PROLOGUE: THE WOMAN WHO SAID NOThe first time Lucien Moretti was rejected, he laughed.The second time, he bought the restaurant where the rejection happened and had the owner fired.The third time, he sent a dozen black roses to the woman's apartment.She returned them unopened.But the fourth time?The fourth time, Isabella Rossi looked him directly in the eyes and said the words that would haunt him for the rest of his life.“I would rather die alone than spend one night loving a man like you.”Lucien went completely still.Around them, the ballroom of the Moretti estate continued to glitter with champagne, diamonds, and the laughter of people who had no idea that a single woman had just challenged the most dangerous man in the city.His men waited for his command.His enemies would have paid a fortune to witness the scene.And Isabella?She simply turned away from him.She crossed the marble floor, took another man's hand, and smiled.That man was Adrian De Luca.Lucien's oldest friend.His most trusted ally.And the only man in the world who had ever dared to stand between Lucien Moretti and something he wanted.Lucien watched Isabella lean toward Adrian and whisper something in his ear.Adrian laughed.Isabella laughed with him.Something dark and ugly twisted inside Lucien's chest.He had never envied another man before.He had never needed to.But as he watched Adrian kiss Isabella's forehead, Lucien understood a terrifying truth.He could destroy Adrian's business.He could take his money, his properties, and his power.He could even order his men to make Adrian disappear.But none of those things would make Isabella look at him the way she looked at Adrian.And for the first time in his life, Lucien Moretti wanted something he couldn't steal.He wanted to be loved.By the one woman who hated him.“Boss?” his right-hand man, Matteo, murmured beside him.Lucien picked up a glass of champagne.“Find out everything about Adrian and Isabella.”Matteo hesitated. “Everything?”Lucien's eyes remained fixed on the couple across the room.“Every secret. Every weakness. Every reason she thinks she can live without me.”“And if she truly loves him?”The glass cracked in Lucien's hand.A thin line of blood slid down his palm.Lucien smiled, but there was no warmth in it.“Then I suppose,” he whispered, “I'll have to learn how to lose.”He paused.His smile disappeared.“Or discover why losing her feels worse than dying.”And across the ballroom, Isabella suddenly looked over her shoulder.For one brief moment, their eyes met.She saw the blood on his hand.She saw the expression on his face.And for reasons she couldn't explain, a chill traveled down her spine.She had no idea that the man watching her had already begun a war.A war against her happiness.Against her freedom.And ultimately, against himself.Because Lucien Moretti had made one terrible mistake.He had fallen in love with a woman he could never control.And he had mistaken that love for a weakness he could conquer.He was about to learn how wrong he was.