The Scarred Queen

As the Don of Italy's most powerful mafia family, my father adopted two orphaned brothers to serve as bodyguards for my sister and me.

The older one—tall, broad-shouldered, and watchful—fell for my sister the moment he saw her.

That left me with his "autistic" younger brother.

I didn't have the heart to send Edward back to the orphanage, where he'd surely be bullied, so I kept him.

He never spoke, so I took him to the best psychiatrists money could buy.

I spent two hours every day telling him jokes, even though he never once cracked a smile.

He couldn't protect me, so I taught myself martial arts—and begged my father not to cast him out.

I thought he was just deeply traumatized. That with enough patience, he'd come around.

Then the cruise ship went down.

He tore the last life jacket straight off my body.

The first words he ever said to me:

"Sorry, but Bianca's life jacket is defective."

Bianca—my sister.

He watched me slip beneath the waves, gripping my hand one last time:

"I failed you in this life. I'll make it up to you in the next."

Turns out his silence was never autism. Just an act—one he only kept up around me.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day we chose our bodyguards.

This time? I skipped the bodyguard farce entirely. Decided to live my own life.

But now it seems I've caught the eye of someone far more dangerous...

Serena's POV

As the Don of Italy's most powerful mafia family, my father adopted two orphaned brothers to serve as bodyguards for my sister and me.

The older one—tall, broad-shouldered, and watchful—fell for my sister the moment he saw her.

That left me with his "autistic" younger brother.

I didn't have the heart to send Edward back to the orphanage, where he'd surely be bullied, so I kept him.

He never spoke, so I took him to the best psychiatrists money could buy.

I spent two hours every day telling him jokes, even though he never once cracked a smile.

He couldn't protect me, so I taught myself martial arts—and begged my father not to cast him out.

I thought he was just deeply traumatized. That with enough patience, he'd come around.

Then the cruise ship went down.

He tore the last life jacket straight off my body.

The first words he ever said to me:

"Sorry, but Bianca's life jacket is defective."

Bianca—my sister.

He watched me slip beneath the waves, gripping my hand one last time:

"I failed you in this life. I'll make it up to you in the next."

Turns out his silence was never autism. Just an act—one he only kept up around me.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day we chose our bodyguards.

I froze in my father's office, staring at the two brothers.

Bianca glanced at me and bit her lip. "Actually, I'll take Edward. Serena should