“I can do whatever I want with you, even end your life if I desire it. I can punish you if you disobey me too. But your family will be under my protection and care, and only I will know their location. You’ll be able to talk to them when I allow it, and your conversations will be monitored so that you don’t reveal anything I don’t want you to. If you try to kill me or hurt me in any way, our deal will be broken. And even if I’m gone, assassins will find you eventually and kill you and your family, so if I were you, I wouldn’t try anything.

“Running away or attempting to do so will have the same result. This goes for your family too if they try to escape, break the deal, or get in contact with any mafia families, gangs, or any people I didn’t allow them to talk to. The Ezzati name will be erased and no one will be able to restore it, not even after I’m dead. If anything happens to me and your family had nothing to do with it—special investigators will ensure that—you’ll be free, but the part about renouncing your name will still stand and you won’t be allowed to join or work with any mafia families. You’ll also no longer be my husband or have any claim to the Monti name. Well, I’m not going to get too much into details, because everything’s on paper.”

He pressed his lips into a tight line as he scanned over the contract. It had taken me a few hours to come up with it and make sure James wouldn’t find a loophole, but once I had my revenge, did it even matter what happened to me? At least I’d stop receiving marriage proposals from other families who wanted to get their hands on what was mine.

I didn’t even know what I was going to do after this was all over. Desmond was in a room adjacent to this one, but it was soundproof and his son had no idea his father was able to watch him through a live feed right now. My men had told me that my offer didn’t sit well with Desmond, which made me think that I’d finally found something that could hurt him.