them dead?
03:06The heir to the Marchetti family radiated cold authority.
03:09Eva Ashford.
03:10You really planning to drag eight little bastards into Marchetti territory?
03:15I clamped my hand over Lucia's mouth fast.
03:18This girl had the sharpest tongue in the West.
03:21Is Eva embarrassed?
03:23Damien doesn't care where you've been all these years.
03:26Or living like a whore.
03:28Come back with us.
03:30He's willing to take you in.
03:32His woman.
03:34At least in name.
03:35Like she was offering me a crown.
03:37Like it wasn't a leash.
03:40I'm not going back.
03:41Three heads snapped toward me at once.
03:44Rowan's face darkened.
03:45Give Selena attitude the second you see her?
03:48Did you forget every single thing they taught you in the Ashfield house?
03:52I'd forgotten more than that.
03:56I'd forgotten the snowy night.
03:58Rowan walked Serena home with his arm around her.
04:02Leaving me bleeding in the courtyard.
04:05I'd forgotten the sound of my engagement ring shattering under Serena's heel.
04:10The way Damien barely glanced at me when it happened.
04:15Eight years was enough to bury all of it.
04:19Do it Eva.
04:21Don't tell me you're never going to marry again because of that punk.
04:24You want to be a widow forever?
04:26Or maybe you just like being a whore.
04:28Damien's smile was cruel.
04:30His eyes dragged over the kids like they were vermin.
04:34They're not mine.
04:35And you don't get to touch them either.
04:37Heir to the Marchetti throne.
04:38So what?
04:40The kids didn't even glance at him.
04:42Like he wasn't worth the breath.
04:47You won't even admit they're yours?
04:49Damien sneered.
04:51He drew his Glock.
04:52Aimed at the youngest child.
04:55I wouldn't dare.
04:56My stomach dropped.
04:57I lunged to block him.
04:59Rowan's hand cracked across my face hard enough to whip my head sideways.
05:03I thought that animal forced a kid into you.
05:06Turns out you spread your legs willingly.
05:08You disgrace every drop of ash for blood in your face!
05:10The slap echoed through the dusty yard.
05:13The children finally looked up.
05:14My ears rang.
05:16Eight years of swallowing it down.
05:17And now this.
05:19I took a slow breath.
05:21Damien.
05:22Look at him.
05:23Really look.
05:24He's your father's grandson.
05:27I jerked Marco back fast.
05:29Not fast enough.
05:30A long shallow cut had opened up his arm.
05:32Blood dripped down into the dust.
05:34He buried his face against my chest.
05:36White faced.
05:37Shaking.
05:39I tugged his collar back and bared his collar bone.
05:42Look closely.
05:43The Marchetti family crest.
05:45A black obsidian serpent.
05:47Crowned in thorns.
05:48Inked in surgical grade ink across an eight year old's skin.
05:52The mark only direct blood of Don Salvatore himself was ever permitted to wear.
05:56Serena's eyes blew wide as poker chips.
05:59But Damien didn't lower the gun.
06:01My father has no grandson.
06:03You can't even recognize the Marchetti crest when it's bleeding right in front of you?
06:07Lucia ripped free of my hand.
06:09Fury crackling in every inch of the ten year old body.
06:12My father is Don Victor Harlan.
06:15Marcelli runs Manhattan.
06:17Harlan owns Chicago, you idiot.
06:19You touch us, and my dad puts your whole family in the East River by Sunday.
06:24This time, Serena slapped her.
06:26Hard.
06:27The desert went silent.
06:29Even the wind died.
06:31In our world, you don't lay a hand on a Don's daughter.
06:34You don't even raise your voice at one.
06:36It's a declaration of war.
06:38Serena lifted her chin.
06:39Are these all the little kids you prepared for this performance, Eva?
06:43I tore a strip from my own robe, pressed against Marco's bleeding arm.
06:47My hands were steady.
06:49Serena, harming Marchetti blood is a death sentence.
06:54Rowan laughed.
06:55Marcelli blood?
06:57Eva, your acting's getting sloppy.
06:59Serena lifted her chin.
07:00Smug.
07:01Satisfied.
07:01Looped her arm through Damien's.
07:03I stared at Damien across the space.
07:04Look at me.
07:05Really look at me.
07:06He met my eyes for a long moment.
07:07Then his face went blank.
07:09Eva.
07:10You've learned to lie.
07:11Almost had him.
07:12Serena pouted, faking worry.
07:13If word got back to Don Salvatore that Eva had some random kid pretending to be Marchachi blood, the Ashriel
07:19family will suffer.
07:20She still hates me.
07:22Damien and Rowan frowned at the same time.
07:25I'm here.
07:26Don't be afraid.
07:27Damien pulled Serena close, kissed her forehead.
07:30Slow, deliberate, like he wanted me to see.
07:32But Rowan was blind with rage.
07:34Eight years and you still haven't learned.
07:36What the hell do you want?
