The Emerald Conspiracy

Venice, 1753. Where carnival masks hide murderers and marble palazzos conceal deadly secrets. Sold to settle her father's debts, seventeen-year-old Vittoria Bianchi becomes the unwilling fiancée of Giovanni Cardano—a merchant whose criminal empire spans generations. Giovanni hunts the legendary emeralds of Isabella Marino and the diary that holds the key to breaking a sixty-year-old curse. No Cardano man has lived beyond his fortieth year.

Now thirty-seven, Giovanni will stop at nothing to find Isabella's treasures—even destroying the very artifacts that could save him. When mysterious deaths plague his palazzo, Vittoria realizes she's trapped in a web of corruption reaching Venice's highest offices. But the dead refuse to stay buried.

Isabella's spirit haunts the palazzo, demanding justice for crimes sixty years concealed. As Vittoria forms a dangerous alliance with magistrate Luca Marino, she must play the perfect fiancée by day while gathering evidence by night. Racing through hidden chambers guided by ghostly whispers, Vittoria discovers that some secrets kill to stay buried. To save herself and honor the dead, she must risk everything—including fulfilling the curse's deadly conditions.

Some curses demand blood. Some emeralds exact their price. And in Venice, justice and vengeance are separated by a blade's edge.