Page 1 of Where the Wicked Reign

Prologue

~Caterina~

Three Years Ago

I was doing it.

I was making my mark.

Signing on the dotted line today would be the beginning of something spectacular.

The creation of my own empire, my own fucking dynasty, actually.

Something completely independent from my father and all the crazy bullshit that came along with him being at the helm of the Leone Family.

Yes, that nightmare was firmly behind me.

He was firmly behind me.

He’d brought it upon himself when he’d denied me my birthright and made it abundantly clear that I would never be considered his heir, that I’d never be able to take his place as Boss of the Family.

I’d been working non-stop since childhood to prove my smarts, my talent, and my aptitude.

All for nothing.

Just because I didn’t have a dick.

If anything, that should have been an asset, because it meant I didn’t have to think with it. Unlike him with his many whores, those he bedded behind my mother’s back time and time again.

As if she didn’t know.

Bianca Leone was no fool.

Like mother, like daughter.

My silver Manolos clacked on the concrete, echoing around the warehouse—a former steel factory—that the owner had been desperate to get rid of following his retirement after forty years in the business. He wanted to reap the rewards of all that hard work and chill now.

And I wanted to reap the rewards of what was left behind.

Most notably, the perfect space and location to build my nightclub, what was to become the cornerstone of my new empire. I even had the architectural plans drawn up for what it was to become and I had a construction crew waiting in the wings, prepared to start work without any delay.

Speaking of something I hated—delays—both the seller of this place, Mark Ross, and my lawyer were late for this meeting to officially finalize everything.

Rather than meeting in the latter’s office, I’d insisted on meeting here, in order to keep it off certain people’s radars. Once the deal went through, there would be nothing they could do about it. But until things were solidified, I wasn’t taking any chances.

Especially given the fact that Leone Realty had also bid on this place. It was basically the legitimate front of the Leone Family. Well, if you didn’t count the payoffs to certain city officials. According to my intel, my father had intended this bid to be part of a major expansion. So acquiring this place would kill two birds with one stone—getting my empire off the ground and stopping that shitshow from happening. He’d already proven himself unhinged of late after I’d discovered some despicable shit he’d been involved with. The last thing needed was him gaining even more power. It was bad enough as it was—a formidable goliath.

I pulled my phone out from the inner pocket of my turquoise satin blazer, intending to reach out to my lawyer, who was supposed to be bringing the owner in with him, but the distinctive thunder of a Ferrari sounded outside.

It had me tensing because my lawyer drove a Bentley.

I’d barely had time to process that when heavy footsteps drew my attention, coming closer into the building itself.

When they came into view, tensing was the least of it, and adrenaline shot down my spine as I took in the sight of Nico Marchetti and his guard dog, Emilio Bardi, striding toward me.

Normally, coming face-to-face with either of them wouldn’t unnerve me.

Although Nico was a mafia prince, his father the Boss of the notorious Marchetti Syndicate, there was no ill will between our families. Not these days, anyway.

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