Page 58 of Iron Roses

Someone calls out, “So who inherits?”

Fausto clasps his hands behind his back, face the perfect mask of solemnity.

“The heiress is dead,” he says. “And the other—missing. Likely dead.”

A wave of silence follows.

Then—

Chaos.

Voices erupt. Some shout, others argue over succession rights. A man from the Giuliani family demands a full vote. Another threatens to take the docks by force.

I don’t move.

But my eyes find Fausto’s.

He’s looking directly at me.

And he’s smiling.

The kind of smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. The kind that lingers too long.

It clicks.

Someone betrayed Oreste.

Someone inside.

Someone who knew when to pull away.

Fausto?

It would make sense at least in theory. He cleaned his hands just in time, and stopped transacting with my family years ago. He cleared his name, left Oreste exposed, and he’s circling what’s left like a vulture picking through a fresh kill.

Lorenzo shifts beside me, sensing it.

A figure slips between the men, silent and sharp.

Allegra.

She comes up beside us, her mouth close to my ear.

“We need to go.”

My eyes narrow.

“This is going sideways. You want to stay alive, we move now.”

The hairs on the back of my neck rise.

Then—

Crack.

A gunshot slices the tension.

Screams follow. Chairs fall.

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