Chapter 4 4

Isabella POV

The ringing silence immediately following my slap to Julian hung in the main study of the Moretti Estate, thick and suffocating. The only movement in the room was the flicker of the fireplace, casting long, distorted shadows across the mahogany walls. Shards of Dante's shattered whiskey glass glittered dangerously on the expensive Persian rug, a silent testament to the violence simmering just beneath the surface.

Julian stood frozen, his chest heaving, his eyes wide with a mixture of absolute shock and a violent, brewing rage. But I didn't give him the satisfaction of my fear. I didn't even look at him.

Instead, I turned my back on the Underboss-a deliberate, calculated insult-and faced the man who truly held our lives in his hands.

Don Antonio Moretti sat in his leather chair, his face as dark and unforgiving as a thundercloud. I dipped into a shallow, perfectly executed curtsy, my voice ringing out cold and clear.

"Don Moretti," I said, holding his lethal gaze. "A daughter of the Valdez family was promised to your heir. I was delivered. The alliance was sealed in the eyes of the Commission. What happens here tonight is not just an insult to me, but to my father, my family, and our name. This is a matter of *onore*(honor). The Valdez family requires satisfaction."

The word *satisfaction* dropped like an anvil. In our world, it meant blood.

The Don's eyes shifted. The furious father vanished, instantly replaced by the ruthless ruler of the Chicago Outfit. He was calculating the cost of a war with my family. Behind me, I heard Julian draw a sharp, ragged breath, the color draining from his face as he realized I wasn't throwing a hysterical tantrum. I was invoking the absolute laws of our world to put a noose around his neck.

Before the Don could pass his judgment, Elvina Moretti stepped forward. The Mafia Queen's face was a mask of strained, artificial sorrow. She reached out, taking my hands in a grip that felt more like a shackle.

"My dear Isabella," she murmured, her voice dripping with a sickeningly sweet poison. "You are, and always will be, the future lady of this family. Julian has been a fool."

She didn't look at her son. Instead, she cast a look of utter revulsion at Sofia, who was still cowering behind Julian.

"As for this... inconvenience," Elvina continued, her tone reducing my half-sister to dirt beneath her expensive heels. "She can be kept. A man has needs. But she will never be acknowledged. She will be his *Comare*(mistress), nothing more."

Sofia let out a choked gasp. The color vanished from her cheeks as her grand delusion of becoming the Underboss's wife was violently crushed into the shameful reality of a hidden whore. Julian opened his mouth to protest, but Elvina silenced him with a single, blistering glare.

The room waited. Elvina squeezed my hands, expecting me to bow my head, swallow my pride, and accept this ultimate humiliation for the sake of peace.

I calmly pulled my hands free from hers and took a deliberate step back.

"A Valdez woman does not share her husband," I stated, my voice echoing in the dead quiet. "Our blood is not so cheap."

Elvina's face hardened into a mask of pure fury, but I was already turning back to the Don.

"But," I continued, my tone unwavering, "the alliance must be honored. A Valdez bride was promised, and a Valdez bride is here. The wedding feast is over, the guests are gone. To send me back now would be a declaration of war."

I let the threat hang in the air for a fraction of a second before I shifted my gaze. Past Julian's pale face. Past Elvina's trembling rage. My eyes landed on the shadows by the bookshelves.

Dante Moretti was still leaning against the wood, but he was no longer relaxed.

I gave him a slow, shallow nod, then looked dead into Don Antonio's eyes.

"There is another son of the Moretti family in this room," I said, the words sealing my fate and igniting a match in a room full of gasoline. "To honor the alliance, I will marry him. I will marry Dante Moretti."

The air was sucked out of the study. Julian let out a sound that was half-snarl, half-disbelief. But my eyes remained locked on Dante.

The dark, predatory smirk that had been playing on his lips completely vanished. His jaw tightened, his dark eyes widening in profound, absolute shock as he realized the quiet, obedient bride had just dragged him straight into the center of the slaughterhouse.