Chapter 1 - THE NIGHT HE FORBADE HER TOUCH
Six months before Serena Duca removed her wedding ring in front of Chicago's most feared mafia boss, she had still believed her marriage could be saved.
At the Harrington Grand, she asked Roman to dance.
He refused.
On the balcony, she asked whether he still loved her.
He refused to answer.
Then she touched his arm, hoping for one small gesture of affection.
Roman looked at her fingers and whispered the words that changed everything.
“Never touch me in public.”
Serena withdrew her hand.
He spoke about reputation, enemies, and the danger of appearing weak.
But he never explained why those dangers meant his wife had to feel unwanted.
When Roman returned to the ballroom, Serena remained alone beneath the October sky.
She removed her wedding ring.
For a moment, she considered dropping it forty-two floors into the darkness.
Instead, she slipped it back onto her finger.
Not because she had forgiven him.
Because she wanted to understand whether anything remained of the man she'd married.
She gave herself six months.
And when those six months ended, she would stop waiting.
What Serena didn't know was that Roman had received a photograph twenty minutes before their argument.
It showed his wife leaving their home that morning.
Across the bottom, someone had written:
Two million dollars. The widow will be easier to control.
Roman had spent years surviving threats.
But this one had frightened him more than any other.
The photograph had been taken from inside his security perimeter.
Someone close to him had betrayed them.
He had decided that the safest way to protect Serena was to convince everyone, including his enemies, that she meant nothing to him.
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It was the worst decision of his life.
And by the time he understood that, Serena had already begun learning how to live without him.
