Chapter 6
A tall, heavily armed guard stepped out of the corridor, his dark suit blending into the shadows beyond the luminous reach of the chandeliers. He walked over to the head of the table, offering his hand to the six-year-old boy. Finn slid out of his velvet dining chair, his dress shoes clicking softly against the cream marble floor. He looked back at Tessa, offering her a small, brave smile, before taking the guard’s hand and disappearing up the grand staircase.
With Finn safely removed from the room, the fragile restraint holding the adults together completely evaporated. The soft elegant warmth of the setting felt entirely incongruous with the lethal tension crackling between the remaining three figures.
Sabina, realizing that the political marriage was crumbling before her eyes, abandoned her polished grace entirely. Her face contorted into a mask of ugly, desperate rage.
“You are going to regret this, Rowan!” Sabina screamed, her voice echoing off the carved walnut furniture. “My father will not stand for this disrespect! You are taking the word of a bastard child and a gold-digging maid over the daughter of the southern syndicate! We will cut off your supply lines! We will starve your empire!”
Rowan turned to face her, his hands clasped behind his back in a posture of absolute, unbothered dominance. His neatly trimmed stubble cast sharp shadows along his jawline.
“Do you assume that threatening my supply lines will somehow repair the bones you shattered in my home?” Rowan asked, his deep voice slicing through her hysteria.
“She deserved it!” Sabina shrieked, pointing wildly at Tessa. “She is a servant! She forgot her place! I am the lady of this house, and I have the right to discipline the help when they overstep their boundaries!”
“Have I ever granted you the title of lady of this house, or did you simply invent that authority in your own twisted mind?” Rowan asked, taking a slow, predatory step toward her.
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Sabina backed away, hitting the edge of the grand piano. She gasped as the polished wood dug into her spine. “You need me, Rowan. You need my family’s money. You cannot survive the coming war without our backing.”
“Do you truly believe a man who built an empire from blood and ash requires the permission of your father to survive a war?” Rowan asked, his cold stare pinning her against the instrument she had used as a weapon. “Have you completely forgotten who you are speaking to, Sabina?”
