Savage Honor: Blood Oath

002: Vows of Steel

The silence after she left my office was deafening.

I stood there for a long time, feeling the heat from her touch still lingering on my skin. She’d come into my world like a wrecking ball, and somehow, I knew she wasn’t going to be a simple pawn in my game. Isabella Romano wasn’t the kind of woman you could control with just a few cold, calculated threats. She was fire, and I was about to be burned.

The night dragged on, but I couldn’t shake the image of her defiant eyes. I hadn’t expected her to fight back—not like that, not so openly. But there was something about her, something that made me want to break her even more. Something that told me she wasn’t afraid. And that made me dangerous.

I moved through the halls of my mansion, the shadows swallowing me as I tried to focus. The city was still simmering with tension, the underworld on the brink of collapse, but my thoughts kept returning to Isabella.

She was a complication I didn’t need, but one I couldn’t ignore.

The clock ticked past midnight when I finally decided to confront her. The idea of letting her slip through my fingers, to act like she could challenge me without repercussions, was something I couldn’t stomach. I needed to remind her who was in charge.

When I reached the door to her room, I hesitated. She wasn’t just any woman. She was the daughter of my father’s killer. Her family had destroyed everything I’d known, and yet here I was—married to her. Bound by an oath I hadn’t chosen.

But my rage, my thirst for revenge, could only go so far. At some point, it had to be about control. My control.

I knocked once, my knuckles against the wood sharp and deliberate.

Her voice, barely a whisper, came through the door. “You think you can intimidate me, don’t you?”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I opened the door and stepped into the room.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her back straight, her hands clasped in her lap like a well-mannered wife. The stark contrast of her appearance to the wild energy she had shown earlier sent a shiver down my spine. But it wasn’t fear that gripped me. It was something else. Something I didn’t want to acknowledge.

Isabella didn’t look up. She didn’t need to. She knew I was there, standing like a shadow in her doorway.

“I’m not afraid of you,” she said, her voice steady, unwavering.

I didn’t respond. There was no need. I knew she wasn’t afraid—at least, not in the way people usually were. She was afraid of what I could do to her, yes. But not in the way I wanted.

She was a puzzle. One that I couldn’t figure out.

I moved toward her, my steps slow and deliberate. Every inch closer made her tense, but she didn’t move away. She wasn’t giving me the satisfaction of seeing her squirm. And that… made her even more dangerous.

“I didn’t come here to intimidate you,” I said, my voice low, a hint of steel in it. “I came here to make sure you understand something.”

She finally looked up at me, those dark eyes piercing through me like a blade.

“You think this is some kind of game?” she asked. “That you can control me with threats and violence? Well, let me tell you something Luca DiCarlo. You can break my body, but you’ll never break my spirit.”

I didn’t flinch. If anything, her words only fueled the fire inside me. She didn’t understand yet. She didn’t know who she was dealing with.

“I’m not interested in breaking your spirit,” I said quietly. “I’m interested in making you mine. And that’s a promise I intend to keep.”

Her lips parted, as if the words had cut her, but she didn’t back down. She stood up, her fists clenched at her sides, her jaw set with defiance.

“Why?” she whispered. “Why me? Why do you want me? I’m nothing more than a weapon to you, just like everyone else in your life. But I’m not going to be your weapon, Luca.”

She was right.

In this world, everyone had a purpose—whether they wanted to admit it or not. But I didn’t want her to be just a weapon. I wanted her to be the reason I could survive. The reason I could keep going when everything else fell apart.

But I didn’t tell her that. Instead, I stepped closer, the distance between us shrinking with each step. I could feel the heat radiating off her, the tension in her body like a live wire.

“You don’t get to decide what you are to me,” I said, my voice low and dangerous. “You’re mine because I made you mine. And if you think you can walk away from this, you’re gravely mistaken.”

Her eyes flashed, the defiance in them stronger than ever. “I’m not your property. And you’re not my king.”

She was stubborn. But I was used to that.

“You’ll learn, Isabella,” I murmured, my hand reaching for her chin, tilting her face up to meet mine. “I’ll teach you how to bend. How to belong to me.”

The moment my fingers touched her skin, a current of something I couldn’t name shot through me. It wasn’t just the power I had over her, it was the way she didn’t flinch. She didn’t break. Even in my grasp, she fought to stay herself.

I wanted to crush her spirit, but I realized in that moment, I didn’t want her to break. I wanted her to fight.

And that terrified me.

“I don’t need to bend,” she whispered. “And I’m not scared of you.”

“Then why do you still stand there?” I growled, my thumb brushing over her lower lip, feeling the heat of her breath against my skin. “Why don’t you run?”

She stared up at me, unblinking, her lips parted in defiance.

“Because I’m not afraid of you. And one day, you’ll see that.”

I felt the weight of her words, like a dare. She wasn’t running. She wasn’t going to hide from me.

I wanted to crush her into submission, to force her to kneel and surrender. But deep down, something about her fire called to the darkness in me. And for the first time, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to destroy her.

I wanted her to destroy me.

I took a step back, breaking the contact, my hands clenched into fists. She was right. This wasn’t about me controlling her. It was about something much more dangerous.

It was about us.

“Don’t mistake this for weakness,” I said, my voice cold. “You may not fear me now, Isabella. But you will.”

She didn’t say a word. Instead, she turned and walked back to the bed, her back straight as ever. But I could see the tension in her shoulders, the pulse of something dark that we were both playing with, something that would destroy us both in the end.

But for now, it didn’t matter.

“I’ll be waiting, Luca,” she said softly, not even looking back. “For you to learn that I’m not like the rest.”

And as I turned and left the room, I realized—she was right.

This was just the beginning.

And I was already losing control.