Page 101 of Brutal Crown
A frown tugs at his face. His eyes narrow, already suspicious.
“Why? You’ve set the date already?” He pauses. “Then we’ll need to send word to the Elders?—”
I cut him off on his next statement. “The engagement is off.”
The room falls silent. The only sound is the damn grandfather clock ticking like a countdown to hell.
Tick… tock.
Tick…
He slams the whiskey glass against the desk so hard it cracks.
“What the fuck did you do?” he growls.
His chair screeches across the floor as he rises, hands braced on the desk like he’s holding himself back from leaping over it.
I straighten my back and pin him with a firm gaze. “I ended the engagement.” The silence that follows from my statement is a fucking threat.
Dante’s head tilts slightly, like a predator noticing weakness. I meet his gaze, even though my instincts scream at me to bow. “I already spoke to Silvia, and she agreed. We’re not doing this.”
“You arrogant little shit.” He shoves the glass off the table. It shatters against the wall. “Do you think this is a game? You don’t just get to end the engagement. Youcan’t. The Society sanctioned it. The Elders blessed it. You’re not just breaking an engagement, you’re declaring war on a bloodline.”
I clench my fists. “Then let it be war. I’ll be ready to handle it.”
He laughs darkly. “Handle it? What, with a love letter and a bulletproof vest? You think they’ll let this slide?”
I exhale slowly. “Silvia and I know the risks. Although I do not want to get her involved in case this all goes south, we’llmake a public show of unity, release a controlled statement about mutual incompatibility, and serve any punishment the Elders assign to me. As for the Morettis, we’ll keep them close, offer them something bigger in return, maybe land, access to world-class secrets, power. Something we have they already don’t. I’ll figure it out.”
“You think this is about land?”
“No,” I say, my voice shaking from the weight of everything I’ve buried for years. “I know it’s not about land or appearances. It’s about loyalty. Blind, rotting loyalty to a society that’s been gutting us of our humanity in the name of tradition and bloodlines. We keep calling it duty, legacy, but all we’re doing is handing down chains and calling them inheritance. We can’t keep doing this. Forcing generation after generation into the same prison—just because our ancestors were too cowardly to break the locks.”
My eyes meet his. “I know what this means. I know I’m going up against a century of rules that were written in blood. I know what it could cost me—my life, my family, everything. But I’ve never been more certain of anything. Every day for the better part of my life, I’ve woken up asking myself if this is really the life I want—if it’s the life any of us want. And I’ve never had the courage to answer.
“But now I know I have to act—not just for myself, but for all of us. For the future we deserve. I’ve sat with this. Stewed in it. Bled for it. And I’ve made up my mind. If I’m going down, I’m going down on my terms. And I’m not dragging your legacy through the dirt with me. Let me do this my way. Or kill me now.”
He shakes his head vigorously, like he’s still in disbelief. I stay quiet. There’s nothing I can say that’ll soften the blow. Nothing that’ll make him want to kill me any less.
“I’ve spentyearsarranging this alliance.Anni interi,figlio mio,” he spits. “Years keeping this family strong, impenetrable. Years protecting us from the wrath of La Mano Nera.And now you’re just going to throw it all away.”
My jaw tightens. “I know this was never mine to decide. It never has been. But I can’t keep pretending I want a life I never chose. Not anymore. I don’t love Silvia. I never have. And maybe that doesn’t matter to you. Maybe it’s not supposed to matter at all.”
A breath. Tight. Controlled. “But it matters to me. Enough to finally say it out loud.”
He laughs. He actually laughs. It’s short, dry, and undeniably bitter. The sound cracks the air and tells me exactly how furious he is.
“After thirty fucking years, you still don’t get it.” His expression darkens. “You don’tgetto make choices. You don’tgetto pick what you want and toss the rest away like a child. You areRomano sangue, my heir, the heir to this empire your fathers before you spent their entire lives creating. Generations of sacrifice.”
He slams a hand to his chest.
“Your job is to inherit. Maintain. Protect. And then pass it on, to the child you weresupposedto have with Silvia.”
“Well,” I say quietly, “then we have a problem. Because I know exactly what this means. And I’m still doing it. I’m ready to fight for this, even die for it, if I have to prove it.”
His hand trembles as he runs it through his greying hair.
“Sacrifice,” he says, more to himself than to me. “You can’t be a powerful man if you don’t make sacrifices. You want power, you bleed for it. You suffer for it. That’s the price.” A shaky breath leaves him. “The things I’ve done…Dio mio.The things I’ve done so you and your brothers could walk through this world untouched.”
