Page 76 of The Burnt Heart

He goaded me about the attacks I’d endured. So many of them orchestrated by him.

“You won’t get away with this,” father warned, indignation filtering through. I shot him a look. This was a setback. I just had to focus on steadying my rapid heartbeat to get back on track. The plan would still work because Alessandro had done what men in our world always did.

Discounted me.

He considered me cowed and able to be controlled. As long as he believed I was incubating a child who was half Donato and half Orazio, we would be safe. I only had to wait for Jonah and Ray to give me the sign.

“It’s already done. You know how it is, Antoni. The strongest among us will always prevail,” Harold taunted. “You ought to pat her down, she’s a firecracker this one.” He added for Alessandro.

He flicked his eyes over me dismissively.

“I’ll take my chances.” His lip curled.

Your arrogance will be the end of you.My thoughts boiled, murderous. But I remained stiff as I catalogued his threat level. I didn’t like how his gaze kept straying to Briar’s unconscious form, excitement glinting. Briar shifted, his eyelids fluttering open.

“Are you alright Briar?” I whispered, not looking at him but watching the beast in the room with us.

“Yes,” Briar replied, but it was wobbly. His inhale rattled, and Alessandro’s pupils dilated.

“You’ll have time to play when we get this secured,” Harold barked as Alessandro reached down, grazing Briar’s cheek. He glared at the older man, who blustered. “You aren’t head of this family yet, boy.”

Anger, thick and dark stiffened Alessandro’s back, and he pulled himself up to full height.

“I’m not a boy any longer. You’ll do well to show me the respect I deserve,” he hissed.

Harold raised a lazy eyebrow, entirely too relaxed as he provoked the weapon he’d honed.

“Respect is earned, not inherited. Now deal with these four and get Miss Orazio somewhere she can gestate comfortably for nine months.” He waved a hand. Alessandro sniffed, his finger itching on the trigger of the gun.

“You’re right, it is earned. I spent my whole life doing grunt work, rising from the ranks of this family with my own skills. Your men already take orders from me and if you had an ounce of intelligence, rather than blind rage, we might have been running this city years ago. But no, you wanted it done right, done clean because you’re scared of The Unseen. A baby. Well, guess what, there is no fucking baby.” Alessandro’s shoulder bunched around his ears as he snarled at his father. Harold’s eyes widened, and he shook his head jerkily, like he couldn’t believe it.

“What are you talking about?” he whispered. Alessandro growled, wrapping his fingers around the thin material of my shirt. The button’s strained in his hold.

“Let go of her,” Jesse cried, his movements halted when Alessandro turned the gun toward him. His nostrils flared as he nodded.

“That’s right. Take a seat, little boy. It’s about time we got some things straight. Starting with this baby.” He wrenched my shirt open from the bottom up, the buttons scattering onthe ground. My scars were visible. Like a violent map across the landscape of my skin. I lifted my chin, a move that made Alessandro chuckle softly. “A little birdie told me about these.”

“I’m going to kill you,” I told him. Ice replaced the blood in my veins. I could feel the vibrating fury erupting from everyone around me. But not me. I wouldn’t let him take anything else from me. Not one speck of my self-worth.

“Keep telling yourself that, darling.” Alessandro ran his fingers over the raised scars on my soft stomach. “Someone made such an awful mess of you, didn’t they?”

Harold brought his fist down on the table, a wine glass teetering over, breaking with a sharp shatter.

“You knew about this? How could you keep it from me? My plans for this family are ruined because of your duplicity.” His chest heaved and for a moment, I thought he might have a heart attack. His narrowed eyes glared daggers at Alessandro. I shuddered as Alessandro’s fingertips danced over my skin a second time. He hummed thoughtfully in my ear, seeming not to hear his father’s tirade.

“Did you like the hand I sent? I thought that was a lovely warning to stay away from Bry. Perhaps I should have gutted you instead.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t make the same mistake as you,” I snarled. He huffed and stepped away from me. I yanked the hanging sides of my top together until Logan pressed his jacket into my hand.

“Siren.” I could hear a million questions in his voice, but all I could give him was a tremulous smile. Now was not the time.

“I never liked your plans,” Alessandro mused, stopping to pluck a grape from the table. “Scheming in the shadows. I want people to know our name. Not just because we merged with the Orazio family. But because we obliterated it.”

Harold seemed to realize he didn’t have as much control over his son as he thought, quickly backtracking.

“Now isn’t the time. She could still be pregnant. Let’s rule that out before we burn everything to the ground.” He glared at me like it was my fault I couldn’t have children.

Alessandro seemed to consider this before he lifted his gun. Harold flinched, but he wasn’t the target. My father was. The sound tore through my eardrums before I even processed what had happened.

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