Page 40 of Breaking Point
Luciana froze.Stalls?Office?Arena?Her mind blanked out for a moment, as she tried to orient herself.
Brice rested his hand on the table.It wasn’t quite a slap.“We’re here to talk about rebuilding in theAventine.”Was he speaking with his teeth clenched?It sounded as though he was.
Rosalva nodded.“And I think we’ve adequately discussed and dispensed with that idea.No one wants to build on top of the old site.It would appear as though we are trampling upon ghosts.Now we are looking at the proposal for building in the Capitol which, I admit, has a lot of merit.It would revitalize the district in a way that all the programs and funding have failed to do.We just have to consider compensation schedules.”
They were talking about taking her stalls away from her.
That was what Rosalva meant by the insipid term “compensation”.They were here to find what price Luciana would be willing to settle for, in exchange for all the assets in her business.
She stood up, and the chair scraped the floor behind her, which pulled everyone’s attention back to her.Luciana was trembling.It was a mix of dashed hopes and fury.Yet it gave her the strength to speak in a way she rarely dared.“Shame on you,” she spat.
There were sounds of surprise around the table.Rosalva just looked at Luciana calmly.
“How dare you pull me into this meeting to talk about business when you are going to executemy son!How can you even think about business when the moral future of this ship is about to expire?How dare you think I would evencareabout the damn arena and tankball at a time like this?”She glared around the table, only now seeing Bronson there, and beside him, a tall woman wearing bright red lipstick that was too harsh for her sallow features.
“Luciana is right,” Brice said.“This is inappropriate.”
“And you can just shut up, Brice Falcon.I don’t want your assistance, you murdering son of a bitch.”
Gasps sounded.
Brice swallowed.His gaze dropped to the table.She saw the corner of his jaw flex.
“Luciana…” Rosalva began, her tone reasonable.Calming.
“No,” Luciana said flatly.“You got me here under false pretenses.I refuse to negotiate a damn thing.You can shove your arena somewhere painful.Screw all of you.You’re not humans.Not to me.”
She stalked to the door that was at this end of the room, waved at the panel and shoved through it as soon as it had opened enough.Her shoulder rammed against the opening edge, and flared in pain and she hissed.She straightened and strode down the corridor.She could hear raised voices behind the wall as she walked.
When she reached the other end, the door at the back of the room that David had shoved her through opened.
Brice came through.He saw her and lifted a hand, as if to ward off anything she might say.“Luciana—”
“Go to hell, Brice.”She stepped around him and walked through the big open area at the front of the suite and out into the gleaming, glowing white corridor beyond.
“I saidstop, Luciana!”Brice said, grabbing her arm.
She wrenched it out of his grip.“Leave me alone!”
“You can’t walk around the Bridge unescorted,” Brice shot back, his voice harsh.“Alarms will sound, and guards will come rushing in.”He looked up and around.“They’re probably on their way,” he added, his tone bleak.“If you keep moving, the corridor will fill with gas that will knock you out.”
Luciana put her hand against the wall.She was shaking badly.“I just…I have to get out of here.”
“The quickest way out is to wait for the guards to come and find you and take you to the gate.”His voice was quieter.Reasonable.
She couldn’t bear to look at him.She slid her hand down the wall, lowering herself, until she was sitting with her back against the wall.She pulled her knees up against her chest.
She watched with dull horror as he sat against the opposite wall.“No,” she said weakly.“Just go away.”
“I can’t.I’ll be arrested, too, if I try to go back.”
“Then sit down there, where I don’t have to look at you.”
“Then I won’t be able to see you.”
He stayed where he was.“You know they can just take your stalls, don’t you?Any negotiation they offer is merely a courtesy.They don’t even have to have your permission or get you to agree on a price.They can just issue a credit in your name, and take back the titles.”
She so did not care about the stalls.Except, in the back of her mind, a tired part of her did care, a great deal.“So first you strip me of my business,” she began.Her tears dripped without warning, and rolled down her cheeks.“Then you will take the life of my son.”It hurt to even say the words.The pain tore through her.
