Chapter 5
"You need us!" Celeste screamed, slamming her manicured hands down on the gold-rimmed porcelain, rattling her crystal wine glass. "Without the Vane family, the border factions will tear you apart! You are making a catastrophic mistake! You are choosing a whore over a queen!"
Sebastian’s jaw locked. The extremely short stubble on his face bristled as he absorbed the insult directed at the woman cowering beside him. He did not raise his voice. He did not reach for a weapon. His restraint was a masterclass in terror.
"Do you believe a queen commands respect through jealousy and shears?" Sebastian inquired softly.
He slowly swept his gaze across the room, taking in the numerous capos, donors, and relatives sitting frozen at the long banquet table. His eyes locked onto Vincent, his most trusted lieutenant.
"Have you all finished your meals?" Sebastian asked the room at large.
It was phrased as a polite question, but the command hidden within it was unmistakable and absolute.
Chairs scraped violently against the polished marble floors as the fifty guests practically scrambled to their feet. There were no polite farewells, no lingering handshakes. Men in tailored suits and women in expensive evening gowns fled the bright, elegant room with frantic urgency, eager to escape the blast radius of Sebastian Hale’s wrath.
"What are you doing?!" Celeste shrieked, watching her audience, her leverage, and her protection sprint for the mahogany doors. "You can't just dismiss them! My family's capos are in this room!"
The men loyal to the Vane family did not stay. They took one look at the cold, calculating fury in Sebastian's eyes and the armed men loyal to the Hale syndicate stepping out from the shadows, and they ran just as fast as the civilians.
Within ninety seconds, the expansive dining hall was completely empty, save for Sebastian, Celeste, Lydia, Jamie, and four heavily armed Hale bodyguards.
The heavy mahogany doors slammed shut, sealing the room and locking Celeste inside with her greatest nightmare.
"Did you truly believe you could run a psychological and physical torture operation against my bloodline and remain seated at my table?" Sebastian asked, turning his terrifying focus entirely back to the woman in the emerald gown.
Celeste backed away from the table, her heels clicking unsteadily against the marble floor. She wrapped her arms around her waist, a defensive posture that crushed the luxurious velvet of her expensive gown. Her diamond earrings shook as she wept, her carefully constructed, elegant public manner entirely destroyed.
"Sebastian, you cannot believe this is real," Celeste sobbed, her chest heaving as she tried to backpedal. "We are supposed to unite our syndicates! You cannot throw all of that away because of a misunderstanding! I will apologize to the girl! I will buy her whatever she wants!"
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Sebastian stood immovably in his tailored dark three-piece suit. He slowly reached down and placed a reassuring hand on his son’s shoulder. Jamie leaned into his father’s leg, his brave facade finally crumbling as silent tears tracked down his cheeks. He still held Lydia's severed braid tightly in his fist.
"Are you prepared to remove the ring from your finger, Celeste, or must I cut it from your hand?" Sebastian asked, his deep voice carrying a measured, lethal calm.
