Chapter 15 - The Fractured Trust
Vincent kicked the heavy oak doors of the master suite open, the wood splintering against the stone doorframe.
Harper jumped back from the window, her heart pounding violently against her ribs as she saw the absolute fury radiating from him.
He crossed the massive bedroom in three long strides, grabbing her roughly by the upper arms and backing her into the wall.
He did not yell, which made his quiet, lethal tone infinitely more terrifying.
He leaned in close, his face inches from hers, and asked her exactly what she saw on Don Marcano's glowing phone screen.
Harper's breath hitched in her throat, the lie dying instantly on her lips as she looked into his broken, raging eyes.
She began to sob, the heavy tears spilling over her cheeks as she finally confessed the truth.
She admitted she saw the text message from her mother's number, but she swore she only hid it because she was terrified of what he would do to her.
Vincent released her arms in disgust, taking a huge step backward as if her very touch was toxic.
He told her that her mother had just demanded his entire empire and practically dared him to execute her own daughter in retaliation.
Harper slid down the cold wall, pulling her knees to her chest as the full weight of her mother's monstrous nature crushed her spirit.
She realized she had never truly been loved; she had only been a long-term investment, cultivated for slaughter.
Vincent stood over her, his chest heaving with conflicted emotions.
His logic demanded that he torture her for information and use her broken body as a message to the Black Rose.
But as he looked down at the sobbing, shattered woman who had once served him coffee with a tired, genuine smile, he found he could not pull his weapon.
He told her coldly that she would remain locked in this room until the war was won, and then she would be banished from his city forever.
He turned on his heel and walked out of the room, the heavy deadbolt sliding shut behind him with a resonant, absolute finality.
Harper sat alone on the floor in the pitch blackness of the golden cage.
She wiped the tears from her bruised cheeks, a new, unfamiliar fire slowly igniting in her chest.
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She was done being a pawn for the mafia, done being a prisoner, and done being a victim of her mother's sick game.
She was going to end this tonight.