07:37Serena is my real sister.
07:39You're just a fake.
07:40What right do you have to compete with her?
07:42To resent her?
07:43Every word landed like a gut punch.
07:45A small warm hand wrapped around my freezing fingers.
07:48You had it bad before, didn't you?
07:49Harlan's daughter was looking up at me.
07:51Lucia, my tiny demon.
07:52My tiny Mercy.
07:53I forced a smile down at her, then turned cold again.
07:56Fifteen more minutes, then you'll know if I'm lying.
07:59Fifteen minutes.
08:00That was when the pickup crew came in.
08:02Rotating security from each of the four families.
08:04Same time every evening.
08:06Same time I usually kicked off my boots and went home to crash on the couch with the TV on.
08:11Are you done stalling?
08:13Serena stepped in.
08:14All false sweetness.
08:15The Ashford family can afford eight more mouths.
08:17If Eva insists on keeping them alive, then fine.
08:20Fine.
08:20Let her keep them.
08:21Damien's face flickered, annoyed.
08:23But he sighed and looked down at Serena like she'd hung the moon.
08:25Whatever you want, Serena.
08:27I'm with you.
08:28Rowan nodded.
08:29Even he relented.
08:30I pulled Marco Placer, knuckles bone white, where I gripped him.
08:33We'll tell people they're orphans.
08:35But Eva, you're going into the Marcesi family.
08:38You can't be tangled up with these kids, not one inch out of line.
08:41She drifted closer, slow, lazy.
08:43Her eyes glittered with something ugly.
08:45Just so you remember, every life you save tonight, you take a bullet for it.
08:50The kids closed ranks around me before her words even finished.
08:54You three are out of your minds.
08:56Eva is brilliant.
08:58My dad says she's sharper than half the made men in Chicago.
09:00And you Marsettis treat her like this?
09:03When my dad gets here, you're all dead.
09:06Dead.
09:08My mom is still waiting for Eva to teach her piano.
09:11Don't you dare hurt her.
09:12You think you're tough?
09:14Just wait 15 minutes.
09:15You're using us to threaten her, you cowards.
09:18When my dad gets here, you won't have a hand left to hold a gun.
09:21They were brave, but they were children.
09:24In a heartbeat, all of them were pinned.
09:27Mouths gasped, forced down into the dirt.
09:30Then the clock ran out.
09:32Miss Eva!
09:33Tires screamed.
09:35A black SUV slammed to a stop on the edge of the clearing.
09:38Garrick threw himself out, eyes blown wide with fury.
09:42Stand down!
09:43Who the hell are you people?
09:45I looked past his shoulder.
09:46No one else.
09:48My stomach dropped.
09:52You came alone?
09:53His voice went rough and guarded.
09:55Trouble at the docks.
09:57Don Caldery rolled out with the rest of the crew to handle it.
10:00He's not back yet.
10:04Trouble at the docks.
10:05Which meant the Volkov detail coming for the twins couldn't get through either.
10:11Stop pretending.
10:12Damien's eyes had gone dark.
10:14His voice dropped, scraping rough at the edges.
10:17Eva.
10:18Those kids.
10:20You love them that much?
10:21You'd really bleed out for them?
10:23The smile froze on Serena's face.
10:26Her nails dug into Damien's arm.
10:28He didn't move.
10:29His eyes stayed fixed on me.
10:31Dark.
10:31Unreadable.
10:32She shot me a glare.
10:33Then her hand flew to her mouth.
10:35Boyd!
10:35I thought you were dead.
10:37No wonder Eva won't come back with us.
10:40Damien's eyes went bottomless cold.
10:42Don't stay here.
10:45Go find Don Calder.
10:47Or Consuliere DeLuca.
10:48Now.
10:49Both names carried weight in all four families.
10:53Every made man between New York and Vegas knew them on sight.
10:57Damien would recognize them.
10:59Garrick hesitated.
11:00Then turned to leave.
11:01But Damien moved faster.
11:03He lunged before anyone could react.
11:06His gun cracked once.
11:08Garrick's shoulder burst red.
11:10Then he slammed an elbow into Garrick's skull.
11:13Dropping him to the dirt.
11:14Damien, stop!
11:15He's called her family!
11:17My chest seized.
11:18I screamed it.
11:20He didn't listen.
11:23Garrick rolled, dodging the worst of it.
11:26But he was alone.
11:28Serena's bodyguards swarmed him.
11:30And round after round punched into him at point blank range.
11:35Hot blood sprayed across my face.
11:38Don't hurt him!
11:40He doesn't deserve this!
11:42No one hurt me.
11:44Or if they did, they didn't care.
11:47They kept firing.
11:49Garrick dropped to one knee in the dust.
11:51Bleeding from a dozen wounds.
11:53Still trying to hold himself up.
11:54One of Serena's men stomped his boot down on the back of Garrick's neck.
11:59And ground his forehead into the dirt.
12:01Garrick!
12:02Damien holstered his gun.
