Page 7 of Bound to the Enforcer

Alessio studies me for a moment before answering. "Elliot was correct, his murder wasn't random. It was calculated. There was a message for you carved into his belly."

My stomach churns. What the fuck?

"What do you mean there was a message for me carved into his belly?" I can feel the bile slush in my stomach.

"Exactly that. Someone took a knife, carved a message onto his belly, and hung him in front of the warehouse for all to see. They wanted you to know that they are coming for you."

I gulp. "Wh-what did the message say?"

I wait with bated breath. A part of me wants to know, but then there is another part of me. The part that still wants to hide away from this world, that doesn't want to know. I don't want to admit it, but there is some truth to what Alessio has been saying. I am scared.

"La corona sanguinera."

The crown will bleed.

It is definitely a message and a strong one at that. I try to keep the emotion hidden from my face, but I know that it's pointless. I can physically feel the color drain from my face.

"I…" I have no words. What does one even say to that?

Alessio lets out a low-winded breath and walks around my bed. His body is at ease, his muscles completely relaxed, like he didn't just tell me that war has been declared on my head. He walks over to the window and peels back the curtain to let the light in from the rising sun. The rays are still rather dim, and the sky is still etched with blue greys.

"You see this, princess?" He points outside to the garden of the Romano estate. "Beyond these walls, there is a war on the horizon, and you are the number one target. Our world exists by a set of rules, brutal and punishing, but rules all the same. You need to learn to play by them and exploit the loopholes to thebest of your advantage, or you will die. My job is to make sure that the little stray bullets don't hit you. But yours is to learn and understand where danger hides."

The quiet is thick.

"You cannot be stupid. You need to listen, and you need to start thinking like a true Romano."

"I know that," I snap, more out of frustration with myself than him. He is right. He has been since the wake. I am not in the same world I lived in for the past few years. "But who is doing this? And why?"

He steps closer, his presence filling the room. "Why? Power. Out of six families, yours is the most powerful and most lucrative. That kind of money and power in the hands of a woman is a slap in the face to the males who sit below you. I will find out who did this to Trevor, and we will get retribution. But you need to be ready, Sophia. Whoever did this, they're testing you, seeing how far they can push before you blink. Make sure you don't. No matter how bloody or dark it will get, hold your fucking nerve."

"I'm not going to break," I say, standing up and meeting his heat.

He doesn't look convinced. "We'll see."

He walks back to the side of my bed and waits for a moment. His eyes scan my face and then move over the length of my body, analyzing me.

"We have a meeting this morning. We need to brief you on what's been happening behind the scenes and the events leading up to your father's murder. Get dressed and ready for the day. I will come to find you when I have dealt with our Trevor issue."

He turns to walk out of my room, but then he pauses when he reaches the door. He looks over his shoulder with a pensive look in his eyes.

"Yes?" I ask, waiting for him to say what he wants to.

"I am sorry for your loss, Sophia. I never said it before at the funeral. Your father was a good man, he saved my life once, and I intend to keep you safe in return." He doesn't wait for me to accept his condolences. He walks out of the room, leaving me stunned.

I am not someone who is easily startled into stillness, but Alessio De Luca has made it a habit of stealing my words from my lips almost every time.

The Romano estate is eerily quiet as I walk through its halls later that morning. The sun is fully up now, casting long shadows across the marble floors. The house feels different without my father here—emptier, colder. The marble hallway echoes with my footsteps as I make my way to my first official debrief. This is it. The walk of the official Romano head.

I make my way to the study, where Alessio said we'd be meeting. When I step inside, he's already there, along with Domenico and a few of our top men. The tension in the room is palpable, like the calm before a storm. Every single face is solemn, a show of the horrors that await us.

"Ah, Sophia," Domenico says, standing as I enter. His smile is warm, but his eyes are sharp, and calculating. "We are waiting for you."

I take a seat at the head of the table, ignoring the way Domenico's gaze lingers on me. Alessio is standing by the window, his arms crossed, his expression unreadable.

Even if I don't feel like the boss, I need to fake it until I finally become the Romano that my father was.

"Let's not waste time on pleasantries," I say, trying to channel my father's authority. "What do we know about Trevor's murder?"

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