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"WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO LAY A FINGER ON MY WIFE?" THE BALLROOM SCREAMED IN TERROR AS LUCIANO’S BLADE PIERCED HIS OWN CAPO’S HAND TO THE TABLE! / Chapter 5 / 10

Chapter 5 - The Wrath of the Don

I woke to the clean, sterile smell of antiseptic and the soft beep of a heart monitor. The light in the room was dim, suggesting it was late at night.

I looked down at my arm, seeing an IV line taped to my skin. The pain in my stomach was gone, replaced by a dull, heavy exhaustion.

"You're awake."

Luciano was sitting in a chair beside the bed. He had his sleeves rolled up, his tie gone, and dark circles bruising the skin beneath his gray eyes. He looked as though he hadn't slept in days.

"What happened?" I whispered, my throat dry.

"You were poisoned, Valyria," he said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. "The tea you drank in the sunroom was laced with arsenic. If I hadn't been on the ground floor when you collapsed, you would have died before the ambulance arrived."

I gasped, my hand instinctively flying to my stomach. "Sienna? Is she—"

"Your friend is fine. She didn't drink the tea," Luciano said, standing up and leaning over the bed. He gently placed his hand over mine, his warm, rough fingers offering a grounding comfort that made my eyes sting with tears. "The poison was meant for me. It was placed in the private tea blend my kitchen prepares for my study. You drank from my cup, Valyria."

"Who did it?" I asked, my heart hammering. "My father?"

"No," Luciano said, his jaw tightening so hard the bone looked ready to break through his skin. "Your father is many things, but he is not stupid enough to use arsenic in my own house. The poison came from inside. One of my own Capos tried to clear the path for a war."

"Enzo," I whispered, remembering the greasy, hateful look on the Capo's face during breakfast.

"Enzo," Luciano confirmed. He reached out, his thumb gently wiping away a tear that had escaped down my temple. His touch was incredibly soft, a stark contrast to the lethal fury radiating from his eyes. "He wanted to frame your father for my murder, forcing Matteo to launch a full-scale retaliation that would have wiped out the Caruso family. He didn't care that you would be caught in the crossfire."

He leaned closer, his forehead resting lightly against mine. "I spent the last twelve hours at your bedside, Valyria. And I realized something."

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Dr. Mercer looked down at the ultrasound monitor, her fingers moving with practiced ease over the trackball. The quiet hum of the machine filled the room, punctuated only by the rhythmic, heavy breathing of Dorian Cross standing near the door. He hadn't sat down once. His tall frame cast a long, imposing shadow across the sterile room, hand resting near the button of his suit jacket—a posture born of years of constant vigilance.

Dr. Mercer looked down at the ultrasound monitor, her fingers moving wit...

The ambulance siren wailed in the distance, a rising shriek that cut through the rainy night like a knife. I didn't wait for them. I held Arianne against my chest, feeling the terrifyingly erratic rhythm of her pulse, and bolted down the grand mahogany staircase.

The ambulance siren wailed in the distance, a rising shriek that cut thr...

The heavy cabin door hissed shut behind me, sealing in the scent of expensive cologne, manufactured corporate harmony, and betrayal. As I stepped back onto the sun-baked tarmac of the private aviation terminal, the stifling afternoon heat hit me like a physical blow. Behind the thick, tinted glass of the jet's windows, I could see Carter’s silhouette—his jaw set in that familiar, arrogant angle of a man who believed he had just successfully disciplined a disobedient pet.

The heavy cabin door hissed shut behind me, sealing in the scent of expe...

"What?" I breathed.

"I realized that I don't care about the past anymore," he whispered, his lips brushing against mine in a soft, desperate promise. "I don't care about the docks, or the treaty, or the dead. I only care about keeping you alive. And tonight, the man who tried to take you from me will pay the price in blood."

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