Duplicity

NADIA
I've spent my life in a cage designed by my father--- at his mercy and whim.
I'm penniless, powerless, and frequently reminded that I'm nothing more than property to barter amongst his powerful friends.
While he schemes, he keeps me locked away, protected, isolated, and hidden from his violent world. Until the eve of my twentieth birthday, when I learn my future holds more misery than my past.
It's the day he's waited for---the day he sells my hand to the highest bidder.
Like any mafia princess, I'm expected to stay silent, submit, and make my family proud.
I have no choice and no voice. With a handshake and a signature, my dreams will die, and a new nightmare will begin.
But that's not how my story ends.
They say a wolf will chew off its foot to escape a trap, and that's precisely what I do when I flee into the arms of my father's greatest enemy.
Dante Serpico is a man of many secrets.
On the surface, he's a wealthy real estate tycoon, respected by politicians and the city's elite. Behind the mask, he's the most dangerous man in New York.
Moments before my dreams die, I rush to his aid.
I have nothing to offer but myself, but something about the look in his eyes and the tight clench of his chiseled jaw tells me he won't say no.
I've made a deal with the devil and leapt from the frying pan into the fire.
I should be terrified, but the man of secrets makes me feel funny things.
He makes me the queen of his world, makes me fall in love, then reveals the biggest secret of all.
How can I forgive his betrayal?
How can I live without him?

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