Page 10 of Crown of Blood

“Or…”

I lean in, my voice dropping into something darker—lower than threat, deeper than a warning.

“Leave it. And become mine.”

Her breath catches.

“Not just for tonight. Not just until this all blows over.Permanently.”

Her eyes dart to the watch, then back to me. The temporary fantasy of her freedom cracks in her eyes.

“You want protection?” I nod to the gleaming black face. “You want power?” I gesture to myself. “Then you take my name. You wear it like a bulletproof vest.”

“You’re insane.”

“No,” I say, letting the edge in my voice slice between us. “I’m offering you the only way you walk out of this room.”

Her silence says everything. She knows what this really is.

A performance. A transaction. A sentence dressed up like a choice.

I step back.

Just one step. Enough to give her space to decide.

Her eyes drop to the watch. She stares at it, then at me. Like she's even considering it for a moment.

The room goes silent. Not even the echo of blood being scrubbed from tile next door can reach us now.

It’s just me. Her. And the weight of what I’m offering.

The illusion of a choice hanging in the air. One path ends in silence. The other in surrender.

A quick, clean death she won't see coming, or my name, worn like a collar for the rest of her life.

"Well then? What will it be?"

Chapter Three

Bianca

Thecardoorclicksshut with the weight of a coffin lid.

I didn't say yes. I didn't even speak. I just stood there... and this man… this cruel, dark,twistedman took that as enough to claim me.

Luca's fingers circle my wrist, his grip a steel bracelet. Blood crusts his knuckles - not his blood, though, someone else's.

The leather interior gleams black, matching his suit, his hair, his soul. A metallic thud echoes from the trunk with each turn we make through the back streets of rainy London, and my stomach fuckingtwists.

I don't want to know what - or perhapswho- is back there.

Luca's men occupy the front seats like stone chess pieces. Their eyes never meet mine in the rearview mirror. They know what I am now.

Property.

Property of Luca Ravelli.

The name "Ravelli" ripples through my mind like a dark tide. How did I not see it before?

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