2026-01-19 07:07:24
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CHAPTER 78
Zarek’s frown deepened.Ever since he’d hauled Gia over his shoulder like a sack of grain, his mind had been a blur of tactical timers and exit routes.He hadn’t stopped to gauge the depth of her terror, but looking at her now, trembling, wide‑eyed, fumbling with the heavy fabric, it was clear she was drowning.“Learn. Fast,” he repeated, but his voice lacked its usual bite.Patience wasn’t a luxury he could afford. The last hour had been spent watching the civilized Sullivans tear each other apart over toast and titles.His patience hadn’t just run thin; it had evaporated.‘They’re all just noise,’ Zarek thought, his eyes fixed on the red, pulsing icon of the kill‑switch. ‘Robert, the wives, the brothers… they’re all just ghosts in a house that’s already burning. They think this is a game of chess. They don’t realize I’m the one flipping the table.’She fidgeted with the vest, unable to get it on, and the sight drew a deeper scowl from him.Without any more hesitation, he reached ov
CHAPTER 77
He had had enough of them, and he didn’t have the patience for them anymore."Enough," Zarek growled.He didn’t walk; he stormed across the room. Giorgia tried to put herself in his way again, but he simply brushed her aside with one hand, like clearing a cobweb.In one fluid, powerful motion, Zarek reached down and grabbed Gia. Before she could even gasp, he hoisted her into the air and slung her over his right shoulder like a sack of grain."Put me down!" Gia shrieked, her fists drumming uselessly against his muscular back."Grisha! Put her down! You’re kidnapping her!" Giorgia screamed, chasing after him as he turned toward the door.Zarek didn’t even break stride. He marched into the hallway, Gia’s legs kicking behind him. The siblings scrambled to get out of his way, faces pale at the sheer ease with which he carried her."I'm not going to stand here and watch you debate which way she’d rather die," Zarek barked over his shoulder as he headed for the stairs. "The car leaves n
CHAPTER 76
Seeing Zarek standing there and hearing his words, Giorgia’s face twisted instantly. There was no chance she would listen to him. When her gaze flicked to Gia and caught the understanding dawning in her daughter’s eyes, her frown snapped into pure rage.“Get out!” Giorgia screamed, her voice cracking under the strain of terror.She lunged across the room, planting herself squarely in front of Gia like a living shield.Her face was flushed, the bruise on her cheek standing out in sharp, ugly relief.“Get out of my sight, you animal! My daughter is not going to those docks! You’ll use the first excuse you get to kill her, then you’ll tell Robert she died in the crossfire, so you’ll have one less rival to worry about!”Gia shrank deeper into the velvet cushions, eyes wide as her mother’s chest heaved.“She is nineteen!” Giorgia shrieked, pointing toward the door with trembling hands. “She is a child! She has no business in the shipyard with the Marcones, and she has no business with a
CHAPTER 75
Zarek didn’t want to stay any longer, not with Robert, not with the wives circling like carrion, and certainly not with time bleeding away. But now there was a problem he couldn’t ignore.Gia.If Robert expected her at the docks, then Zarek would have to find a way to make that happen, and quickly.A soft presence slipped into his peripheral vision.Masha stepped in front of him, her small frame making him look like a giant by comparison. Standing on her toes, she forced him to look down into her eyes, red-rimmed, exhausted, yet suddenly filled with a fragile, surprising warmth.“Don’t worry about her, Grisha,” she whispered, reaching up to touch his arm. “Let them hide. It’s better this way. You don’t have to go to the docks. Robert will be angry, yes… but he won’t kill his heir over one missed ledger. Stay. Stay with me. We can find another way out.”Zarek looked down at her, the only person in the estate who had never wanted a piece of his soul.The weight of the black envelope p
CHAPTER 74
The air in the room was thick enough to choke on.The mention of the Selection Trials had transformed the dining hall from a place of cold tension into a sanctuary of raw, unadulterated fear.“The Trials?” Giorgia finally spoke.Her voice, usually so controlled and melodic, cut sharply with a jagged edge of panic. “Robert, you haven’t invoked the Trials since your own father took the seat. You’re talking about open warfare between your own children. This isn’t a test; it’s a purge!”Her gaze swept down the table… Marcello, Lucian, and the others are taking in the tremor in their hands.Unlike Alessandra, who led with fire, Giorgia led with calculation, and every calculation told her the same thing. Her sons were not prepared for the sheer brutality Zarek represented.Even Alessandra looked genuinely shaken.Her eyes darted to Victor, then to Dante.Bandaged, injured, nursing broken pride, there was no way her children could survive a hunt in their current condition. To her, this wa
CHAPTER 73
Robert didn’t even look at her.Not a blink. Not an acknowledgment.Her voice was treated like background noise, a faint static in the air beneath his notice.“I’m not mad, Masha,” Robert said, though he spoke to the room, not to her.His voice was unsettlingly calm.“Strength is always messy when it’s first bottled. It takes time to refine the vintage.”A casual gesture summoned a nearby maid, his finger pointing at the empty plate where the toast had been.“Another,” he commanded.The maid scrambled forward, her hands shaking so violently the silver tongs clattered against the china. She placed a fresh, golden-brown piece of toast onto Robert’s plate, then stepped back as if she expected a blow.Before Robert could reach for his silver knife, Zarek’s hand shot out.The movement was a blur.The toast vanished from Robert’s plate.No napkin. No fork.Just warm bread held in his bare hand as Zarek took a slow, deliberate bite, his eyes never leaving Robert’s.The sound of chewing wa
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