A Rose Owes No Allegiance

Ten years ago, I brought my distant cousin Sofia to New York after finding her cornered by her stepfather's creditors in an old Sicilian port. I taught her English, etiquette, and the laws of our world. I even introduced her to my fiancé, Alessandro Moretti. On the eve of our wedding, I found a secure family thread on my brother's computer—a thread that excluded me. My mother had written, "Sofia is pregnant. Are you really going through with tomorrow's wedding?" Alessandro replied, "The legal marriage is hers. The ceremony and the Moretti name will be Isabella's." That was when I learned they’d already gotten legally married. Our wedding was meant to seal a truce between two Mafia families after twenty years of bloodshed. I would not humiliate my father or the D'Angelo name in front of every major family in New York. So the next morning, I still took the Don's arm and walked down the aisle. Instead, when the ceremony ended,I’d signed on for a seven-year closed research program. When it ended, I had no intention of returning to the life they had chosen for me. Chapter 1 A knock sounded at the study door. "Bella?" Luca called. "Why is it taking so long to copy the security files?" His voice was as warm as ever. I pulled out the flash drive and cleared the screen. When I stood, my stomach clenched so hard that I had to brace myself against the desk. "I'm done." The hallway outside was crowded with D'Angelo soldiers checking weapons and clearing guest vehicles. Luca took the drive and asked why I looked so pale. I stared at the crest on his cuff and remembered that, ten years ago, he had been the loudest voice against bringing Sofia home. Her stepfather had gambled away everything he owned, then offered her to smugglers at the old port to settle the balance. I had gone to Sicily with Papa's men, paid the debt, and brought her back to New York. She spoke almost no English, so I tutored her every day. When society women laughed at her, I taught her how to use every piece of silverware on a formal table, how to dance, and how to move through a room full of powerful people without showing fear. I even saved her a seat whenever Alessandro and I went out because I hated the thought of her feeling alone. She was no longer the poor relation everyone dismissed. She was the person they would do anything to protect. I was the fool they only needed to deceive until the wedding was over. "My stomach is bothering me," I said. Relief flashed across Luca's face. "Mamma has been looking for you. Sofia is waiting for you to confirm tomorrow's schedule. Don't make her more nervous than she already is." In the family salon, Sofia sat curled beside the fireplace in my mother's black cashmere wrap. Alessandro was kneeling in front of her, fastening the strap of her shoe. Mamma held out a cup of honeyed water. The moment Luca entered, he ordered the terrace doors shut because the draft might make Sofia uncomfortable. They surrounded her as if she were the D'Angelo Principessa. When Sofia saw me, she quickly drew back her foot. "Bella, I only asked Alessandro to check the buckle. I'll be walking behind you for most of the day tomorrow. I don't want to make a mistake." Alessandro rose and reached for me as though nothing had changed. "She hasn't eaten all day. Don't read anything into it." His fingers brushed the back of my hand. I pulled away as if he had burned me. Sofia's eyes filled at once. Mamma set her cup down with a sharp click. "She has spent two weeks helping with your wedding. Who exactly are you punishing with that expression?" I looked at the ceremony schedule on the table. "If she isn't well, she shouldn't be my maid of honor." Sofia began to cry. Alessandro stepped in front of her. Luca's face hardened. "She only wants to stand beside you," Alessandro said quietly. "All Five Families will be there tomorrow. Don't hand them a scandal because you're in a mood." A mood. He had given Sofia the legal marriage and left me responsible for protecting two families from disgrace. I dug my nails into my palm until the pain steadied my voice. "Fine," I said. "She can stay in the wedding." Chapter 2 By five the next morning, armored cars lined the drive. I was in front of the mirror while the makeup artist worked when the bridal salon called. "Miss D'Angelo, Mr. Moretti collected your spare white dress and veil yesterday. Miss Bellini said you had given her permission to try them on." My grip tightened around the phone. In the photograph from City Hall, Sofia had been wearing my dress. Even when she stole my fiancé, she had needed my clothes to do it. "Send me the pickup record." I forwarded it to the encrypted account provided by the polar institute. Three years earlier, I had completed my doctorate in neuropharmacology. After Papa was shot, I left the laboratory and came home to oversee the family's legitimate pharmaceutical holdings. My marriage to Alessandro had been arranged to end the feud between our families, but I had also grown to love him. Six months ago, Aurora Seven invited me to join its Antarctic medical research team. I turned them down because my wedding was approaching. The invitation was still in my inbox. The door opened. Mamma entered with Sofia. Sofia wore a silver-gray bridesmaid gown. At her throat was an emerald brooch that every D'Angelo matriarch had worn at major family ceremonies. I looked at my mother. She avoided my eyes as she straightened the brooch. "Her dress looked too plain. Half the family matriarchs in New York will be here. I won't have them saying she looks like a charity case." "Grandmother