Chapter 4 - THE PRICE OF PROTECTION"She belongs to me, Duca!" Valerio sneered, his bodyguards shifting beneath their tailored jackets, their hands reaching instinctively for concealed sidearms. "She was betrothed to me ten years ago! She stole from my family! You have no standing here!"
"She is an executive director at Duca Holdings," Lorenzo replied coldly, his expression entirely unbothered by the impending violence. "And as of forty-eight hours ago, her assets, her debt, and her protection are entirely under the jurisdiction of the Duca family."
Ariana felt the high-tension wire stretched between the two men. One wrong word, and the ballroom would become a bloodbath.
"You think you can protect her?" Valerio laughed softly, a dry, rasping sound. "Look at her, Lorenzo. She’s a poison. She destroyed my father’s empire from the inside. She’ll do the same to yours."
"She’s welcome to try," Lorenzo said smoothly. He turned to Ariana, his dark eyes softening just a fraction. "Go to the balcony, my dear. Get some air. Marco is right outside."
Ariana didn't argue. She needed to breathe. She pulled her dress up slightly and glided toward the french doors, stepping into the cold night air of the private terrace overlooking Michigan Avenue.
The wind bit at her bare shoulders, but the cold felt good—it cleared the thick, suffocating fog of fear from her brain.
"You always did run away when things got loud, little bird," a voice whispered from the darkness of the balcony corner.
Ariana whirled around, her hand dropping into the small clutch purse she carried, her fingers wrapping around the handle of a razor-sharp ceramic blade she had smuggled past Lorenzo's guards.
Valerio stepped out from the shadows. He had slipped past the guards through a side service door.
"Don't come any closer, Valerio," she warned, her voice deadly quiet.
"Ten years," Valerio hissed, stepping closer, his eyes scanning her face with a mixture of obsession and fury. "Ten years I searched for you. I thought you were dead in the sea. And here you are, dressed like a princess on the arm of a northern bastard."
"I am not your property!" Ariana snarled, drawing the knife and holding it between them. "I was a child when you trapped me! I am a woman now, and if you touch me, I will cut your throat."
Valerio laughed, taking another step. "You think Lorenzo cares about you? He’s using you as bait, Ariana! He wants my shipping routes in Europe. He knew I’d follow you! You didn't escape a cage—you just walked into a bigger one!"
Before Ariana could react, Valerio lunged forward, grabbing her wrist. But before his fingers could tighten, a shadow exploded from the doorway.
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Lorenzo hit Valerio like a freight train, slamming the older mob boss against the stone balustrade. The glass of the balcony door shattered as Lorenzo smashed his fist repeatedly into Valerio’s face with methodical, terrifying violence.
"I told you," Lorenzo roared, pressing his forearm against Valerio's throat, choking the life out of him, "she is under my protection!"
