Chapter 6
The heavy silence in the room was broken only by Claudia’s erratic, panicked breathing. Damon stood over her, an impenetrable monolith of tailored dark wool and quiet, suppressed violence. The artistic tattoos on his neck shifted slightly as he tilted his head, studying the terrified woman as a predator studies a trapped animal.
"I did it for us!" Claudia sobbed, tears ruining her immaculate makeup, leaving dark streaks down her fair, rosy skin. "You never look at me, Damon! You look at her! You look at a servant with more respect than you look at your future wife! I had to assert my dominance. I had to show them who was in charge!"
"Is physical abuse your only method of earning respect, Claudia?" Damon asked softly, his cold eyes completely devoid of pity.
"It's the only language people in our world understand!" Claudia shot back, a sudden spark of defiant rage flaring in her eyes. "My father taught me that fear is the only currency that matters! You're soft, Damon! You let a maid run your emotional life, and you let a grieving child dictate your household!"
"Do you believe my mercy makes me weak?" Damon asked, leaning in slightly closer. The scent of his expensive cologne mixed with the faint, metallic scent of impending violence.
Claudia swallowed hard, her defiance crumbling under his glacial stare. "Please. Just let me call my driver. Let me go home. We can tell the families we simply had a change of heart. There doesn't have to be a war over this."
"Did you think you could walk out the front door after putting your hands on someone under my protection?" Damon asked.
He didn't wait for her to answer. Damon turned his head slightly toward his head of security, who was standing like a stone gargoyle by the locked doors.
"Will you escort my former fiancée to the holding room in the basement, Thomas?" Damon asked.
Claudia shrieked, an ugly, guttural sound of pure terror. "No! Damon, no! You can't put me in a cage! My men are outside! They will slaughter your guards if I don't walk out of here!"
Thomas stepped forward, his massive hands reaching for Claudia's arms. She thrashed wildly, the sculpted sapphire silk of her gown tearing audibly as she fought against the enforcer’s iron grip.
"Will your men slaughter my guards, Claudia?" Damon asked, casually adjusting his wristwatch as she was dragged toward the door. "Or will they surrender when they see your severed ring finger delivered to their vehicles?"
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Claudia froze entirely, her screams dying in her throat. She stared at Damon in sheer, unadulterated horror, finally realizing that the man she had tried to manipulate was not a businessman, but a ruthless warlord.
"Are you going to be quiet now, Claudia?" Damon asked, turning his back on her as Thomas dragged her limp, terrified form out of the grand dining hall.
