Page 75 of The Burnt Heart

“You will learn to hold your tongue when our families join.” Harold straightened, shaking his head.

“Over my dead body.” My lip curled. I was out of my chair in moments, but Briar grabbed my arm.

“That can be arranged,” uttered a voice, velvet laced iron. I whipped my head to see a monster of a man walk into the room. Silver flashed at his wrists; cufflinks shaped in a silver rose. His nose carved a severe line down his face, the end hooked. The stranger’s lips quirked under my suspicious perusal, and I didn’t miss the dismissive sniff he gave as he judged me.

“No,” Briar whimpered, his body stumbling into my back.

The stranger’s teeth poked through a wide smile. I realized I was wrong. Harold wasn’t the shark.

Whoever this man was, he brought an energy that sent a shiver down my spine. His strides were languid power, unfazed and confident. My father swallowed audibly.

“Ah, Alessandro, good of you to join us. It’s about time you met my true heir.” Harold settled into his chair and linked his hands over his stomach, eyes bright.

Alessandro dipped his head, dark hair shifting like ink. He reached for one of the wine glasses and drained it with a sigh.

“We met a long time ago,” he answered me. “In this very house. What was it Raimondo called you?” He tapped his chin, musing. “Ahh, butterball. You’ve grown into your curves.”

His leer was performative, but it set Briar into panicked wheezes. Hands fumbled against mine, clammy with sweat. His pupils were pinpricks when I looked at him, color drained from his face. Alessandro leered at Briar, too. This time it blistered with heat.

“Hello, my sweet Briar Rose. My, haven’t you grown?” He tilted his head with a smirk. “It’s been a long time since you left without saying goodbye. How fortuitous that we found our way back together.”

Briar sagged backwards in Jesse’s shocked hold. The whites of his eyes rolled backwards as he was sucked into unconsciousness. I swallowed my cry of alarm, shoving down the panic that strung at my insides.

“I know who you are.” My gut churned. This was the man who abused Briar. He flicked another hungry look at Briar, lying senseless on the floor.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you alive until the baby is born. I’ll even share my sweet rose with you, but first we need to deal with the other two.”

I didn’t have time to react before he ripped a gun out that had been concealed under his jacket. The barrel pointed right at Logan. I couldn’t contain the gasp I made this time.

34

Adelaide

It hurt to breathe. My lungs protested each tiny inhale. I couldn’t look away. Vision shattered like glittering glass. My senses narrowed to the sight of the steady black barrel pointed right at the heart of one of my soulmates. Logan’s life in the hands of a killer, the very killer who had hurt Briar.

“You are a greedy girl, aren’t you, Miss Orazio? Or should I say Mrs?” Alessandro hummed. “I guess it won’t matter soon because you’ll be a widow.”

“Stop,” I cried, watching his finger tighten around the trigger. Fire blazed in my lungs, refusing to expel air until I knew he spared Logan. Alessandro’s eyes were cold, and he tilted his head like a snake. I knew if I provoked this man, he would strike and fill me with venom.

“Thank you.” He lowered the pistol and tucked it into the waistband of his pants. “You owe me a new car.” The last comment he directed to Harold Donato, who had dropped the caring façade and was lolling in his chair. I clutched Logan’s arm, gripping him hard enough to hurt, but I needed to feel his warmth, his solidity.

It had almost been taken from me.

I let Logan go, mouth open to speak, when my vision rocked. Alessandro’s meaty hand slammed into the side of my face. I swallowed a cry, hand cupping my nose, where a drop of blood trickled.

Everything had changed now. I swallowed the lump in my throat. The Donatos better be prepared because I was going to raze them to the ground.

“I bet him that these three guys would make excellent leverage against the Orazio darling. Harold didn’t believe me.” Alessandro stepped over to Briar’s unconscious form and peered down at him with an impatient purse of his lips. “We disagree from time to time.”

“Were you on the same page about hurting innocent boys?”

Alessandro hissed and tapped his finger on his lips. Harold’s eyebrows drew together, and he shrugged. My head whipped back to Alessandro.

“We all have our desires, don’t we?” he whispered conspiratorially with a maniacal twinkle in his eye. I reared back, disturbed by how completely unbothered he seemed.

“Ray is the Donato heir.” I frowned, wanting to know how we could have missed something like this. My stomach ached with phantom pains, and I resisted the urge to rub my hand against it. Harold winked, bloated with conceit.

“I’m quite proud of my forethought. Alessandro is my eldest son, illegitimate, but that’s no matter. I kept his mother housed and quiet until he was old enough to join the family. You canunderstand the reasoning. How many attempts on your life has there been? I didn’t want my true replacement to end up dead. So, I raised Ray like he was always the one, kept him hoping and wishing for me to announce he was inheriting. I honestly never expected him to last long, not after he opened his idiot mouth and blew up our deal.”

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