The Ghost Don's Poison Bride

Alessia grew up in Black Hollow, where she learned medicine but mastered poison. For seven years she has hidden that past, becoming a gentle doctor with a soft voice and steady hands. Then the Scola family finds her and declares she is the daughter switched out of their bloodline years ago, brought home only to marry Vincenzo Falcone, the disgraced underboss called the Ghost.

At the Falcone estate, her sister in name only, Stella, lets the client families' daughters whisper that Alessia is unclean and a sacrifice for the alliance. Isabella shoves her, and Dr. Matteo's rosary snaps, its beads scattering. Alessia's mild smile fades, and across the ballroom Marco Falcone, who once tasted her poison, stares at her face and drops his glass.

Alessia cares nothing for the Scola name or the marriage. But they should not have touched the rosary.