Chapter 12 - The Venomous Gift
The silence in the library was suffocating. I could feel the immense, coiled tension in Damian’s body, radiating like heat from a furnace.
"Do not look at her," Damian warned, his voice dropping to a lethal, gravelly pitch. "Do not even breathe in her direction."
Lorenzo raised his hands in a gesture of mock surrender, the cruel smile never leaving his face.
"Relax, brother. I am simply observing the new matriarch of the Bellucci family," Lorenzo said smoothly. "Though I must admit, I expected someone a bit more... refined."
I felt a familiar sting of humiliation, the same kind Selene used to inflict, but I refused to look away. I was not the same woman who cowered in the staff quarters. I stepped out from behind Damian, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with my husband.
"You are trespassing," I said, keeping my voice perfectly steady. "I suggest you leave before my husband loses his patience."
Lorenzo’s dark eyes widened slightly, a flash of genuine surprise crossing his features. Then, he chuckled.
"She has claws. How charming," Lorenzo murmured. He reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket.
Instantly, Marcus drew his weapon, pointing it directly at Lorenzo’s chest.
Lorenzo ignored the gun completely, pulling out a small, beautifully wrapped silver box tied with a velvet ribbon.
"I brought a gift," Lorenzo announced. "For my new niece. I hear little Lily just celebrated her eighth birthday."
My blood ran absolutely cold. Just the sound of my daughter's name in this monster's mouth made me feel physically ill.
"You will not go near my daughter," Damian snarled, stepping forward.
Lorenzo casually tossed the silver box onto one of the leather armchairs.
"It is a peace offering, Damian," Lorenzo said, his voice dripping with false sincerity. "Our father is gone. The old grudges should die with him. I want my share of the European shipping routes, and in exchange, I will ensure your new little family remains perfectly safe."
It was not a peace offering. It was a blatant, heavily veiled threat.
"You have no share, Lorenzo," Damian replied coldly. "You forfeited your right to the Bellucci name when you betrayed this family ten years ago. You get nothing."
Lorenzo stared at Damian for a long, calculating moment. The playful, mocking demeanor vanished entirely, leaving behind a cold, sociopathic emptiness.
"You have gone soft, little brother," Lorenzo whispered. "You let a woman and a child turn you into a coward. You have vulnerabilities now. Things that can be broken."
Without another word, Lorenzo turned on his heel and walked out of the library, brushing past Marcus and the drawn weapon as if they did not exist.
Once we heard the heavy front doors close, I rushed over to the leather armchair. I stared at the silver box, my hands trembling violently.
Damian gently pulled me back, taking the box himself. He carefully untied the velvet ribbon and lifted the lid.
Inside, resting on a bed of black satin, was a beautiful porcelain doll.
But its neck had been brutally, intentionally snapped in half.
May you like
Damian slammed the lid shut, his eyes burning with a murderous rage I had never seen before.
"Marcus," Damian commanded, his voice shaking with absolute fury. "Double the detail on Lily. Nobody gets in or out of this estate without my explicit authorization. We are going to war."
