Chapter 7
Nerea engaged the heavy deadbolt with a solid, echoing click. She turned around, pressing her back against the thick oak door, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm in her chest. The master suite was vast, decorated in deep, masculine tones that perfectly reflected the man who inhabited it.
Aurelio walked over to a crystal decanter on a side table and poured two glasses of amber liquid. He turned, holding one of the heavy crystal glasses out toward her.
"Will you join me?" Aurelio asked.
Nerea hesitated. A housemaid drinking scotch with the boss in his private suite was a profound breach of protocol. But the events of the evening had obliterated all normal rules. She stepped forward, her slender figure moving with graceful elegance, and took the glass. Her fingers, still faintly stained with black polish, brushed against his tattooed hand, the brief contact sending another jolt of electricity straight to her core.
"Thank you, sir," she whispered, looking down at the amber liquid.
"Did I ask for your formalities tonight?" Aurelio inquired, his deep voice a low, intimate rumble. "Have you not earned the right to speak to me simply as the woman who saved my pride?"
Nerea swallowed hard, looking up into his piercing, observant eyes. "Aurelio. I... I just did what I thought was right."
"Do you realize the magnitude of what you have done?" Aurelio asked, taking a slow sip from his glass. "Did you know that by dropping Soraya into that cabinet, you have effectively dismantled a major alliance within the commission?"
"I knew it would cause trouble," Nerea admitted, her expressive brows drawing together. "But I also knew that if she humiliated you in front of the buyers, they would see you as weak. A king cannot be seen bowing to a traitor."
"Are you aware that her loyalists will likely attempt to breach this estate tonight?" Aurelio asked, his jaw tightening as the anger flared beneath his calm exterior.
"I am aware," Nerea said softly. "But I also know that you are not a man who loses."
Aurelio stared at her, genuinely surprised by the fierce, unwavering certainty in her voice. He stepped closer, his towering masculine frame dominating her field of vision.
"Do you think I am a monster, Nerea?" Aurelio asked quietly.
"I think you are a man surrounded by vipers," Nerea answered, holding his gaze without flinching. "And I think you will tear this city apart to protect what is yours."
"Will you stand by my side while I burn it down?" Aurelio asked, his voice dropping to a terrifying, deadly whisper that promised absolute ruin for his enemies.
"I will," Nerea promised, the vow sealing her fate to the mafia boss forever.
Before Aurelio could speak again, the heavy, encrypted radio clipped to his belt crackled to life with sudden, violent static.
"Boss?" Carlo's gruff voice called out over the comms. "We have a major situation at the front gates."
Aurelio did not flinch. He slowly pulled his hand away from his glass, his posture instantly shifting back into that of a wartime commander. The brief moment of vulnerability vanished, replaced by cold, calculating steel.
"Are Bellgrave's loyalists already here, Carlo?" Aurelio asked into the radio.
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"Yes, sir," Carlo reported, his voice tight with tension. "It's old man Bellgrave himself. He has thirty heavily armed men with him. He is demanding you hand over the girl immediately, or they breach the walls."
Nerea gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. The war had arrived faster than anyone anticipated. The consequences of her actions were now violently knocking on the front gates.
