Page 65 of Brutal Crown
His fist comes down hard on the table. I assume he’s done reading. “Fucking disgrace!”
No one flinches at his outburst. Elio looks annoyed, like he would rather be doing something else than be here. Olga looks pale. Marco meets his eyes with that smug, unbothered look he wears when he knows he’s poking an angry beast with a stick.
Marco picks it up and reads it out when no one seems to want to.
In silence we rule. In blood we bind. In darkness we thrive.
To the House of Romano,
Whispers reach farther than footsteps.
The Council has been informed of recent disruptions within your household.
You are hereby summoned to appear before the Elders. The meeting will take place at the established location. Your full compliance is expected.
Internal disorder invites external consequences.
This is not a request.
—The Elders
“They can’t be fucking serious,” Marco curses out after he’s done.
“You think this house is a fucking circus?” my father lashes out at Marco on seeing the look on his face. “You humiliate the family in front of guests who have direct lines with the Elders. You fight over a maid.A maid,Marco. How can you brawl and throw fists like you were raised in a fucking gutter?”
“You were the one who taught me to fight with my fists, said it was more honorable than using a gun sometimes,” Marco drawls, unaffected by my father’s anger.
“Shut the fuck up,” I growl at him. “This is a serious matter. Cassian is dead! His body was found in our house. Maybe you need to be reminded of the fucked-up situation we’re in right now.”
“Oh, I’m well aware?—”
My father slams his hand on the table again, louder this time.
“Shut up, the both of you,” he fumes, raising the letter. “We have just been summoned to meet with the Elders, and you think this is a good time to argue?”
My body stiffens in anger and restraint.
“Look what she’s turned you both into…”
I grind my jaw so hard it hurts. The tension between Marco and me over Lia hasn’t gone unnoticed. I was naive to think the situation could stay hidden.
“Shehas nothing to do with this,” Marco says. “Stop blaming her for everything that goes wrong here. Maybe if you didn’t treat people like trash, your house wouldn’t reek of death.”
My father chuckles humorlessly. “She should have been killed. I should have killed her myself like I killed her traitor of a father instead of bringing her here,” he seethes, glaring between both of us like he can’t decide who to gut first. “You have no idea what your petty little obsession has cost us.”
Elio’s voice cuts in through the tension. “Cassian’s death wasn’t random, was it? He didn’t kill himself, and his body was found here for a reason.”
The room falls silent. No one has an answer to that yet. The mystery hangs in the air.
When my father speaks again, his voice is low with barely contained fury. “There is no explanation as to why we are being summoned. You better pray this isn’t about your fucking egos. If the Society thinks we made a mockery of them, or worse, for the murder of a descendant of a founding member, they won’t just demand discipline. They’ll demand blood.”
He storms out.
The room remains still for a few seconds. Then Marco looks at me with a murderous glare and walks out without another word.
No one speaksthroughout the drive to the chapel.
The streets are quiet, but there’s something almost unnatural about the stillness, like the city itself is holding its breath.