12:04Disgust curling his lip.
12:07Calder's man?
12:08Eva, please.
12:09He pulled a weapon on me.
12:10That makes him an assassin.
12:12Serena laughed.
12:14Bright and relieved.
12:15She stepped closer.
12:16Her voice honeyed poison.
12:18Eva.
12:20Maybe you should think about the children.
12:26Are you gonna save them or not?
12:32I saved them.
12:33Eight bullets wouldn't kill me.
12:36These kids' parents had kept me alive these eight years.
12:39I owed them.
12:40Four shots cracked through the desert air.
12:43The iron stink of blood hit thick enough to taste.
12:46Every kid in the clearing flinched.
12:48Rowan ripped a Beretta from one of the bodyguard's hands.
12:51Veins standing out at his temple.
12:53Eva!
12:54You're still going to save them!
12:55Somewhere behind me, a tiny voice choked on a sob.
12:59I was soaked in sweat and blood.
13:01Trembling with every breath.
13:02I'll save them.
13:03And I'm not going back to the Marchesa family.
13:06Rowan exploded.
13:07He fired again.
13:08Four more rounds.
13:10Each one precise.
13:11Non-lethal.
13:12Shoulder.
13:12Hip.
13:13Thigh.
13:13Forearm.
13:15He was trained to hurt without killing.
13:17He knew exactly where to shoot.
13:19That's not your call.
13:21You haven't paid what you owed Serena.
13:24You haven't paid what you owe the Ash Lord name.
13:27I swallowed the scream.
13:28Planted my palms in the dirt.
13:30Slowly.
13:31Slowly.
13:32Pushed myself back upright.
13:35Serena watched me struggle.
13:37Her smile growing.
13:39Rowan, look.
13:40Eva's bleeding so much.
13:42Do you think she's pregnant?
13:43Coming home with a baby she can't hide?
13:45Oh, this is my fault.
13:47I shouldn't have pushed her so hard.
13:52I looked down.
13:54Dazed.
13:55It was Marco's blood.
13:57Pooled on my lap from where I'd been pressing against his arm.
14:01Damien's head whipped around.
14:03The words ground out between his teeth.
14:06Get rid of it.
14:07The bodyguard seized my arms.
14:09Wrenched them behind me.
14:11Dragged me back.
14:12Forcing my stomach exposed fists slammed into my abdomen.
14:16I doubled over.
14:17Choking on air.
14:18Every organ inside me felt knocked out of place.
14:23Lies.
14:24All of it.
14:26Miss Eva lives alone.
14:29There's no family brand on her skin anywhere.
14:32There's no-
14:32Derek snapped the words through a mouthful of blood.
14:35Still defending me.
14:36There's no child.
14:37Serena slowly laid a hand on the neck of the kid closest to her.
14:41Her fingers gradually tightened.
14:43No!
14:47Am I?
14:49She caught the panic flaring in Derek's eyes and let out a soft, mournful sigh.
14:55If they're not Eva's kids, then why do you care so much?
15:00I coughed blood onto the dirt.
15:02I drifted in and out.
15:04Pain.
15:05Blackness.
15:06Pain again.
15:07Damien didn't even flinch.
15:09Rowan watched with cold eyes.
15:11They were waiting for the child inside me to die.
15:13A child that didn't exist.
15:15Eva.
15:16Your body will heal.
15:17The kid can't stay.
15:19The words dragged me back.
15:21Not to this moment.
15:23To another one.
15:24Eight years ago.
15:26When I shut Serena out at the front gate, I'd lost my father, my mother, and Rowan one
15:32after another.
15:33They stopped believing me.
15:35And Serena only got bolder.
15:38On the night of my engagement, I thought I wouldn't have to be alone anymore.
15:42I thought I had finally found something solid to hold onto.
15:47My hands shook as I put on the Damien's ring.
15:49Then he betrayed me too.
15:51I woke up in an abandoned warehouse on the Nevada border.
15:55Cuffed to a rusted radiator.
15:57Boyd's filthy hands sliding up my thigh.
16:00I shattered a Jack Daniels bottle across his temple.
16:03Ripped his switchblade out of his belt.
16:05Drove it straight into his throat.
16:09Walked 30 miles barefoot across the Mojave before the sun came up.
16:13On the road back to New York, I shook the bodyguards loose over and over, sobbing.
16:18Falling my way toward Manhattan.
16:20To ask one two questions.
16:23Why throw me away?
16:24Why do this to me tonight of all nights?
16:27But I never made it past the city limits.
16:32Damien said if you show up, Serena will be upset.
16:36They dragged me back.
16:39In the city, the Marchetti estate blazed with light.
16:42Champagne fountains sparkled.
16:45The man who swore he would love me forever married my sister instead.
16:51Stop.
16:52Eva's passing out.
16:55Damien, she just can't let go of this place.
16:57I heard if you lock someone in the New Mexico desert for a few months, they forget everything.