left that to me." Mamma's hand paused, but her voice only grew firmer. "You're wearing the Moretti diamonds today. Must you begrudge Sofia one piece of jewelry? She has nothing. Try to show her some compassion." I wanted to tell her that I had been showing Sofia compassion for ten years. Then my stomach twisted again. Sweat slid down my spine, and I knew that if I spoke, anger would not be the first thing they heard. It would be the break in my voice. Luca arrived a moment later. When he saw me looking at the brooch, he moved Sofia behind him. "It's one day, Bella. She'll return it after the wedding." Yesterday, Alessandro had promised me one day as Mrs. Moretti. Apparently, they had agreed on how much of my own life I was allowed to borrow. The measured tap of a cane sounded outside. Papa entered in a black suit, a compression brace still strapped around his unhealed ribs. His gaze went straight to the emerald at Sofia's throat. "Who gave her permission to wear that?" Mamma opened her mouth, but I stood first. "I did." Papa did not believe me. He took me into the hall and lowered his voice. "Isabella, tell your papa what happened." For one reckless second, I nearly showed him every message on my phone. Two test shots cracked outside. The motorcade carrying the other families had reached the estate. Moretti elders were already walking through the gates. Papa had bled for this truce. If I canceled now, the Morettis would see it as a public insult. Soldiers from both families were already positioned around the southern harbor. One angry order could start the killing again. And Papa was still recovering from the last attempt on his life. I swallowed everything I wanted to say. "I didn't sleep well. That's all." He gripped my shoulder. "A marriage is not a death sentence. Say the word and I will send every guest home. If anyone answers with a gun, I will deal with them." My eyes burned. At least one person in this house had thought to ask whether I wanted any of this. But downstairs waited hundreds of guests, two armed families, and a peace agreement bought with twenty years of blood. I could not make my wounded father carry the cost of another war. I straightened his lapel and managed a small smile. "A D'Angelo woman does not break her family's word in front of its enemies." Papa studied me for a long moment before offering his arm. "Then let me take my Principessa down the aisle." The chapel bells began to ring. I took my father's arm and walked toward a groom who already belonged to someone else. Chapter 3 Every conversation in the chapel died when the doors opened. Alessandro stood at the end of the aisle with the silver Moretti crest pinned to his jacket. He looked at me and gave the room the gentle smile everyone expected. Only when I drew closer did I see that his gaze kept slipping over my shoulder to Sofia. Papa placed my hand in Alessandro's, but he did not release it immediately. "Take care of her," he said. "On the honor of the Moretti family," Alessandro replied without hesitation. The priest began the vows. At the side of the altar, our advisers opened the truce agreement. Once Alessandro and I completed the ceremony, the D'Angelos and Morettis would control the southern harbor together, and the old blood debt would be declared settled. "Alessandro Moretti, do you take—" A choked retch came from behind me. Sofia covered her mouth and staggered into an arrangement of lilies. The vase shattered. All the color drained from her face. "Sofia!" Alessandro tore his hand from mine and ran down the aisle. Mamma and Luca moved just as quickly. Luca shoved aside a servant who tried to help. Mamma wrapped Sofia in her own shawl. Alessandro lifted her into his arms. Dozens of family heads watched in silence. The Moretti consigliere closed the treaty folder. D'Angelo soldiers shifted toward their weapons. Papa's expression turned murderous, and the air on both sides of the chapel pulled tight. "Continue the ceremony," I said. Only then did I hear the tremor in my own voice. I tightened my grip on the bouquet until a rose thorn pierced the ribbon and bit into my palm. Alessandro did not seem to hear me. He carried Sofia toward the anteroom. "We wait until the doctor says she's all right." Mamma and Luca followed him. I was left alone in the aisle. "Give me ten minutes." I gathered my skirts and walked into the anteroom. Sofia lay on a sofa while Alessandro held her hand. Mamma knelt beside her with a cloth. Luca stood guard at the door as if someone might try to hurt her. They all went still when I entered. Alessandro released Sofia and stood between us. "She nearly fainted. Don't upset her right now." "She nearly fainted?" My gaze moved from her pale face to the steaming cup of water beside her. I did not accuse her of putting on another performance. I only said, "There are people waiting outside. When are we finishing the ceremony?" Mamma frowned. "Look at her. Is the ceremony all you care about?" Luca's voice turned cold. "Waiting ten minutes will not kill anyone. You have had everything handed to you since birth. Why must you fight her for a little attention too?" Blood from my palm had begun to seep through the ribbon around the roses. No one noticed. Alessandro softened his voice, using the same patient tone that had persuaded me to yield so many times before. "Bella, you have always been the sensible one. As soon as she's steady, I'll go back out and finish the wedding." The sensible one. That was why I was expected to surrender the brooch, the man I loved, and even the right to walk away from my own humiliation. I nodded once and