BOUND BY VOWS

Chapter 1

The Bargain

Alessia knew the moment she walked into the dining hall that she was being sold.

Her fate had been signed in ink and sealed in blood long before she entered the room.

The air was thick with cigar smoke, the scent of expensive whiskey clinging to the walls. Around the long mahogany table sat the men who ran New York's criminal empire; her father, Angelo Moretti, at the head, his dark eyes cold and calculating.

And at the far end of the room, the man she was about to be given to.

Luca DeLuca.

He sat with one arm draped over the back of his chair; his expression unreadable. The dim lighting cast sharp shadows over his face, accentuating the ruthlessness carved into his every feature.

Alessia’s pulse pounded in her throat as she took a slow, measured breath.

She had expected this moment for years. She had always known her father would use her as a pawn in his empire, trading her to the highest bidder.

But she had never expected him.

Luca was a legend-a man whispered about in the underworld. Cold. Calculating. A king in his own

right.

And now, her future husband.

“Alessia’’. Her father’s voice was sharp, cutting through the tension like a blade. “Sit’’.

She hesitated just long enough to make a statement before lowering herself into the seat beside him. Across the table, Luca watched her with an intensity that made her skin prickle.

His smirk was slow, calculated. “I was expecting someone more…agreeable”.

Alessia lifted her chin. “And I was expecting someone less insufferable”.

A dark chuckle rumbled from him, something dangerous curling behind his expression. “I think I’m going to enjoy this”.

Alessia’s nails dug into her palm. “I won’t make this easy for you”.

“Enough Alessia”, her father commanded, giving her a stern look before turning back to his guest, “My daughter will be a good wife’’, her father said, swirling the whiskey in his glass. ‘’She understands loyalty’’.

Lucas' lips twitched, the hint of a smirk ghosting across his face. “Loyalty is earned, signore”.

Her father chuckled, but there was no warmth in it. “And you plan to earn hers”?

Luca’s gaze flicked back to hers, assessing. “I don’t plan to give her a choice”.

A chill ran through her, but she lifted her chin, refusing to cower. If he thought she would be meek and obedient, he had no idea who he was dealing with.

The men continued discussing business territories, alliances, the terms of her engagement. Alessia barely heard them.

Her mind was already racing, calculating.

Escape was impossible, not under her father’s watch. And now, Lucas.

But submission? That would never be an option.

She had six weeks until her wedding.

Six weeks to find a way out of this.

Or to burn everything down trying

Just as Alessia silently swears she will never submit, Luca leans in close and murmurs in her ear, “you look like a woman already plotting her escape, bella”….

She freezes.

He smirks.

“Nice try”.