17:03Why don't we send her there for a while first?
17:05Damien nodded.
17:06But then Serena changed her mind.
17:08She had someone cut my hair off.
17:10Long sections sheared away in jagged clumps.
17:13Dropped into the dust.
17:15Long hair was the mark of every woman in the Ashford line.
17:18Three generations of it.
17:19Every photograph in our father's study.
17:21You don't cut Ashford hair, you just don't.
17:23She wasn't done.
17:25She slid the Ashford signet ring off my finger.
17:27Dropped it into the flame of a lighter.
17:29We both watched the family crest slowly warp and twist in the heat.
17:33My fingernails dug deep into the soft meat of my palms.
17:37Miss Eva!
17:38Garrick's eyes were bloodshot.
17:40His whole body shaking with rage.
17:42I wasn't strong enough!
17:43I couldn't save you!
17:45Serena giggled.
17:46She leaned close to my ear.
17:48Where did you find this actor?
17:49He's still pretending.
17:50I lay there in the dust and let the smug victory on her face burn itself into my eyes.
17:54Slowly, I smiled back.
17:56You'll find out soon enough.
17:58The words barely left my mouth when the burner phone Don Calder had given me started vibrating
18:03hard against my legs.
18:04They were here.
18:05Right on time.
18:08The ground was shaking under our boots now.
18:11That?
18:11You couldn't fake.
18:12Serena didn't catch it.
18:13She thought I was just thrashing for one last scrap of dignity.
18:17Oh really?
18:18She glanced at my ruined hair.
18:21Oh Eva, I'm so scared.
18:24What if Don Salvatore himself punishes me?
18:26Garrick's face was purple.
18:28Punishment?
18:30You wish, you piece of trash.
18:33You'll be dragged straight to the four families table and executed on the spot.
18:37Rowan and Damien's faces went black at the exact same second.
18:41But the roar of engines was growing louder, closer.
18:44How many extras did you line up for this little show?
18:47Eva, it's pointless.
18:49He signaled the guards to shove me into a car.
18:52His patience was gone.
18:53We'll have so much fun once we're back in Manhattan, Eva.
18:57Serena cooed, one brow arching, like she already owned the world.
19:01The car door swung open.
19:03Two of the bodyguards seized me under the arms.
19:05But the second they went to shove me in, a single round tore through the air with the weight of
19:10a thunderclap.
19:11Punched clean through the rear door.
19:13Twisted metal sprayed in every direction.
19:16The driver hit the brakes so hard the tires screamed.
19:19Damien's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
19:22His head snapped around.
19:23A line of blacked out Cadillac escalades came tearing across the desert flats.
19:28The lead SUV slid to a stop in a wall of dust.
19:32A man stepped out.
19:33Silver at the temples.
19:34Custom black three piece.
19:36Jaw cut from granite.
19:38Don Salvatore Calder.
19:39Rowan's breath caught.
19:41His face went pale with disbelief.
19:44Serena didn't recognize him.
19:46She'd spent years on the streets with Roy.
19:48But the dawn of the second most powerful family on the west coast wasn't a man you just bumped into.
19:53Eva.
19:54Sweetie.
19:57No matter how many extras you scrape together, it doesn't change anything.
20:02We already agreed to let the children live.
20:06Don't make this any uglier than it has to be.
20:08Sure, you and that street rat shared a bed.
20:11People are gonna talk no matter what.
20:13But Damien.
20:15Damien's generous.
20:16He'll still take you in.
20:17Don't throw that away, Eva.
20:18She ground her back molars on the words.
20:20She was supposed to be the future first lady of the Marchetti family.
20:24I was nothing.
20:25Even if they dragged me back, she'd wrought my name first.
20:27Serena was so deep in her own scheming.
20:29She never once caught the strange, tangled way Damien and Rowan were now looking at me.
20:35Don Calder!
20:36Garrick twisted under the boot, grinding into his neck, grabbed the ant and threw the mayor off with a roar.
20:41Get your hands off them!
20:43These children are heirs to families you can't even imagine.
20:46Serena's bodyguards froze, mouths open.
20:49The eight kids finally scrambled to their feet.
20:51But every second of what had just happened, Don Calder and his men had taken in every second.
20:59The Marchetti heir abandons his business in Manhattan to fly all the way out to Navavita.
21:03And what do I find?
21:05Bullying the Volkak heirs my own family broke bread with.
21:08Striking Don Harlan's daughter across the face.
21:11Abusing my guest.
21:13Explain that to me, son.
21:15A man who'd done his killing in the streets and at war tables radiated something ordinary men never could.
21:21The rage beneath his calm voice was unmistakable.
21:24The lead Volkov bodyguard's face went iron pale.
21:27You are the Marchetti heir?
21:29Word is your mother was just one of the old Don's mistresses.
21:32But our Volkov heirs are true born, beloved by their Don.
21:36And this is the humiliation they meet at your hands?
21:39Through the chaos, a figure rushed to my side.
