Chapter 5 - A Claim Written in Blood
By seven o'clock that evening, the estate was under complete military lockdown. Floodlights illuminated the perimeter walls, and armed guards patrolled the snowy grounds every ten feet.
In the grand dining room, Alessandro sat at the head of a long polished mahogany table. He had changed into a dark crimson silk shirt, his sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing dark tattoos winding up his muscular wrists.
At his right sat Ethan, who was bubbling with excitement, chattering about his foot movement to a quiet, attentive Mateo.
Lily sat across from Ethan, wearing a simple burgundy dress that hugged her curves. She felt out of place surrounded by sterling silver cutlery and crystal glassware, but every time she tried to look down, she felt Alessandro’s intense amber eyes tracking her every breath.
The heavy double doors swept open, and four men walked in.
Leading them was Don Carmine Moretti—an elderly, withered man with silver hair, wearing a fine coat, flanked by two imposing enforcers and a sleek, sharp-eyed attorney named Dominic.
The enforcers moved to step into the room, but Mateo instantly stepped forward, drawing his sidearm and pointing it straight at Carmine's forehead.
"Step back, Carmine," Alessandro said smoothly, taking a slow sip of red wine. "You walk into my home uninvited on the day your snipers try to kill my son?"
Carmine Moretti paused, raising his hands in mock innocence, though his dark eyes gleamed with malice. "Alessandro, please. The men on your ridge were rogue soldiers. I came to clear my name and offer condolences."
Carmine’s eyes drifted toward Lily, lingering on her large frame and her simple dress with deep disdain.
"I see you’ve brought staff to the dinner table," Carmine sneered. "Is this the gardener who’s been filling your head with stories about the boy walking? The whole city is laughing, Alessandro. They say the great Romano king has gone soft, letting a fat servant woman run his household."
CLANG!
Alessandro slammed his wine glass onto the marble table so hard the crystal stem shattered in his hand. Crimson wine and dark blood trickled down his palm, dripping onto the white tablecloth.
The room fell into an icy, suffocating silence.
Alessandro stood up slowly. He didn't look at his hand. He looked at Carmine Moretti with the eyes of a monster rising from the deep.
"Say that word again," Alessandro whispered, his voice dangerously low.
Carmine backed up half a step, his bravado instantly evaporating. "Alessandro, I only meant—"
Alessandro stepped around the table, taking a heavy linen napkin and wrapping it casually around his bleeding hand. He walked until he was standing inches from Carmine.
"Lily Brooks is not a servant," Alessandro said, his voice echoing off the high ceilings like thunder. "She is the woman who saved my son. She is the light in this dead house."
He turned, reaching out his uninjured hand toward Lily. "Come here, Lily."
Lily’s heart hammered against her ribs. She stood up, walking slowly across the room until she was beside him.
Alessandro pulled her tightly against his side, his large arm wrapping around her waist, holding her full hips securely against his frame for all the syndicate bosses to see.
"Listen to me carefully, Carmine," Alessandro declared, staring down the rival don. "Tomorrow, I am calling a meeting of the Five Families at the Plaza Hotel. And I am introducing Lily Brooks as my future wife and the future matriarch of the Romano family."
Carmine gasped. Mateo blinked in shock. Even Ethan stopped eating, his eyes wide.
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Lily looked up at Alessandro in absolute bewilderment, her breath catching in her throat. "Alessandro... what are you saying?"
Alessandro looked down at her, his amber eyes burning with an undeniable, fierce truth. "I am saying that anyone who looks at you with disrespect from this day forward is committing an act of war against me."
