Chapter 10
The grand study fell quiet once more, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. The bright, natural light streaming through the massive windows began to take on the subtle, golden hues of the late afternoon, casting long shadows across the polished marble floor.
Adrian walked over to Elena and Ruby. He looked down at the little girl, his heart aching with three years of stolen memories. He knelt down, bringing himself to eye level with the child.
"Ruby," Adrian said softly, his deep voice incredibly gentle. "Are you hungry?"
"A little bit," Ruby nodded, her yellow rain boots shifting nervously on the floor.
"Elena, take her to the kitchens," Adrian instructed, looking at the maid who had loved and protected his daughter. "Tell the chef to make whatever she wants. You both stay in the west wing. Four guards will remain outside your door. No one gets in without my permission."
"Thank you, Mr. Blackwood," Elena whispered, tears of profound relief and fear filling her eyes. She took Ruby by the hand and quickly ushered the child out of the study, desperate to escape the suffocating presence of the mafia politics.
Adrian stood up slowly, the artistic, negative-space tattoos on his neck flexing as he turned his attention back to his sister.
Claudia remained on her knees in the center of the room, her wrists still bound tightly together by the torn pink-and-white patchwork blanket. The elegant business dress she wore was wrinkled and ruined, her aristocratic facade entirely dismantled. She looked up at him, her fair, rosy face trembling with raw terror.
"What are you going to do with me, Adrian?" Claudia asked, her voice a pathetic, broken whisper. "The Commission will call a tribunal if you kill me without a sit-down."
"There will be no tribunal," Adrian said, his voice measured, cold, and absolute. "Because no one outside this room will ever know what happened to you."
He walked over to his massive mahogany desk and picked up a secure, encrypted smartphone. He dialed a number, his sharp, intimidating eyes never leaving his sister's face.
"Marcus," Adrian said as his head capo answered the line.
"Yes, Boss. The perimeter is fully locked down. No movement," Marcus reported.
"Gather the strike teams," Adrian commanded, his volume incredibly low but dripping with lethal intent. "Arm every soldier on the payroll. We are moving on the Rossi family tonight."
"The Rossis, Boss?" Marcus asked, shock evident in his heavy American accent. "That’s a full-scale war. They outnumber us two to one in the city."
"By sunrise, they will have no numbers," Adrian promised smoothly. "They conspired to assassinate my wife. They bought my sister. I want every Rossi capo, every lieutenant, and every soldier dead before the sun comes up."
"Understood, Boss. We ride in ten minutes," Marcus confirmed before the line went dead.
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Adrian lowered the phone, slipping it back into his pocket. He looked at Claudia, the charming, romantic strands of his thick hair framing the face of an absolute monster. The truth had finally been dragged into the light, but the consequences of that truth were about to drown the entire city in blood.
"You wanted me to be ruthless, Claudia," Adrian whispered, drawing a suppressed pistol from the holster hidden beneath his tailored suit jacket. "You are about to see exactly what you created."