21:42Donna Margot DeLuca.
21:43Wife of the Calder family's conciliere.
21:45A former trauma surgeon before she married into the light.
21:48Easy, sweetheart.
21:51You've bled enough today.
21:53Rest.
21:57Every single one of them is going to answer for this.
22:01Serena tried to speak, the words stuck in her throat.
22:04A scene like this.
22:05But a street rat's wife really pulled this off?
22:08At that moment, Harlan's daughter picked up her signet ring from the dirt.
22:12The one Serena had slapped away.
22:14Feeling regret yet?
22:15Get on your knees and apologize to Eva.
22:17Stealing a Harlan signet ring is a capital offense.
22:19The four families would execute you themselves.
22:21You'd suffer a thousand times more than Eva ever did.
22:24I took a breath.
22:25My vision clearing.
22:27Serena's face was ghost white.
22:28The second our eyes locked, she staggered back.
22:31Raw panic flooding her throat.
22:33No.
22:33No, this can't be real.
22:35How do you have so many people protecting you?
22:37She ran to Damien, clinging to him.
22:40But Damien had his own problems.
22:42Don Calder was closing on him step by step.
22:45Eva.
22:45His voice came out rough.
22:46He looked down at the kids around me.
22:48They're not yours.
22:49Maybe they were?
22:50Damien.
22:51Eight years gone, and the first thing you do when you see me is point a gun at them.
22:55He wasn't the boy who used to slip into a tailored suit and walk with me through Central Park anymore.
23:00He was just another enemy now.
23:02You should come back to Marchetti with me.
23:04I almost laughed.
23:05I thought you understood me once.
23:07Now I see you never did.
23:10I had dreamed of being the first female underboss in Marchetti history.
23:14He only ever wanted to keep me locked in his bedroom.
23:18His hands clenched into fists.
23:20Across the distance, something flickered in his eyes.
23:23A memory.
23:24The day he first saw me outside the Marchetti study,
23:27going toe-to-toe with three of the family's senior capo at the operational strategy.
23:31He had stopped dead.
23:32Stood there listening for a long, long time.
23:35Until I walked past him, and the faint trace of my perfume hit him.
23:40Ev.
23:41His voice cracked.
23:42The old nickname.
23:43Do you hate me?
23:45The endearment landed in my ear and my brow tightened.
23:48Mind your place, Mr. Marchetti.
23:50Damien's chest seized like he'd been hit.
23:52Color slowly drained from his face.
23:55Rowan finally spoke.
23:57His voice rough.
23:58Eva, what really happened?
24:00These eight years, what did you go through?
24:02I looked at them with a mocking smile.
24:08Boyd wasn't just some street thug.
24:11He was a rapist.
24:14The night he tried to force himself on me,
24:18I gutted him with his own knife and ran.
24:21Halfway across the Mojave, I'd been spotted by a Calder family patrol.
24:25Concierge De Luca's men sweeping the border.
24:28He saw the truth in an instant.
24:31Clean hands.
24:32Sharp words.
24:33Cold eyes.
24:34He asked me to care for Don Calder's only daughter.
24:37I didn't just watch her.
24:39I taught her.
24:40Guns.
24:41Strategy.
24:43Family protocol.
24:43Word spread.
24:45One by one, the heirs of the four families, the ones in danger,
24:49the ones whose fathers needed them out of Manhattan and out of Chicago
24:53and out of Brighton Beach for a while,
24:55started getting quietly routed to me.
24:58I became a private tutor on a dusty stretch of land outside Las Vegas,
25:03quietly raising the next generation of America's most dangerous bloodlines.
25:08Eight children.
25:09All of them called me Madrina.
25:15But none of that mattered to Rowan.
25:17My name on the Ashford books is just paper, Rowan.
25:20Nothing about my life is yours to ask about.
25:22Rowan froze.
25:24He had watched me bleed.
25:26He had let it happen.
25:28And now regret was eating him alive.
25:30I thought you were lying.
25:31But Eva, you can't let Serena die.
25:33You owe her too much.
25:34Serena's eyes lit up.
25:36She saw her lifeline.
25:37Eva, we honestly had no idea you knew this many powerful people.
25:41What we did to you and the kids was a stupid mistake.
25:44Please forgive us.
25:45She batted her lashes, trying to sound sincere.
25:47Father and mother are waiting at Ashford rate.
25:50They're worried about you.
25:51I'm so sorry.
25:53A feather light apology.
25:54And just like that, she expected it all wiped clean.
25:57Don Harlan's voice cut in, edged with mockery.
26:01So you're the long lost Ashford heiress, huh?
26:03The one Eva supposedly kicked out of the nest?
26:05But Serena only heard that someone outside the family knew the story.
26:09And her whole face lit up.
26:10Eva didn't know I was the true Keir.
26:12She treated me well, even if I was locked out for three hours.
26:15Tricks like that worked on Rowey and Damius.
26:18They believed her.
