Chapter 1 - The Mark of the Past
The sound of Dante Falcone laughing shattered the oppressive silence of the hallway.
Rosa stood completely frozen in place.
She watched the most dangerous man in the city look down at her tiny daughter.
Sophia simply grinned back at him.
The little girl was totally unaware of the lethal power standing before her.
Dante knelt slowly onto the polished marble floor.
He brought himself down to eye level with the child.
He asked her softly if she liked chocolate cake.
Sophia nodded her head with immense enthusiasm.
Dante stood up and shifted his dark gaze to Rosa.
His eyes were entirely impossible to read.
He ordered the maid and her daughter to join him in the main dining room for dinner.
Rosa knew that refusing a Falcone was basically a death sentence.
She gathered Sophia into her arms and nodded weakly.
As she reached down, her plain gray sleeve slipped up her arm.
Dante moved with terrifying speed.
His large hand clamped around her wrist like a steel vice.
His thumb brushed violently over the faded serpent tattoo on her forearm.
His voice dropped to a lethal whisper.
He demanded to know where she got that mark.
Rosa felt her blood run completely cold.
May you like
It was the emblem of the Moreno cartel.
And they were the exact men who had murdered his wife.
