Chapter 2The Unseen Donna

I went upstairs to our bedroom and pulled the divorce papers from the hidden compartment in my closet.

When I'd married Lorenzo, a friend had warned me.

"Chloe, you and the Romano family come from completely different worlds. A Mafia marriage can't survive on love alone."

So I'd had divorce papers prepared long ago.

I just hadn't expected to need them this soon.

I was about to sign when Lorenzo pushed open the door.

He looked at the papers in my hands and frowned.

"Chloe, you're divorcing me over a seat?"

"It's not just a seat."

"Then what else are you unhappy about?"

I looked at him, but my eyes still burned.

"Lorenzo, have you ever really treated me like family? Have you ever given me the respect I deserve as your Donna?"

He was silent for a moment.

"You're my wife."

His wife.

Yet I wasn't in the family portrait hanging downstairs.

The day it was taken, Sheila said she needed to support Elvira and naturally stepped into the frame.

I'd been called away to deal with a customer causing trouble at the casino.

By the time I returned, the photo had already been taken.

I'd gone to Lorenzo.

"Can we take another one? I was just—"

He cut me off coldly.

"Chloe, I don't want excuses. All I know is that you missed the family photo."

"If you're upset, that's your own doing. No one else should have to pay for your emotions. That's the Romano rule."

That photograph had hung in the mansion for two years.

Every Capo who visited for the first time pointed at Sheila.

"That's the Donna, right? She and Lorenzo look perfect together."

Lorenzo never corrected them.

In private, he only told me, "Men can be careless. They mistook her for you. Don't take it personally."

Then there was the family archive.

I'd spent six months compiling it, traveling across half the country to fill in the missing information on every branch and ally.

The last page bore the signatures of every core Romano member.

Including Sheila.

Everyone except me.

All because the pen stopped working when it was my turn to sign.

Lorenzo didn't ask anyone to bring another one.

He simply closed the archive.

"The archive has to be inside the chapel before midnight. That's the rule."

"But I'm your wife! Leaving the Donna's signature out of the family archive—is that another Romano rule?"

After a long standoff, Lorenzo sighed and had a servant bring in a bowl of hot soup.

"Chloe, can you eat something before we keep fighting?"

Lorenzo was always the first to back down when we argued.

He worried I'd get too upset to eat and make myself sick.

When he pushed the soup toward me, warmth stirred in my chest.

"Tomorrow is the second day of the Christmas gathering. The elders from every branch will be there. Make sure you're prepared."

After finishing the soup, I walked into the dressing room and opened the cabinet in the center.

It was empty.

The evening gown Elvira had given me was gone.

The Romano family's dark-gold crest was embroidered into it.

It symbolized the Donna's status.

I hurried back out.

"Lorenzo, my gown is gone!"

He paused.

"I gave it to Sheila. Tomorrow will be her first appearance in front of those elders. She can't show up in something too casual."

I froze.

My hands and feet went cold.

"Lorenzo, only your wife is supposed to wear that gown."

He looked up, unconcerned.

"It's just a dress. It doesn't mean she's replacing you. I'll have another couture gown delivered. There's still time."

"Lorenzo, I'm your Donna."

He stood and tugged irritably at his tie.

"Then as the Donna, you should be more generous. Chloe, what exactly are you trying to accomplish tonight?"

I pointed at the empty cabinet.

"I don't want another couture gown. Tell her to give mine back."

Lorenzo was silent for a long time.

"She can't."

"The gown has already been altered to fit Sheila."

I stared at him in disbelief.

When Elvira first handed me that gown, I'd been too nervous to accept it.

Lorenzo had taken my hand and said, "From now on, you'll wear this to Romano family events. Everyone will know you're my Donna."

Now someone else was wearing it.

It had even been altered to fit her body.

Lorenzo was about to say something else when Sheila's voice came from outside.

"Lorenzo."

He stopped looking at me and walked out.

From the doorway, I watched Sheila twirl happily in my gown.

She stood in front of Lorenzo and smiled.

"How do I look?"

Lorenzo smiled too.

"No one suits that dress better than you, Sheila."

I stepped back into the bedroom and closed the door.

Then I picked up the divorce papers again.

This time, I signed my name.