26:19In front of a man as sharp as Don Calver, they were nothing.
26:22And Garrick was done listening to her honey-coated lies.
26:28You hurt Miss Eva.
26:29He stepped forward despite his wounds.
26:31I don't care what comes out of your mouth.
26:33You're not seeing tomorrow.
26:37Serena's face went slack with terror.
26:39She scrambled behind Rowan, body trembling.
26:42In the span of a breath, her eyes filled with tears.
26:45Rowan, I made a mistake.
26:46Eva has every right to be angry.
26:48Don't blame her for not saving me.
26:50Rowan's jaw tightened.
26:52He turned on me, voice cracking with rage.
26:55Eva, father and mother have only had Sida back for eight years.
26:57You'd really kill her now?
26:58Is your heart really that cold?
27:00I said nothing.
27:01Damien moved.
27:02He knocked the gun aside, shielding Rowan and Serena from the shot.
27:06Dermot, don't save me.
27:08Let me die in your arms.
27:10I have no regrets.
27:11Damien held my gaze for a long, heavy moment.
27:14Then he spoke.
27:16Each word scraping out of him like broken glass.
27:19Eight years ago, Serena was wronged.
27:21What she did today.
27:22What you suffered.
27:23I will spend my life making it up to you.
27:25She's innocent.
27:26Three hours waiting at a gate.
27:28That was the worst wrong anyone could carry.
27:31I lay in a pool of my own blood, body shredded.
27:34Not one of them had asked if I was alive.
27:37Innocent?
27:38My voice was barely a whisper.
27:40She lived with Boyd for years.
27:42And she couldn't recognize him?
27:43Damien froze.
27:45Serena had been the one to point at Garrick and call him Boyd.
27:48Rowey jerked back, putting space between himself and Serena.
27:51Serena?
27:53Why?
27:54Her shoulders shook.
27:55I made a mistake.
27:56I'm sorry, Eva.
27:57I haven't seen Boyd in eight years.
27:59This man...
28:00She was lying through much like him.
28:02She was lying through her teeth.
28:04And she knew it.
28:05But Rowan and Damien's faces softened.
28:07They wanted to believe her.
28:08They always did.
28:10I looked away.
28:12Don Calder.
28:13Let's go back to New York.
28:15Don Harlan looked Serena up and down.
28:17His voice came out deceptively soft.
28:20Oh?
28:20Kept waiting at the gate for three full hours, were you?
28:24Funny, and...
28:25I once took in two women who told me you tried to have them silenced.
28:29Permanently.
28:30Someone capable of cleaning up loose ends like that and you couldn't get past one front door in three hours?
28:35Serena's face went white.
28:36This time, the terror was real.
28:41My throat tightened.
28:42My eyes burned.
28:44I had imagined a thousand ways to prove my innocence to Rowan.
28:48But every time I tried, no one listened.
28:51They believed what they saw.
28:53They punished me until I confessed.
28:55Until I admitted I was wrong.
28:58Mind what you say, Don Harlan.
29:00Rowan said sharply.
29:01This is Serena's deepest wound.
29:03Don't reopen it.
29:04His eyes cut toward me, full of suspicion.
29:07Don Harlan sighed.
29:08Blind.
29:09Stubborn fool.
29:10He looked at me, his voice softer.
29:12Serena trembled, her thoughts spiraling.
29:15Even with Damien and Rowan trying to protect her, they might not be enough.
29:20Eva...
29:20She whispered, her voice cracking.
29:22Father and mother will be heartbroken if I die.
29:24I can't bear to see them suffer.
29:27What do I have to do to make you forgive me?
29:30I look down at a knife laying in the dirt.
29:32Pick up that blade.
29:34Carve 800 lines into yourself.
29:36If there's anything left of you when you're done, I'll think about sparing you.
29:40800 cuts.
29:41There wouldn't be anything left of her.
29:44Her legs gave out.
29:45She collapsed to the ground.
29:47Rowan's face twisted with fury.
29:49He opened his mouth to scream at me again.
29:51But this time, others spoke first.
29:54Prepare the cowboy.
29:55We're going back to New York.
29:58Don Calder.
29:59Don Harlan.
30:00Volkov's envoy.
30:01Donna Margo.
30:02They took turns guarding me.
30:04Every mile of the road, my gunshot wounds healed cleanly under Donna Margo's hands.
30:08But Serena, in the rear vehicle, shook all night.
30:11Barely slept.
30:12Even with Rowan and Damien soothing her, the dread of her lies cracking open followed her like a curse stitched
30:18into her bones.
30:19If Eva had just let me pass the gate, Rowan would never have treated her this way.
30:23Right?
30:24Rowan had just gotten word from the convoy medic that my injuries were healing.
30:28Letting his breath out slow, he heard Serena's question, and for one dazed second, he nodded.
30:33If she had, you'd both be precious daughters of the Ashford line.
30:36And I would never let anyone hurt either of you.
30:39No one.
