Chapter 9
"What are you doing?!" Isabel shrieked, watching her audience, her leverage, and her protection sprint for the heavy mahogany doors. "You can't just dismiss them! My father's capos are in this room!"
The men loyal to the Cross family hesitated, looking toward Arthur Cross. But Arthur took one look at the cold, calculating fury in Lucian's eyes, the open hatch on the floor, and the heavily armed men loyal to the Hale syndicate stepping out from the shadows. Arthur turned and walked out, abandoning his daughter to the fate she had chosen.
Within ninety seconds, the expansive grand salon was completely empty, save for Lucian, Isabel, Faye, Rosie, and four heavily armed Hale bodyguards.
The heavy mahogany doors slammed shut, sealing the room and locking Isabel inside with her greatest nightmare.
"Did you truly believe you could run a psychological and physical torture operation against my child and remain standing in my home?" Lucian asked, turning his terrifying focus entirely back to the woman in the emerald gown.
Isabel backed away from the open hatch, her heels clicking unsteadily against the polished marble floor. She wrapped her arms around her waist, a defensive posture that crushed the luxurious satin of her expensive gown. Her diamond earrings shook as her aristocratic bravado finally shattered, leaving only primal terror in its wake.
"Lucian, you cannot believe this is real," Isabel sobbed, her chest heaving as she tried to backpedal. "We are supposed to unite our syndicates! You cannot throw all of that away! I will leave the girl alone! I will hire a dozen nannies!"
Lucian stood immovably in his tailored dark three-piece suit. He kept his broad shoulders squarely between his daughter and the woman who had tormented her. He felt absolutely nothing for her. The political affection he had feigned for the sake of the syndicate merger evaporated instantly, leaving behind a cold, calculating void that craved only survival and absolute retribution.
"Are you prepared to remove the ring from your finger, Isabel, or must I cut it from your hand?" Lucian asked, his deep voice carrying a measured, lethal calm.
Isabel flinched violently at the threat. She dropped her hands, her fair skin streaked with ruined makeup. She knew the stories of what Lucian Hale did to traitors within his syndicate.
"You can't do this!" Isabel choked out, the venom returning as self-preservation took over. "My father will burn your empire to the ground if you humiliate me like this!"
"Is your father a man who fights battles for foolish, sadistic daughters who lock children in cellars?" Lucian asked quietly.
"He will kill you!" Isabel pleaded. "I am going to be your wife, Lucian! We signed the contracts! You cannot back out now without causing a massive war!"
"Do you expect me to harbor a sociopath under my roof to appease a shipping magnate?" Lucian asked.
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He didn't wait for her to answer. He reached into his tailored jacket and retrieved a sleek, encrypted smartphone. He dialed a single digit and pressed the phone to his ear. The small artistic tattoo above his collar shifted seamlessly with the movement.
"Vincent," Lucian said into the receiver, his eyes locked on his former fiancée. "Will you come to the salon and escort Miss Cross to the holding cells beneath the east wing immediately?"
