He Thought I Was an Orphan, Until I Went Home

On the night of my engagement party, Luca Moretti walked his childhood sweetheart over to me.

"Clara accidentally stained her dress," he said. "Let her borrow yours for a while."

He added, "Everyone knows you're the main character tonight. It doesn't matter what you wear."

I didn't bother objecting. The gown was already on her.

I stood behind the half-closed back door in a borrowed black dress while his men laughed over their whiskey.

"Luca, is your real fiancee going to lose it?" someone asked.

Luca barely looked up from his glass. "Anna is going to be a Donna. She needs to learn grace."

Another man snorted. "Besides, she's an orphan. Where's she gonna go without you?"

Luca smiled. "She can't leave me."

They didn't know I had never been an orphan. I had buried the Valenti name for five years because I wanted Luca to love me as Anna, not as the Valenti daughter. My father is the Mafia Chairman, the man every family answered to when the highest table met.

That night, I took off the Moretti emerald ring, left it beside the guest book, and called home.

"Papa, I’m not marrying Luca. Don't come to Chicago."

Luca Moretti brought Clara Bell into the bridal suite of our engagement party while I was touching up my lipstick.

His black jacket hung over one arm, his tie was loose, and he looked as if he had stepped away from a chore. Clara stood behind him in a white satin mini dress stained dark with red wine, her eyes wet.

"Anna," Luca said, as if he were asking for a glass of water, "Clara's dress is ruined. Let her wear your gown for a while."

My hand stopped around the lipstick tube.

The ivory gown hung behind me, fitted five separate times so the waist and neckline would sit exactly right. It wasn't my wedding dress, but it was the dress in which the Moretti family would present me as Luca's fiancee.

Maya stepped in front of me. "Luca, are you serious? This is Anna's engagement party. She hunted through half of Chicago for that dress."

Luca's gaze slid past her and landed on me.

I knew that look too well. For five years, whenever Clara stood beside him with red eyes and he needed me to give up a little more, he looked at me exactly like that. Not pleading. Not ordering. Just certain I would be sensible.

Clara lowered her head. "Anna, I'm so sorry. A server bumped into me."

Luca rubbed the bridge of his nose, already tired of my silence. "Everyone knows you're the guest of honor. You'd look beautiful in anything. It's Clara's first time at a formal family event. Don't make her feel small."

Maya gave a cold laugh. "So it's fine to make Anna feel small?"

Luca's face tightened. "This is a Moretti engagement party, not a street fight. Anna is going to be Donna someday. She needs to learn a Donna's grace."