30:39The last sliver of hope died in Serena.
30:42She yanked the curtain shut on her window, hands shaking, sweat pouring down her face.
30:46Don't be scared, Serena.
30:47I'll take all the blame.
30:48You just live.
30:48Stay with father and mother.
30:50Outside, Rowan swore it on his life.
30:52Serena didn't hear a word of it.
30:53That night, she crept over to my car.
30:55Her face was twisted into something that was trying to look like a threat.
31:00Eva, the Ashford family fed you, clothed you, gave you a name.
31:04You wanna kill me?
31:05You wanna kill Rowan?
31:07You really think father and mother will ever forgive you?
31:09We are their real children.
31:11Won't you fear of hear their crying in your dreams?
31:13The bullet wounds in my body weren't fully healed yet.
31:15Only my hands moved freely.
31:17And she grew bold.
31:18Bold enough to push her face right up to mine.
31:20Don Calder, watching from the shadows, kicked her away.
31:22He gave me one look.
31:24His men moved.
31:26Bind her.
31:27Gag her.
31:28Drag her over.
31:29Serena was shoved to her knees in front of me.
31:33I pulled a knife from my belt and drove it into her shoulder.
31:37Her scream choked off behind the gag.
31:39Tears burst loose.
31:41Don't be in such a rush to die, Rina.
31:44Crawl back where you belong.
31:45She nodded frantically, scrambling away from me on her knees.
31:49The men hauled her off like a dead animal and threw her back into her vehicle.
31:54Half a month later, the convoy rolled into Manhattan.
31:58The other three Dons had already received Don Calder's coded message.
32:01They were waiting in the highest tower in the city.
32:04Top floor.
32:06The round table.
32:07And had been for hours.
32:08A massive oak table.
32:10Four chairs.
32:11Four men.
32:11Four families.
32:12Don Salvatore Marchetti sat at the head.
32:15Cigar smoke curling around his silver temples.
32:17Don Calder to his right.
32:18Whiskey untouched.
32:19Don Harlan to his left.
32:21Face carved out of stone.
32:22Don Volkoff at the foot of the table.
32:24His two grown sons standing on either side of him.
32:26No bodyguards inside.
32:28Only the four Dons and me.
32:30And Serena on her knees in the shadow of the table.
32:32Her hair was glued to her face with sweat.
32:34Her makeup was running.
32:36If we're gonna judge the future, Mrs. Marchetti,
32:38we may as well settle every charge in one breath.
32:42Bring in the evidence.
32:45The double doors swung open.
32:47A woman walked in.
32:48Older now.
32:49Her face lined with years.
32:50She had worked for the Ashford family until eight years ago.
32:53When Rowan discovered that she was one of the maids who had blocked Serena at the gate.
32:57Convinced that she had acted on Eva's orders,
33:00he paid her $20,000 to leave New York and keep the family scandal buried.
33:05He never asked who had ordered her to block the gate in the first place.
33:10Miss Eva never gave us any order.
33:12It was Serena's plan from the beginning.
33:14She bribed me with a gemstone necklace.
33:17And told me to keep her outside.
33:19A gemstone necklace from our mother's dowry case.
33:21A piece only father, mother, and Rowan would have recognized on sight.
33:25After I and another maid named Jade were kicked out,
33:27but we were hunted down by Serena's men.
33:29They needed us to keep quiet forever.
33:31I was lucky enough to escape.
33:33Jade wasn't.
33:34A folder slid across the polished oak.
33:37Wire transfer records.
33:38Bank receipts.
33:39And laid carefully on top an autopsy report.
33:42Jade Morrison, age 23.
33:44Ashford housemaid.
33:45Disappeared eight years ago.
33:47Body recovered last spring from the Hudson River.
33:49Cause of death.
33:50Strangulation.
33:51Serena was shaking so hard her teeth chattered.
33:54No!
33:55Please!
33:56It's not true!
33:57Eva made them lie!
33:59But Don Salvatore didn't even look at her.
34:01His eyes stayed on the necklace.
34:03The one Serena had sworn for years had vanished with a thieving maid.
34:07Then his eyes lifted to mine.
34:09Eight years.
34:10Eight years this snake's been sleeping in our house.
34:14Damien's pupils blew wide.
34:16Eight years.
34:17He had trusted the wrong woman for eight years.
34:20Eva.
34:20His voice was barely a whisper.
34:22Rough and trembling.
34:23Like he was afraid of breaking something fragile.
34:26All these years, I had you all wrong.
34:29Don Calder let out a cold snort.
34:31He tipped his head toward the table.
34:34Eva Ashford served the Calder family many times in the Nevada desert.
34:37I hold her in high regard.
34:39If not for her risking her life to protect these children,
34:42the four families might have fractured.
34:43We would be at odds with the Volkovs.
34:46He slid a thick file across the oak table.
34:49Every detail's in there.
34:51The judgment is yours, gentlemen.
34:52The other Dons exchanged glances.
