Page 101 of Iron Roses

Above me—

Fausto.

He holds the metal bucket lazily in one hand, water still dripping from the rim.

His boots are dry.

He crouches.

“Still won’t crack?” His voice is light, almost amused. “I could keep you here all year. But then, you’d probably just die.”

He sets the bucket down. It clangs softly against the floor.

I push myself up with trembling arms, barely managing to raise onto one elbow. My head sags. My hair clings to my face in strings.

Fausto leans closer.

“Allegra,” he says. “She helped you escape, didn’t she?”

It’s so small a movement, so short a sound, but he sees it.

His smile widens.

“Ah,” he says. “I see. That’s what you care about, huh?”

He grabs my chin—not hard, just enough to force my gaze up.

“I’ll send her to the grave first. And then Cassian Rivetti.”

His thumb presses just beneath my jaw, not choking, but pinning.

“His uncle told me you two were frolicking around. Makes sense, since he was bound to you.”

I flinch.

Fausto watches it happen.

“I’ll make you watch them die,” he says, still smiling. “And then I’ll keep you here. Alone. Rotting. Starving.”

My lips part. It’s harder than I expect to speak. My tongue is dry. My voice isn’t hoarse—it’s ruined.

“I know who I am,” I say.

Fausto pauses. His hand lifts from my face, but he doesn’t pull away.

I hold his gaze.

“I’m the Fontanesi heiress,” I say, voice low. “That map belongs to me. The estate, the routes, the inheritance. It’s mine. Even if my father died disgraced, I carry his name. His seal. His blood.”

He blinks. Then tilts his head.

“So?”

“If I give you the map,” I say, “you leave Cassian and Allegra alone. I’ll disappear. I’ll vanish. You’ll have the routes. The ports. The estate. I’ll give you everything.”

Fausto straightens.

He studies me.

---