turned toward the door. A sob broke behind me. "Bella, I'm sorry." Sofia slid from the sofa and fell to her knees on the train of my gown. "I swear I never meant to ruin your wedding." Chapter 4 The room fell silent except for Sofia's crying. She clutched my skirts and looked up at me. "Please don't send me away from the D'Angelos. I have nothing outside this family. My stepfather's creditors are still looking for me in Sicily. If I go back, they'll kill me." She shook so violently that her teeth clicked, yet she kept watching Alessandro from beneath her lowered lashes. "You warned me that if I drew attention away from you today, you would throw me out of the D'Angelo house. I chose the plainest gown I could find. I did not ask Mamma for the brooch. I swear I never meant to outshine you." With every word, Mamma's face grew tighter. But her anger was not for Sofia. It was for me. "You threatened to throw her out over a bridesmaid dress?" she demanded. "Isabella, how could you be so cruel?" "I never said that." Luca cut me off before I could say anything else. "She has spent the entire day trying to make herself invisible for your sake. She should not have to beg for a place in her own family." "Please don't argue because of me," Sofia whispered. "I'll take off the brooch. I'll leave the reception early. Just don't send me back to Sicily." Alessandro bent down and helped her to her feet. One arm went around her shoulders. His other hand settled protectively over her lower abdomen before he seemed to catch himself and moved it to her waist. "Enough," he said. "Sofia is staying." Then he looked at me, his expression hardening. "How can you be so narrow-minded, Bella? She chose a plain dress, she has apologized, and you still want to frighten her on our wedding day. She has been in poor health for weeks. She nearly collapsed in the chapel. She cannot take this kind of stress." Poor health. The excuse might have convinced anyone else. But I had seen the messages on Luca's computer. I knew why Mamma kept glancing at Sofia's stomach, why Luca guarded the door, and why Alessandro had shielded her abdomen without thinking. They still believed they had hidden everything from me. They thought I did not know that Sofia was pregnant—or that she and Alessandro had already married at City Hall. I looked at the woman who had once stayed beside my bed all night when I was ill, the brother who had once promised to protect me, and the man I had loved enough to marry. Not one of them asked whether Sofia had really told the truth. They only needed me to be the villain so they could keep protecting her without explaining why. A knock struck the door. "Isabella," Papa called from the hall. "Open the door." Mamma immediately motioned for Luca to block it. "Do not drag your father into this," she hissed. "He has only just stabilized the southern harbor. He cannot be burdened with another family dispute over your jealousy." Even now, they were using Papa as another way to silence me. I wiped the cold sweat from my mouth. "I won't send Sofia away." Relief passed through all three of them. Alessandro moved as if to embrace me. "I knew you would understand." I avoided him and opened the door. Papa stood outside. Before he could speak, I took his arm. "We have kept our guests waiting long enough. The wedding will continue." Twenty minutes later, Alessandro and I stood at the altar again. I said the vows. I exchanged rings. I did not become his legal wife. But I protected Papa's truce, and I preserved what remained of the D'Angelo family's honor. At the reception, Mamma took Sofia back to the estate to rest. Luca escorted them himself. Alessandro stayed for half of our first dance before leaving to "check on her." Everyone assumed the obedient Principessa would still be waiting when he returned. I went back to the anteroom, took off the wedding gown, and placed the ring and the Moretti crest in their velvet box. Then I opened my email and answered the invitation I had ignored for six months. "I accept the position at Aurora Seven. I can leave tonight." The program director called three minutes later. "Dr. D'Angelo, there is a flight to Ushuaia tonight. From there, you will board the Antarctic supply vessel. It is a closed assignment lasting seven-year. You will not be able to leave the station or make private calls." "I understand." "Are you certain?" I looked at my pale reflection in the mirror. Only then did the tears finally fall. "Yes." Before I left, I went to Papa's study. He sat alone behind his desk with one of my wedding photographs in front of him. He was not smiling. "This was not the marriage you wanted," he said. The last of my composure broke. I buried my face against his shoulder and cried for one minute. He asked no questions. He only rubbed my back the way he had when I was a child. When I could breathe again, he put a fresh passport and the key to the family's private airfield in my hand. "Go wherever you need to go. A daughter of mine may defend her family's honor, but she is also entitled to a life of her own." I hugged him once more, then left without saying goodbye to anyone else. My plane departed New York before dawn. When Alessandro finally returned to the estate, all he found in my room was the wedding ring and a printed confirmation letter. RESEARCHER: DR. ISABELLA D'ANGELO DESTINATION: AURORA SEVEN POLAR MEDICAL STATION, ANTARCTICA CLOSED PROGRAM: SEVEN-YEAR By then, my flight had already crossed the Atlantic. For the first time in my life, none of them could use the family, the alliance, or Sofia's tears to keep me where they wanted me.