34:55Don Salvatore set down his cigar.
34:57His voice was final.
34:58Damien Marcelli, stripped of your airship.
35:01Your engagement to Serena is annulled, effected immediately.
35:04Damien's face drained of color.
35:06He opened his mouth.
35:07No words came.
35:08Rowan Ashford, as an accomplice, you are stripped of all privileges in the Ashford family.
35:13Rowan's fists clenched at his sides.
35:15He said nothing.
35:16Then Don Salvatore turned to Serena.
35:18The cigar paused at his fingertips.
35:20You.
35:21He let the silence stretch.
35:23Then he said only two words.
35:26Disappear.
35:28Every Don at the table understood what that meant.
35:30Either the bottom of the Hudson with concrete around her ankles,
35:33or sold off, used until there was nothing left to use.
35:36Either way, Serena Ashfield, as a name in this world, ended tonight.
35:41Serena collapsed forward.
35:42Her forehead hit the floor.
35:44Please.
35:45Eva, I'm sorry.
35:46I was wrong.
35:47Please beg Don Salvatore to take it back.
35:49Guard stepped forward to drag her away.
35:52She kicked.
35:53Eva!
35:54Eva, help me!
35:55If you don't save me, I'll haunt you forever!
35:59Garion stepped out of the shadows and slapped her across the face.
36:03Her head snapped to the side.
36:04Don Salvatore turned to me.
36:06Voice softer now.
36:07You'll be compensated.
36:09Generously.
36:10Don Calder cleared his throat.
36:12She's sharp and loyal.
36:13If I may, I would like her to join the Calder family.
36:16Don Salvatore's expression darkened.
36:18He turned his eyes on me directly.
36:20And what do you say?
36:21I held his gaze, steady.
36:23I stopped being a Marcheati eight years ago, Don Salvatore.
36:26A long beat.
36:27Fair enough.
36:28I turned to Don Calder and took the family signet ring he offered.
36:32From this moment on, I'm a Calder.
36:36Two years later, the exiled Damien Marchetti got caught between two factions in a firefight
36:41with a Mexican cartel.
36:42He couldn't keep up.
36:43They put a bullet through his head where he stood.
36:45Before he died, he sent someone to deliver a letter to me.
36:48I lit it on fire without opening it.
36:51The moment he betrayed me, we were done.
36:53Reading it would change nothing.
36:54A dock worker on the Miami payroll.
36:56The lowest job the Asheron family had.
36:58That was where Roey was now.
36:59No matter how many strings my parents tried to pull, he'd never see Manhattan again.
37:03Never see another family member.
37:05Eventually, he paid one of the dock men to pass me a message.
37:08He wants to apologize, face to face.
37:11I never went.
37:12Later, my father waited outside the Calder compound one afternoon.
37:17Your mother wants to see you.
37:18Just once.
37:20Will you come, Eva?
37:21Years had put silver in their hair.
37:23I'd sent Rowan to the Miami docks myself.
37:26I'd let Serena disappear with my own signature on the order.
37:30I'd never expected forgiveness.
37:32Not from them, not from anyone.
37:34But that afternoon, they held my hand and blamed themselves.
37:38If we hadn't signed off on the drug that night, none of this would have happened.
37:43We failed you, sweetheart.
37:44Some wounds, they don't ever fully untangle.
37:47Not in one lifetime.
37:50Seven years later, I rose through the Calder family ranks.
37:54From a nameless private tutor in the desert,
37:57to the first female underboy in American Mafia history.
38:01Don Calder threw the kind of party Vegas hadn't seen in a generation.
38:05Don Harlan flew in personally.
38:07Don Voltoff came with both his grown sons and half his security.
38:11Every capo from three coasts raised a glass.
38:15Even Don Salva Marchiotti sent a gift and raised a glass at the four families' table.
38:20Marco, now 22, dressed in a bespoke suit,
38:23his grandfather's obsidian serpent ring gleaming on his finger,
38:27walked up to me and placed a small velvet box in my palm.
38:30From all of us, Medina.
38:32For raising us when no one else wanted to.
38:34I opened it.
38:35Inside, a signet ring.
38:38Eight family crests fused into one.
38:40Marchetti, Calder, Harlan, Volkoff.
38:44The DeLuca and the four capo families who'd entrusted their children to me.
38:48My crest.
38:49Mine.
38:49I stepped out onto the glass terrace and pressed my palm flat against the cool window.
38:54Manhattan glittered fifty slores below.
38:56A sea of neon and old money.
38:59All of it humming under my hand.
39:00A spring wind cut across the terrace.
39:03Cool and clean.
39:04Carrying the faint smell of cold air and old leather.
39:07Somewhere deep in my chest,
39:09the quiet steel that had waited eight long years inside a broken bride.
39:13Finally, let go.
39:14I exhaled a long, slow breath.
39:17I lifted my glass.
39:18Drank it down in one swallow.
39:20To my own crown.
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